Barnaby Power

The camera turns, slowly; we are near a hill, in a world where everything is absurd. The "voice actors" recite a banal script overlapping, in perfect synchrony, the actors' mouths and gestures. The setting and costumes have no relation to the scene. A voice actor recites Shakespeare instead of the script; the confusion continues when the scene ends.

David Cairns and Fiona Watson offer a personal, witty and comprehensive study of the Hal Roach era of legendary Hollywood comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, including a film-by-film review of every short subject the team produced in the year 1928.