Filmed in February 1929, when sound was well on its way in, ‘Double Whoopee’ was a defiantly silent entry and one of the best of all Stan and Ollie non-talkies. The hotel setting, characters and costumes are wonderfully evocative of the 20s, complete with ‘The Prince’, a Von Stroheim-esque character and a blonde flapper played by a barely legal Jean Harlow. Trivia: George Stevens, the cameraman of record, has his name misspelled on the credits as ‘Stephens’. Ridiculous since he’d already photographed a number of Roach comedies and hadn’t had his name mangled thus far. The set-piece fight scene that ends the film is endlessly inventive and the film never lags–it’s briskly accomplished and nimble for a one-set movie. ‘Double Whoopee’ would be the last of the silent L&Hs. Their first talkie ‘Unaccustomed As We Are’ was, in fact, released the month before. In looking at their filmography I note that they released a film every month! (Except for a mysterious three month summer break in the summer of 1928). An astounding workload when one considers the inventiveness of the gags and the intricate execution of the set-piece comic scenes. The six-day work week was in effect and I can only imagine the exhaustion that set in after awhile. Stan, of course, was a seemingly tireless workaholic and had to have been affected by it–he was a problem drinker much of his adult life and one can see why. Hardy, on the other hand, took little interest in the development of the films and usually headed for the racetrack as soon as his shooting day was done. And that’s all I have to offer on this dark and snowy (in the east anyway) Friday…