I challenge you to name another movie where the principle actor(s) laugh uproariously for at least an 8 min. stretch! Laurel and Hardy will likely leave you laughing at the end of this laughathon. This silent comedy short, at 22 min. run time, is easily divided into 3 segments, each about 7 min. long. It begins rather slowly, with Laurel in bed, with a bandage wrapped around his head, pointing to his right mouth area. In the morning, the boys go to a dentist, and have quite an adventure there. When they leave, they are high on laughing gas(nitrous oxide), which has a drastic effect on their attitude while driving.......In some detail, the hot water bottle Hardy gives Laurel leaks onto the bed. Hence, Laurel is banished to a chair in the corner, where he sees the ring at the end of the blind pull, and tries to attach it to his tooth. But, he only succeeds in pulling the blind down from its hangers. Next, they try tying a string around the tooth, with the other end on a door knob. Hardy then slams the door shut. It doesn't work. They try once more, but this time the door knob is pulled off. The landlord then shows up, wanting to know the reason for the noise. This results in some mutual kicking and hitting before the landlord leaves. The duo decide to wait until morning and see a dentist. They flop down on the bed, and it collapses........At the dentist, another patient remarks that , last week, this dentist broke his brothers jaw. Laurel tries to leave. A wheeled stretcher enters, and goes to the treatment room. Soon, it exits, with a sizable lump under a sheet. Laurel again tries to leave. The dentist and his patient emerge into the waiting room, fighting. Laurel is told he is the next patient. He passes out, and Hardy has to carry him to the dental chair, where he is fitted with a mask, and given some laughing gas. But, he soon wakes up and panics, tearing the mask off and kicking to get out of the chair. The dentist leaves, and Hardy calms Laurel down. Hardy sits in the dental chair, and shows Laurel how to behave there. Meanwhile, the dentist requests that another dentist deal with the patient in the chair. He sneaks upon Hardy, and covers his face with a cloth soaked in a liquid anesthetic, which knocks Hardy out. He extracts the tooth where Laurel said it hurt. Later, Hardy is angry about this development. He sets Laurel in the chair, puts the mask over his face, and turns on the laughing gas. But, he only partially gets the mask on Laurel. Considerable gas leaks into the room. Now, both start laughing hysterically. A nurse comes into the room and starts laughing. Then, she kicks the other nurse in the rear. L&H soon leave, without Laurel ever having his tooth pulled. His pain seems to be gone. for the rest of the film. The duo go out to their car, still laughing, and bump the cars in front and in back to make it easier to get out of the parking space. This makes them laugh even harder. They soon snarl up traffic , despite the efforts of the traffic cop(Edgar Kennedy, in his first L&H movie). Kennedy eventually gets in the driver's seat, and steers the car away from the jam, but into a giant mud hole in the road, ;where all disappear.........Back in 1914, Charlie Chaplin starred in a comedy short with a somewhat similar content, called "Laughing Gas". Actually laughing gas played a much smaller role in that film, than in the current film.........I think if the segment involving the landlord had been cut out, and a couple minutes trimmed off the car incident, and these minutes were used to expand the time spent in the dental office, this film would have been even better. See it at YouTube
Review of Leave 'em Laughing
