‘DIRTY WORK’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Up the Chimney with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

This is a classic short film featuring Laurel and Hardy and there are two versions to check out, whether it’s on DVD or Blu-ray. There’s the original black-and-white version and there’s the colour version. There’s not much difference between the two, although one scene in black-and-white isn’t in colour. 😐

‘Dirty Work’ has Stan and Ollie being chimney sweepers. They get to do a job at the house of an eccentric scientist named Professor Noodle, played by Lucien Littlefield. The job does end up with Ollie going up on the roof before he falls right through the chimney and he ends up in the fireplace.

There are lots of moments featured throughout the film that I found funny. I found it funny when Stan and Ollie were covered in soot as they went up and down the chimney. It’s painful when Ollie got fed up with Stan and he said the classic line “I have nothing to say!”. He does treat him badly with a shovel. 😀

Stan and Ollie are led into the house by a butler named Jessop, played by Samuel Adams. Jessop is a dreary old soul working for his master – the Professor. He tends to be sarcastic when guiding Stan and Ollie to where everything is. He isn’t impressed with the Professor’s work either whilst watching him.

I found the Professor extremely funny in the film. He’s been working on his scientific solution for nearly two years and has reached his breakthrough. He intends to rejuvenate human life as we know it and he becomes ecstatic when his solution works. He demonstrates to Stan and Ollie whilst they’re grubby.

Once the Professor is out of the room, Stan and Ollie try out his new solution for themselves on a trout-like fish to make it younger. By accident, Stan bumps into Ollie, and Ollie falls into the bath of water with the solution in it. A huge bubble bath takes place and very strangely, Ollie returns as a chimpanzee. 😐

I found it funny when Stan tried to talk to Ollie, but he refused speak to him. “Don’t you know me? Won’t you speak to me?” asks Stan. “I have nothing to say!” Ollie replies. Poor Stan. 😀 I wonder if a way was found to put Ollie back to the way he was. Also, how can he speak English and in his voice as a chimp?

‘Dirty Work’ is a very entertaining short film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It’s one of their best films and it’s very amusing how their chimney sweeping job goes disastrously wrong, culminating in Stan and Ollie witnessing the Professor’s scientific experiments and getting more than they bargained for.

‘Dirty Work’ rating – 9/10

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