Sadly Over-hyped

Let's be realistic.

A Brilliant Conflict

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Berth Marks (1929) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy are a vaudeville team who are trying to catch a train so that they can reach their next gig. They barely catch the train but once on there they run into one problem after another with the biggest being trying to get up in their bed so that they can sleep.BERTH MARKS was the duo's first sound film, although it was also shown in a silent version in theaters that hadn't yet upgraded their systems. For the most part this is a mildly amusing comedy but at the same time there's no question that it falls well short of classic Laurel and Hardy films. The biggest problem is the fact that there's really not too many laughs and the one joke pretty much takes up the majority of the running time. This joke has the boys trying to get into their bed but constantly failing for one reason or another. This here just isn't funny enough to warrant it taking up most of the running time.

I'm surprised at all the negative reviews here on this short. I was expecting to be impatient with it since I could tell by the title it would be the two of them in a train berth together, but for me it totally cracked me up! A lot of L&H humor goes on a long time repetitively and most of the time I love it but a few times I get a little bored (Tit for Tat comes to mind), but this was just so silly it was hard for me not to go along with the gag till the end. The gag with the rest of train was great also as was the shoe gag, but I really really thought the berth scene was a riot. BTW, I think the gag starts when they are both assigned a single berth because I don't think it works that way in real life, you pay for one bed per person. I could be wrong on that but I have a feeling thats the way it was. One reason why I may like this more then most is because after all of these years this was the first time I watched it and after watching all their later work from the 30's and on this was new material for me so I would give just about anything I watch them in thats new for me at least a 7. But I did really crack up at the two of them in the same berth and seem to like all the different comedies that get set in that type of scene like the 3 Stooges in A Pain In The Pullman and ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd in Show Business, I also think Abbott and Costello did some scenes in them and there is train humor in The Thin Man films. I always seem to enjoyed them all. I'm giving this short a 9 out of 10. Trivia: I'm surprised no one else mentioned it yet (that I noticed). That "fiddle" gets totally smashed in the beginning of the film, you can see it fall out in pieces from the bag, but then it's whole again when they get on the train!

This first talking movie from Laurel & Hardy is a surprising good one. It has the typical Laurel & Hardy humor in it, for which they are so famous and loved over the world. This is one of their most typical shorts. It's simple and it's almost non-stop filled with slapstick moments. Laurel & Hardy at their purest and finest.The movie begins standard but from the moment when the two boys enter the train the movie becomes an almost fun and non-stop laugh-fest. The movie its humor is very simple and also predictable but executed brilliantly by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Especially the scene in which the two boys try to get in bed, which last at least 5 minutes, is one to remember and Laurel & Hardy hilarity at its best and purest form. Although the movie its humor and moments are rather stretched out, the movie never really becomes tiresome to watch.More than in other early Laurel & Hardy comedy shorts, the supporting cast also plays an important part when it comes to the humor. The movie is filled with comical moments, that don't even feature the two boys in it. Among the supporting cast is Laurel & Hardy regular Baldwin Cooke and movie icon Paulette Goddard. Talk about movie history!This movie is definitely better than Laurel & Hardy's other work from the '20's. It's humor and characters already have the shape and form as their later and best work from the early '30's.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.Vaudeville musicians Stan & Ollie board a train heading for Pottsville. Finding their reserved `upper', their attempts to get into it & maneuver around it are a study in total frustration. They'll have more bruises than just BERTH MARKS when they finally reach their destination.This little film is pure slapstick and very funny. The Boys make travelling in an upper berth look absolutely hideous.