There are moments when scholars or specialists get really happy. When (in the 1950s) the play DYSKOLOS by Menander popped up (in the hands of a Swiss bibliophile), the world finally had a complete play by the only other extant Greek Comic Dramatist after Aristophanes. Archeologists saw the discovery of Tutankhamon's tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 as wonderful because we got an idea of what the treasure of a dead Pharaoh of Egypt was like.
The same thing happens with movies, when a "lost" film somehow turns up. One of those that did was DUCK SOUP, a 1927 short subject that was considered gone forever until a copy (with French subtitles) showed up in 1982 in Holland. It turned out to be an important rediscovery. In 1927 Hal Roach was still experimenting with his players (as his main star, Harold Lloyd, had gone off into his own production company). He was using Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlie Chase, James Finlayson, and others as "the Hal Roach Comedy All Stars." A typical film for this group is CALL OF THE CUCKOO, where the story is about Max Davidson buying a badly made house next door to an insane asylum where Stan, Ollie, Charlie, and Jimmy are cavorting about. The film did give the Stan and Ollie "Cuckoo song" theme to them, but it did not highlight them (they are cavorting about with a bow and arrow in the film). Roach's point of view was to avoid a star, as he did not want a second ingrate walking out on him. Ironically, by doing this method of film making, he overlooked not only Stan and Ollie as a great duo for awhile, but he also failed to push Charlie Chase as he should have.
Then, Roach slowly began pushing Stan and Ollie into roles in several films where they were more or less confrontational (WHY GIRLS LOVE SAILORS is an example of this, with Stan as a stowaway on a ship where Ollie is a bullying purser (who thinks he is a ladies man)). But finally came DUCK SOUP. In it, although the characters are still in transition to the two "babes-in-the-woods" they became, the embryos appear there for the first time.
A great hunter sportsman leaves his home on a trip, giving orders to his butler to rent the mansion while he is gone. The Colonel's name (apparently originally) was Colonel Blood. However, because DUCK SOUP was remade as ANOTHER FINE MESS in 1930, the character was renamed for the same one that Jimmy Finlayson played in the later film, "Colonel Buckshot". Similarly, the couple who come to rent the house are "Lord and Lady Tarbotham", but the new prints rename them "Lord and Lady Plumtree", after the characters in the 1930 film.
It's understandable that the name changes are kept. The basic plot is the same. The boys are chased by representatives of the law, and hide in the mansion. When the renters arrive they pretend to be the Colonel (Ollie) and his maid (Stan), and they proceed to make a successful rental sale to his Lordship, only to have the original Colonel show up. The only difference is that Ollie and Stan are hobos who are fleeing a dragnet of army personnel rounding up tramps to help put out some forest fires. We learn that two tramps were responsible, and we wonder if it's our boys here. Ollie has a grubby week of heavy beard on his face (something unusual for him) but he wears a monocle to show his original gentility. Stan already shows his infantilism (Ollie always tries to be more serious - with disastrous results). Stan and Ollie are first seen reading a newspaper on a bench, but Stan concentrates on the comic strip page. When they see the military men approach them they flee, steal a bicycle, and drive off until they get to the home of Colonel Blood. Then they fall into their roles as the two inhabitants of the mansion.
The rest of the film reminds us of the later sound remake, but the sound remake let's them escape in a crazy manner on a bicycle. Here they are recaptured while trying to rob the mansion, and they are then taken to the spot of the forest fires, only to have a final mishap with the fire hose.
I must admit that while it is an enjoyable short, the later one is far better. The dialog is a plus, as is Hardy playing the piano in the mansion, and the idiot nobleman does have a good running joke about introducing himself and handing out his card. But the silent film does stand up well for the most part, and is a welcome re-addition to the existing corpus of Laurel & Hardy films.
The same thing happens with movies, when a "lost" film somehow turns up. One of those that did was DUCK SOUP, a 1927 short subject that was considered gone forever until a copy (with French subtitles) showed up in 1982 in Holland. It turned out to be an important rediscovery. In 1927 Hal Roach was still experimenting with his players (as his main star, Harold Lloyd, had gone off into his own production company). He was using Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlie Chase, James Finlayson, and others as "the Hal Roach Comedy All Stars." A typical film for this group is CALL OF THE CUCKOO, where the story is about Max Davidson buying a badly made house next door to an insane asylum where Stan, Ollie, Charlie, and Jimmy are cavorting about. The film did give the Stan and Ollie "Cuckoo song" theme to them, but it did not highlight them (they are cavorting about with a bow and arrow in the film). Roach's point of view was to avoid a star, as he did not want a second ingrate walking out on him. Ironically, by doing this method of film making, he overlooked not only Stan and Ollie as a great duo for awhile, but he also failed to push Charlie Chase as he should have.
Then, Roach slowly began pushing Stan and Ollie into roles in several films where they were more or less confrontational (WHY GIRLS LOVE SAILORS is an example of this, with Stan as a stowaway on a ship where Ollie is a bullying purser (who thinks he is a ladies man)). But finally came DUCK SOUP. In it, although the characters are still in transition to the two "babes-in-the-woods" they became, the embryos appear there for the first time.
A great hunter sportsman leaves his home on a trip, giving orders to his butler to rent the mansion while he is gone. The Colonel's name (apparently originally) was Colonel Blood. However, because DUCK SOUP was remade as ANOTHER FINE MESS in 1930, the character was renamed for the same one that Jimmy Finlayson played in the later film, "Colonel Buckshot". Similarly, the couple who come to rent the house are "Lord and Lady Tarbotham", but the new prints rename them "Lord and Lady Plumtree", after the characters in the 1930 film.
It's understandable that the name changes are kept. The basic plot is the same. The boys are chased by representatives of the law, and hide in the mansion. When the renters arrive they pretend to be the Colonel (Ollie) and his maid (Stan), and they proceed to make a successful rental sale to his Lordship, only to have the original Colonel show up. The only difference is that Ollie and Stan are hobos who are fleeing a dragnet of army personnel rounding up tramps to help put out some forest fires. We learn that two tramps were responsible, and we wonder if it's our boys here. Ollie has a grubby week of heavy beard on his face (something unusual for him) but he wears a monocle to show his original gentility. Stan already shows his infantilism (Ollie always tries to be more serious - with disastrous results). Stan and Ollie are first seen reading a newspaper on a bench, but Stan concentrates on the comic strip page. When they see the military men approach them they flee, steal a bicycle, and drive off until they get to the home of Colonel Blood. Then they fall into their roles as the two inhabitants of the mansion.
The rest of the film reminds us of the later sound remake, but the sound remake let's them escape in a crazy manner on a bicycle. Here they are recaptured while trying to rob the mansion, and they are then taken to the spot of the forest fires, only to have a final mishap with the fire hose.
I must admit that while it is an enjoyable short, the later one is far better. The dialog is a plus, as is Hardy playing the piano in the mansion, and the idiot nobleman does have a good running joke about introducing himself and handing out his card. But the silent film does stand up well for the most part, and is a welcome re-addition to the existing corpus of Laurel & Hardy films.