Stan Laurel may have been a great comedian, but even he doesn't come off as very funny when his material is cut out of context and shuffled together into an incomprehensible short film. I'm not sure I even want to consider this a film in its own right, as it is composed mainly of outtakes from other Stan Laurel films with bridging shots and new title cards designed to fool the audience into thinking they are seeing something new. It doesn't come off well. The extent of Stan's character is: "He's crazy. He does things that don't make any sense." Therefore non of the comedy comes off. Most of the film he spends apparently convinced that he is Napoleon because he's been hit on the head with a ball. Apparently this causes him to do Napoleon-like things such as try to eat a lunch he can't pay for in a cafeteria, keep changing in and out of a boater hat, and try various unusual methods of cracking a nut. A good percentage of the jokes consist of "Stan falls down."
I don't really blame Stan Laurel for the ineffectiveness of this short. Even when his solo films are not his best work, they are much more cohesive and funny than this. Don't take this as representative of Stan Laurel as a solo act. Watch "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Pryde" instead. Stan will be better served and you will laugh more.
I don't really blame Stan Laurel for the ineffectiveness of this short. Even when his solo films are not his best work, they are much more cohesive and funny than this. Don't take this as representative of Stan Laurel as a solo act. Watch "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Pryde" instead. Stan will be better served and you will laugh more.