The Second Hundred Years

The Second Hundred Years
The Second Hundred Years finds Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as convicts determined to escape from prison. With a tunneling scheme gone bad, they then manage to walk right out of the Big House by posing as painters. But their cover is blown when they switch clothes with two French officials taking a prison tour and are forced to return to serve The Second Hundred Years.
Customer Review: Whose Crime Is It Anyway?
Laurel and Hardy are my choice for the greatest comedy team in the history of cinema. While some have argued the team's work lacked the social message of Chaplin's, the technical innovation of Buster Keaton, "the boys" didn't have the same grace and rhythm to their movement as Chaplin but, Laurel and Hardy simply provided more belly laughs than Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. And I say this as an admirer of all those other comics. Most fans of the team are probably more familiar with Laurel and Hardy's sound films and in my opinion those show the team at their best. Just watch "Way Out West", "Sons of the Desert" or "The Devil's Brother" and you will find a chemistry which just doesn't exist in any comedy team before or after. There was a ten volume DVD set released a few years back called "The Lost Films Of Laurel and Hardy". These DVD's featured not only silent work from the team but also solo pieces as well as some Charley Chase shorts (Oliver Hardy use to play the "heavy" opposite Chase). "The Second Hundred Years" is on volume eight of the series but, good luck trying to find it! Because the DVD's have become so rare and I desperately wanted to see this short I decided just to buy the vhs of this piece by itself. "The Second Hundred Years" was made in 1927, the year the team was starting to be placed in more and more shorts together. They hadn't quite developed the characters modern audiences would remember them as but their chemistry was starting to grow and audiences were responding well to the team. Producer Hal Roach and director Leo McCarey thought they had found something in the team. Prior to "The Second Hundred Years" "the boys" had appeared in a short called "Duck Soup" (also in 1927) which bears no resemblance to the Marx Brothers' comedy. "Duck Soup" would later be remade into their talking comedy "Another Fine Mess". It is in this short Laurel and Hardy first played the character we remember them as. In "The Second Hundred Years" they do not. We can see the seeds of what would later blossom but it is just not quite there yet. The characters were still being developed. The timing was still being worked out. And because of that sadly the short doesn't rank with the team's best silent shorts such as "Big Business" (my all time favorite Laurel and Hardy short regardless of sound or silent), "Wrong Again" and "Liberty" (ironically all three were made in 1929. This, in my opinion, was the year the team started to come together). "The Second Hundred Years" has Stan and Ollie in jail planning an escape. They play big goofy (Oliver) and little goofy (Stanley). When their escape plan does work (they dig a tunnel which unfortunately doesn't lead to the outside of the prison) "the boys" pretend to pose as painters. A cop, a little suspicious of their behavior, starts to follow them. Panic stricken "the boys" proceed to paint everything in sight (including people!). And find themselves mistaken for a French Count visiting a governor (James Finlayson) who wants to show off his prison, not knowing two prisoners have just escaped. First there is a dinner in honor of "the boys" and then, unknowingly of course, a tour of the prison itself. And just try to guess what happens from there. Unfortunately the piece doesn't go in all the directions it could have. Too many gags are milked ("milking" a gag refers to elongating a skit until you stretch it out as long as you can. Jerry Lewis was also known for this. See "The Ladies Man"). The entire piece with Stan trying to get a grape with a folk is played too long as is the painting skit. It isn't funny. Some moments are funny and I promise not to reveal them here. Plus I'm kind of a push-over for Laurel and Hardy as they were my childhood heroes. So I'm always willing to cut them a break but I can only turn a blind eye so much. If the piece isn't one of their best what can I honestly do? I didn't make it! "The Second Hundred Years" isn't exactly a waste of time. I'm sure fans of the team are going to want to see it but I doubt anyone will say this is their best or their funniest short. If you've ever seen "Big Business", "Wrong Again", "Liberty", "Do Detectives Think?" and "The Finishing Touch" you'll see what I mean. Bottom-line: Not as effective as it could have been Laurel and Hardy short. Too many gags are milked and simply aren't funny. Not one of the team's best but die-hard fans will want to take a look anyway (and why not!).
Customer Review: One of their first proper teamings
This is one of the four titles that gets mentioned most often as the first "real" L&H film. (The other three shorts most-often cited for that historic milestone are 'Duck Soup,' 'Do Detectives Think?,' and 'Putting Pants on Philip.') In this short in particular, the boys have been sent to prison, and are trying to break out. Their first attempt sends them tunneling out of their cell and right up through the floor of the prison warden. Their next attempt is more successful, as they disguise themselves as painters and go around painting the town as though nothing is amiss and they're not two newly-escaped convicts. However, they still need new clothes, which they steal from two visiting French dignitaries who, unbeknownest to them, are supposed to inspect the prison. They throw the dignitaries out of their car and find themselves driven back through the prison gates, where they are mistaken for these very important people, and the charade begins. During a special dinner held in their honor, they try their best to pull the wool over everyone's eyes and to act as though they really are the French inspectors. Stan's battle with the cherry in his cup of fruit salad would be revisited a year later in 'From Soup to Nuts,' only in that short Mrs. Culpepper would be the one battling a cherry. However, their identities are revealed during their after-dinner tour of the prison, when they are recognised by the dignitaries, who are behind bars in a case of mistaken identity, as well as their fellow prisoners and their guard (played by Tiny Sanford). Not only is this one of their very first shorts as a proper team, it also demonstrates how hard-working and devoted to their craft they were. Stan and Ollie actually shaved their heads for this, and weren't able to return to work again right away because it was growing back. Their next two shorts following this had them making cameos in other peoples' shorts (first a Charley Chase short and then a Max Davidson short). This short is also significant in that it marked the beginning of Stan's funny hairstyle. His hair didn't grow back nice and straight when it began to grow in again, but rather all spiky and funny-looking, the way most fans are familiar with.