Yesterday we looked at two examples of the ‘upper berth as comedic set-piece’ genre. As far as I know, the first extended example of this routine  is in Laurel & Hardy’s ‘Berth Marks’ (1929), their second sound film. To be honest, that statement is based on no research whatsoever on my part. So if anybody can prove me wrong, please do. ‘Berth Marks’ has a good deal of the charming clunkiness of all early talkies and can be improved upon by playing the below posted L&H music soundtrack while watching it. Apparently the Roach Studio habit of slathering that same wonderful music behind all their movies hadn’t yet begun. Much as I love L&H, there is something definitely missing when the music isn’t there. Apparently Stan Laurel disagreed, because the last several Roach shorts in the mid-1930s also had no music on the soundtrack at his insistence. All geniuses are allowed one poor decision, and that one fills Stan’s quota. To correct this error, play the below posted video while watching the above. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.