Horst in Translation ([email protected]) The 19-minute "Perfect Day" is a live action short film from 1929, so this one is already almost 90 years old. Wow! If you read the names of the people who made this, you will maybe realize already that it is a Stan&Laurel short film from their sound days already as they were among hose not too many who managed a successful transition from silent to sound film. But of course given the year when this was made, it is still a b&w film. Story-wise, I personally felt it just wasn't enough, not even for such a brief work. The 2 protagonists' wives added almost nothing except random waving at the camera that got repetitive at some point and Edgar Kennedy had no material either after the 10-minute mark. You could of course say this is realistic that he hasn't suffer even more from the lead duo's shenanigans, but well.. I don't know. To me he felt a bit wasted. I mentioned the repetitive waving already and in general they tried to stretch some joke here for too long, also everything involving the tire. Anyway, on a final note the right path for Laurel to shine is in my opinion the clumsy clown like Lloyd, maybe Keaton, but scenes like the brick window smashing scene should certainly be written for Hardy. Overall, this sadly is not the duo at their very best and it's really only worth seeing for the very biggest fans of the two. I give it a thumbs down.

Robert J. Maxwell Laurel, Hardy, and their wives drag Uncle Ed along for a picnic. There is a good deal of fuss and bother getting the food together, getting into the car, starting it, and finally leaving -- but they only travel about a block before the car and everyone in it sinks into an arbitrary fathomless puddle of mud.Some of the gags are very familiar by this time. At the sidewalk, Laurel throws a piece of metal at Hardy, misses, and it goes through a neighbor's window. The neighbor picks it up, slowly walks to the car, and throws it through the windshield. (In the shots that follow, the windshield has magically fixed itself.) Laurel deliberately takes the brick Hardy hands him and throws it through the neighbor's window. The neighbor retaliates in kind. We've seen it before, so we know what's coming and some of the humor is drained from it.What I found most enjoyable was Edgar Kennedy's foot. The unhappy Kennedy has gout and his foot is wrapped in so many bandages it resembles a soccer ball. Now, gout is an extremely painful condition. The joints turn red and swell up. I couldn't count the number of ways that gouty foot is traumatized. In the first instance, Laurel unthinkingly yanks a chair out from under the propped-up foot. The foot falls with a thump to the floor and is savagely attacked by the family dog. After that, the foot is stepped on, sat on, has a door slammed on it, and has the tireless metal rim of a Model T Ford run over it. Pretty inventive stuff.

George Mainwaring An excellent short featuring Laurel and Hardy during their first year of doing 'talkies'Stan, Ollie, their wives (Kays Deslys and Isabella Keith) and their Uncle Edgar (Edgar Kennedy) are off for a family picnic. Uncle Edgar has terrible gout in his foot which isn't what you want with Stan and Ollie around. In the house Stan and Ollie drop all the sandwiches on the floor. Yet they all get in the car and get ready to set off. But then there is a puncture, followed by a fracas with a neighbour. Will they ever get away...This is a great film I think, with so many good routines. Uncle Edgar's gout created the best comedy in it for me. In the house, Stan just takes the chair Edgar is resting his leg on, which causes the dog to put his teeth into Edgar's very painful foot. Then there are several more incidents in the car, the funniest being when the car runs over Edgar's foot. Also great is the way they keep saying goodbye to the neighbours when they are ready to leave, yet something keeps cropping up, so they are repeatedly saying goodbye to their neighbours.Based on an idea by Stan Laurel inspired by some of Laurel's neighbours who attempted to also go on a picnic, but failed to get away, the end sequence to 'Perfect Day' where they drive into a ditch was actually done full on in filming, with the cast having to be under water for a few seconds. A great short.

Snow Leopard This Laurel & Hardy short feature has quite a variety of slapstick material. Most of it is rough physical humor - such as sore feet getting trodden upon and bricks being thrown through windows - but there are plenty of different, funny gags with a couple of subtle ones thrown in. Stan and Ollie are planning on taking their wives and their uncle (Edgar Kennedy) for a nice peaceful picnic, a "Perfect Day". They encounter difficulties even before getting out the door, and once they get into the car, the real chaos starts. Stanley has a very funny bit trying to change a tire, and there is a nicely done subtle joke when, in the midst of a heated 'tit-for-tat' battle with a neighbor, everyone suddenly jumps up and runs inside - what did they see? "Perfect Day" is a good comedy and worth a look.