Expected more

Admirable film.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy (themselves), Edgar Kennedy (the cop), Dorothy Coburn (the nurse), Sam Lufkin (the home owner).Director: CLYDE BRUCKMAN. Supervising director: Leo McCarey. Titles: H.M. Walker. Photography: George Stevens. Film editor: Richard Currier. Producer: Hal Roach.Copyright 25 February 1928 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. A Hal Roach Studios Production. U.S. release: 25 February 1928. 2 reels. COMMENT: Yes, a delightfully entertaining if not exactly over-original Laurel and Hardy entry, which finds the boys playing incompetent house-builders who contrive to swallow (as well as tread on) nails and other sundries, as well as to naturally fall off planks and ladders at every opportunity. However, all the gags and "unintentional" horseplay are, as usual, very cleverly built up, and the delightful slapstick mayhem is cleverly accentuated by the casting of the diminutively attractive Dorothy Coburn as the feisty nurse.

Silent. Stan and Ollie show up to finish the job of building a house. They don't do it.The roughly slapped together structure has innumerable props that the two use in comic incidents, often repeated. Ollie, for instance, must carry a mouthful of nails and is bumped on the head or something so that he swallows them (three times).They're visited by a cop, an almost unrecognizably young Edgar Kennedy, who warns them to keep it quiet because of the nearby hospital. Kennedy leans against a pile of boards stacked against the wall. The boards fall down with a clatter, accompanied by Kennedy.Actually, it's not as slow as some of their "working man" efforts. The pace is brisk. And perhaps the neatest scene has the two bumblers playing toss and catch with a bundle of money while the owner of the house tries to intercept it.It's probably one of their better shorts.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Ollie and Stan are professional finishers who pull up outside an unfinished wood house. After stopping the truck from rolling away, the Owner (Sam Lufkin) says he'll pay $500 to finish the house by noon Monday, Ollie says they can finish by noon that day. They begin, and Stan causes Ollie to fall down a gap which would have had a walking board/plank across, and he snaps it when it's put back. While Ollie is chasing Stan, a Nurse (Dorothy Coburn) in the near hospital asks a Policeman (Edgar 'Ed' Kennedy) to stop the noise, which he does, but this quiet won't last for long. Ollie walks across a new bridge made by Stan, which snaps and he falls with his head going through the door he is carrying. The policeman is still there, and a long board appears in front of him, and at the eventually end is Stan, and when his takes this long board back, the policeman jumps seeing him again at the other end. Inside the house Ollie steps on a pile of nails, getting some in his shoe, so Stan comes in to clear them up, getting the bucket handle caught on the end of his shovel. Ollie treads on the nails again trying to help, and he throws his spare bucket out the window, hitting the policeman over. The nurse comes in to punch in the face to stop the noise, and she gets hit stepping over an angled plank, thinking it's Ollie she punches him in the stomach, making his hat spin, and Stan smiling gets it too, with his hat flying off. The nurse leaves before grabbing a hammer when Stan rips a bit of paper when she bends over, she obviously thinks it's her dress. So then they continue working, with Ollie putting a pile of nails in his mouth to use, swallowing it when he trips over with no step, and again when Stan tries to put up a window frame, the previous one fell apart. After kicking Stan, Ollie tries the step and it collapses on him, and the policeman's still snooping around, getting a punch in the face by the nurse still wanting quiet and respect. Ollie puts a walking plank on a window sill to walk on to reach the roof, and swallows yet another pile of nails in his mouth banging his head. Stan starts sawing this walking plank for a measurement, using a saw that keeps bending, and when it saws through and Ollie falls, so too does a glue can and pile of planks, all landing onto the policeman. Finally a strong walking plank is found to walk onto the porch, Ollie manages to walk on it safely, but the porch itself collapses. Eventually the house is finished, just in time for the Owner, but a bird lands on the chimney making it collapse, with a podium and two windows. They all quickly get squabbling for the money meant for payment, with glue and paint being used too, also for the policeman nurse too. The squabble leads to Stan and Ollie grabbing the large rock holding their truck, and it rolls into the house causing it to collapse. Filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a black and white silent film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Very good!

THE FINISHING TOUCH is a film typical of classic Laurel and Hardy films. There are many aspects of it that are seen in their other films. For instance, they boys are building a house and is very reminiscent of a few of their films such as BUSY BODIES and DIRTY WORK--all films where the team are trying to build or fix things and end up destroying everything around them. Additionally, at the end of the film, there is a big fight scene that sure brings to mind their BIG BUSINESS, TWO TARS and THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY. Now all this familiarity isn't bad--especially when the films are as enjoyable and fun as all the ones I just listed.Stan and Ollie are contracted to do the finishing work on a new house. However, since they are idiots, the tend to mostly break everything and hurt themselves in the process. In addition to Ollie getting the worst of many of these accidents, an innocent cop (Edgar Kennedy) gets banged around pretty badly as well--even though he was just an innocent bystander--a particularly even-tempered one at that. The film ends with the home being pretty much like you'd expect if Stan and Ollie had built it and there are many wonderful stunts at the end of the film.Overall, it's a lot of fun and is one of the better silent shorts the team made.By the way, watch the dump truck scene near the beginning. The truck dumps a load but only moments later the load magically vanishes due to poor editing and continuity. It doesn't ruin the film at all but I am surprised they didn't fix this mistake.