I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

As Good As It Gets

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

BEING AN EXAMPLE of the old switcheroo, this entry into the Laurel & Hardy series of 2 reelers puts the Boys into the role of Cops; rather than their being at odds with the Law. The resulting mayhem is pleasant and more than mildly amusing; even if it is decidedly on the predictable side.TO START WITH, the night scene filming is really impressive and does give us the feel of what has long been called "the Dog Watch" in Big City police department circles. The street scenes are authentic in appearance and make for a high classed, impressive and convincing setting. The sets, including the sight of a residential burglary call, do seem to be familiar. No doubt they were the very same shoot sights that were used in so many of Mr. Hal Roach's productions; dating back to the Silents.THE SITUATIONS THAT make up the scenario (such as it is) are mainly unrelated; held together only by their being the assignments of the rookie L & H cop team. Of course, this may be an unintentional concession to reality; for a real tour of duty day would be made up of many different assignments, which would be seldom related.THE CAST OF this one is quite sparse, with only three other players in the early goings on. The burglary suspect and the radio dispatcher's voice are the most prominently featured, other than the store burglar. The largest number of on screen actors appear at the end of the story in the police station. Though unbilled, the actors that filled out the cast are names familiar to the Hal Roach comedies, such as: James C. Morton, Tiny Sanford, Harry Bernard, Billy Bletcher (dispatcher's voice) and Charlie Hall.THE ENDING IS one that we would have to stretch to view as being truly a funny way to leave us laughing. Rather, it could be said to be an example of the surreal on the screen.

We've seen Laurel and Hardy as bums, unionized workers, manual laborers, Christmas tree sales man, and men soon to be married, but never before have we seen them as police officers (that work was presumably left to the Keystone Cops). The Midnight Patrol shows Laurel and Hardy as two late night police officers, who are informed of a burglary at a nearby mansion. After being completely oblivious to another thief attempting to crack a safe at a local store until he tries to steal the boys' car, Laurel and Hardy arrive at the aforementioned mansion and need to find a way inside. The boys attempt to use a solid stone bench as a battering ram to break the door down, which results in one of the funniest Laurel and Hardy stunts in any of their shorts, as they cause complete destruction to property and end up in a barrel of sauerkraut (don't ask) before being scolded by their superiors in the harshest, most evil way.The Midnight Patrol is a much more downtrodden, morbid short by the boys, dark and noir-ish in lighting and tone, only complimenting the early 1930's time period. Laurel and Hardy are intensely watchable here, but the humor is traded for a much more casual approach to a narrative that isn't always funny nor interesting, and, frankly, sometimes boring. However, the frightening and unexpected ending and the setup here are unique enough for Laurel and Hardy standards that The Midnight Patrol merits a watch in some respect.Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Directed by: Lloyd French.

Laurel and Hardy are police officers on the night shift patrol. They get a call about a robbery, only to find that two men are trying to steal the spare wheel from their car. They get past this to find they have forgotten the address. Laurel goes to find a phone to ring the station but gets involved in a safe cracking. When they eventually get to the address of the reported robbery things go from bad to worse.Opening with a rolling title sequence, this short made me think I had walking into the wrong screen, however, despite the gritty noir opening, this is Laurel and Hardy. The actual plot is filled out by several scenes on their way to the robbery, before eventually getting to the scenes of them trying to get into the house. All of these work quite well and all scenes make good use of their physical comedy skills – the scenes involving a locked door and a pond being the best.The low point of the film is the final shot (literally!) which is probably the worst judged ending of any short of theirs I've seen. Basically the film ends with the Police Commissioner borrowing a gun, firing two shorts at the backs of our fleeing heroes and then saying `call the morgue'. I was waiting for the final short of L&H holding their backsides in pain or something, but no, so the end of the film sees them shot dead! I couldn't help feel that this was totally against the idea of the comedy that had gone before.Laurel and Hardy both do good work and make the physical stuff look easier than it really is. The support cast of criminals are amusing – although the tyre thieves are just tough, the safe cracker has his share of disbelieving double takes.Overall this is an amusing little short. The major downside here is the fact that the ending leaves a sour taste and is very badly done.

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS There are superb stunts, Stan pulling some of his most gormless expressions, and an absolutely hysterical brick throwing competition. There are also some surreal gags, like the police headquarters several blocks away radioing their car to tell them their spare tyre is being stolen.The timing of the duo is impeccable, and even the opening titles – the credits being swished from side to side by a car windscreen wiper as it races through city streets – are excellent. Perhaps the only sticking point is that, while usually more suited to the shorter length pictures, this Stan and Ollie film ends a little abruptly, with a rather sick ending that sees them being murdered. Still it's a minor issue, and doesn't really get in the way of what is tremendous fun.