Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

classicsoncall Anyone else and I probably wouldn't be as receptive, but Laurel and Hardy make destroying someone's home a unique exercise in physical comedy. Frequent collaborator James Finlayson is on hand as well, not so much as a foil this time, but as a participant in the extremes the opposing parties go to in order to one-up the other. What really amazed this viewer was when Ollie took an axe and actually chopped a tree down in the picture - holy cow! With both sides going on a tear, the one thing that would have made this better and perhaps more ironic, would have been to have Finlayson's character a guest at the home the Boys wrecked. Talk about 'good will toward men', it never had a chance.

tbyrne4 I had the pleasure of seeing this Laurel and Hardy short recently at the Old Town Music Hall theater in El Segundo, Ca. Totally brilliant comedy has Laurel and Hardy as Christmas tree salesmen in Los Angeles going door-to-door trying to peddle their flimsy products. They come up against a particularly cantankerous older man and hijinks ensue. The genius of this one is the way the situation builds upon upon a single small incident until things reach truly catastrophic proportions. When you think it can't get any worse, it does. And when you think they've gone far enough, they go even further. Watching this with a large audience of all ages really was proof that great comedy is timeless. Everyone in the theater was roaring with laughter by the time it was through. Just wonderful.

tavm Hours after I rewatched The Fixer Uppers, I remembered another Laurel and Hardy short that had something to do with Christmas: This one called Big Business (also the title of a feature starring Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler from 1988). The boys sell Christmas trees in this one and are not very successful at it (maybe because it's sunny in this short's setting). One customer who's particularly annoyed is played by usual nemesis James Finlayson. The gradual destruction caused by these three as well as their reactions to each indignity make this one of the funniest of the L & H silents. There's also notable bit players like Charlie Hall, Lyle Tayo, and as a cop watching all the shenanigans, Tiny Sandford who's also good in his role. So on that note, this is my favorite of the Laurel and Hardy holiday comedies. P.S. If you can read lips, you've probably noticed Stan addressing Ollie by his nickname, Babe, which he was called when he first worked in the film industry when it was briefly based in Jacksonville, Florida, which is where I once lived during the late '80s-early 2003. Update-9/24/11: I just watched this again at an outdoor screening at the Baton Rouge Gallery with live musical accompaniment by The Incense Merchants, whose contemporary stylings add to the proceedings immensely, with an appreciative audience of which one female member laughed as loud as I did. (she must also be an L & H fan like yours truly!)

Igenlode Wordsmith Based on what I'd heard about it, I didn't think I was going to enjoy this part of the programme much; destruction derbies really aren't my thing, and while I used to love Laurel and Hardy as a child, I've been a bit disappointed recently on re-viewing their work. Well, I was wrong!Admittedly the funny bits of this film consist almost entirely of smashing things up, but somehow it's the completely childish and almost innocent way in which it's done that raises the laughs: Hardy attempting to dig up the lawn one shovelful at a time, Finlayson rolling vainly on the ground in a Christmas-tree-tantrum. And then, of course, there's the mass hysteria of the ending...I don't think I can possibly have enjoyed it as much as the ladies next to me (who were in non-stop whoops for the last ten minutes), but I definitely found it very much funnier than I was expecting.