planktonrules Review of Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde

Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925)

Stan Laurel's best Pre-Oliver Hardy short

[10/10 · 27 April 2007]

Long before Laurel was teamed with Hardy, Stan Laurel was a solo act and he made a lot of comedy shorts. Some of them are pretty good when viewed today, but most I have seen aren't all that remarkable--especially when compared to his contemporaries. However, I was very pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon this one. I had never known that Laurel had made a parody of the John Barymore classic, DR. JECKYL AND MR. HYDE. In many ways it was a very close parody--with excellent sets and Stans pantomiming a silly but easily recognizable version of Barymore. But what really made this film was the excellent writing. The intertitle cards, for instance, made me laugh and were filled with still funny jokes. One of the funniest aspects of the film was how stupid all of Mr. Pride's evil deeds were (such as putting a guy's fingers into a pair of "Chinese handcuffs". And, to make it even funnier, everyone behaved as if he WAS some evil monster! Plus, there were some wonderful gags (I particularly liked when his dog drank the formula as well as the very end). All in all, this was a funny and good-natured send-off of Dr. Jeckyl--and even better than Laurel's more famous parody, MUD AND SAND. For fans of silent comedy, this is a must-see!