I first wrote a review for this Laurel & Hardy film over a decade ago...back when only a truncated version of the short was known to exist. Because it was missing so much (other than the famous pie fight), I said it was really impossible to adequately review and score "The Battle of the Century". However, since then something wonderful has happened which has fortunately happened with many other silents....nearly all the rest of the movie was found! I think much of this is because with social media and the internet, many old films in pieces are being reassembled and discovered. A great example are the Vitaphone shorts. Until recently, most were missing their sound/musical tracks but an internet group has managed to reunite the sound tracks with many of the films. Now I am not saying that this Laurel & Hardy short is 100% complete like these other shorts....but much more of it exists now than a decade or so ago.
The film begins with Stanley boxing a guy who might just kill him. After losing the fight (naturally), Ollie has Stanley heavily insured--and you presume he's going to arrange some accident to happen to his 'pal'. In the meantime, a minor street altercation results in a HUGE pie fight--probably the biggest one in film history.
Overall, what's there is quite funny...and worth seeing. Will it ever be 100% complete? We might just soon see.
The film begins with Stanley boxing a guy who might just kill him. After losing the fight (naturally), Ollie has Stanley heavily insured--and you presume he's going to arrange some accident to happen to his 'pal'. In the meantime, a minor street altercation results in a HUGE pie fight--probably the biggest one in film history.
Overall, what's there is quite funny...and worth seeing. Will it ever be 100% complete? We might just soon see.