Review of Early to Bed

In contrast to nearly all the other reviews, I find Stan somewhat culpable for the fiasco of their destructive evening together on Ollie's birthday, in this L&H silent comedy short. Obviously, Ollie has been out celebrating the occasion, and is still full of exuberant, if slightly tipsy, energy when he arrives home. He decides to play a prank on his butler: Stan, ringing the doorbell, then hiding behind a bush, to sneak into the house when Laurel goes searching. He locks Stan out, and taunts him from a little door on the front door. Eventually, he lets him in. But, Stan is in no mood for pranks, feeling it would be undignified for him to participate in some horsing around. He doesn't even smile at Ollie's prank. Like a bad kid, Stan tells Ollie he needs to go to bed. But Ollie will have none of it, telling Stan he will have to catch him, to make him go to bed. Stan does catch him and they have a wrestling match, which Ollie wins. Stan complains: "I was only trying to do my duty". But, clearly, in Ollie's mind, his duty of the moment is to go along with Ollie's desire for fun. In defiance of Ollie, Stan decides to go to bed himself. But, again, Ollie conspires not to let him, turning on the lights, and pouring water on his bed. Stan has had enough, and declares that he is leaving in the morning. Ollie replies that he won't let him. Stan retorts that he will make Ollie fire him. In my judgement, he should have just left, instead of destroying many things. But, then, we wouldn't have had as much fun. Kids, especially, like to see such maihem. At first, Ollie laughs at Stan's destruction, but soon changes his tune when the carnage begins to accumulate. When Ollie concludes that Stan has gone mad, he runs from him, jumping in the fountain, which has a number of cherub-like heads resembling Ollie's head. Stan finds him, and begins hitting him with a fireplace ash shovel. This goes on for some time, until Ollie knocks off one of the look-alike heads, and puts his own head in it's place, spouting water from his mouth, like the others. Stan is perplexed.. Eventually, Ollie ends the charade, and offers to call a truce and shake hands. Stan reluctantly agrees. Now comes the cruelest thing Ollie does. He extends his right hand to shake, and when Stan does, he moves it and musses Stan's hair, followed by pushing him into the fountain., laughing himself silly, as he hits Stan on the head with the fireplace shovel.. Clearly, he hadn't changed his prankster mood at all. I think this was a poor, if amusing, ending..,.......Buster, a small dog, is a cute addition in the first half of the film. In the beginning, Ollie, Stan, and Buster are sitting on a park bench. Ollie opens his mail, gives the empty envelope to Stan, who gives it to Buster, who deposits it in the trash can........See it at YouTube