Wonderful character development!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I had BELOW ZERO on VHS as a kid, in a compilation with a few other Laurel & Hardy efforts. This one always stuck with me so that I went back to it over and over. Maybe it was the snowy setting, the relentless cold and misery that made it stand out from the rest.Watching it again recently, I was impressed how well it stands up today. The slapstick humour hasn't dated one bit, and the sight gags are top notch (the bit with Stan in the water barrel is hilarious). The continuity is strong throughout, Ollie plays the exasperated side of things well (he could sometimes come across as a bit mean, but not here) and Stan is as loveably dumb as ever.In amidst all the pitfalls, snowball fights and screw-ups, my favourite joke of all comes when the pair realise where they've been performing and why they aren't making any money. It's a beautifully understated moment with that one look from Ollie to the camera that says it all.

BELOW ZERO Aspect ratio: 1.37:1Sound format: Mono(Black and white - Short film)A pair of bumbling street musicians (Laurel and Hardy) find a wallet in the snow, leading to a series of comic complications.James Parrott's wonderful comedy short opens with L&H playing 'In the Good Old Summertime' to unappreciative passers-by during a heavy snow storm, only to discover they've been performing on the most unprofitable street in the city (I won't spoil the gag by revealing it here)! H.M. Walker's inspired screenplay piles disaster upon disaster for our hapless heroes, culminating in a restaurant encounter with outraged cop Frank Holliday and no-nonsense restaurateur Tiny Sandford. Like so many of these early shorts, the movie amounts to a loose assortment of comic incidents rather than a cohesive narrative, but it works like a charm. Highlights include L&H's encounter with hatchet-faced Blanche Payson, who responds with violent abandon to an errant snowball, and a surreal ending which closes proceedings on a slightly cryptic note (modern viewers will have their own idea what Stan whispers into Ollie's ear during the closing moments!). Photographed with vivid intensity by future filmmaker George Stevens, BELOW ZERO is one of the highlights of L&H's illustrious career.

Amusing short comedy with Laurel and Hardy as two street musicians in the cold winter of 1929.While they don't deserve much entertaining the people on the streets their luck changes when Laurel finds himself a filled wallet. They're almost robbed but a cop comes to their rescue. To thank him, they take him to dinner.When the check is due though they find out that the wallet they found is actually the cop's, so in the end they're thrown out of the place.Amusing short from this funny couple, though a bit slow at times, in particular in the first part. 6/10.

Laurel and Hardy are busking on the cold streets during the cruel winter of 1929. They are making very little money out of it but there luck appears to change when they find a wallet loaded with cash. A thief tries to steal it from them but a kind policeman helps them out. In return for his help the duo take him for a big steak lunch.This film starts quite well with the duo out in the cold playing music for cash. However the jokes are repeated even if a quite short period of time and this causes it to stall a little early on. The latter stages are funny and (although it is quite obvious) I didn't see the ending coming quite like it did! The snowball fights are amusing but just do go on for too long in my opinion.The cast are good and feature quite a few Laurel and Hardy regulars. Laurel and Hardy themselves are good but Hardy overdoes his `looks to camera' by wasting them on minor things rather than holding them back for the bigger laughs. Laurel is good but has less to do.Overall this is an enjoyable short in two parts – both of which are funny albeit one is easier to enjoy than the other.