![]() |
Written and filmed
June, 1927. Released by MGM,
October, 1927. Produced by Hal Roach. Supervised by Leo McCarey.
Directed by Fred Guiol. Two reels. Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Tiny Sandford, Ellinor Vanderveer. STORY: Posing as painters, Little Goofy (Stan) and Big Goofy (Ollie) escape from prison. They elude the cops by painting everything in sight, and wind up exchanging clothes with some visiting Frenchmen who are then arrested for walking around in their underwear, while the Boys have a good time at a high society shindig. |
![]() ![]() One famous Laurel trademark inadvertently stemmed from this film. Portraying prisoners, the boys were required to shave their heads. As Stan's hair grew back, he had a difficult time getting it to behave. Others found his unruly hair so funny, he decided to keep it as a permanent trademark of his screen character. |
JB: A fun, silly little film with great sight gags, The Second Hundred Years is a perfect early example of the logic found in Laurel and Hardy films. One sequence leads smoothly to the next, so that it is entirely plausible that while the boys begin the film as prisoners, it is inevitable that they wind up at a high society party. This may seem like a little thing, but many screen comics often filmed two-reelers as if they were two separate one-reelers, with the first half having little to do with the second. The Three Stooges come to mind, as I think of films in which they have an occupation in the first half, receive a telegram or phonecall, and suddenly, in reel two, they are cowboys instead of barbers. The better screen comics usually made sure their short films followed a logical progression.
Copyright © 2012 John Larrabee, John V. Brennan