Great Film overall

Boring

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I've been catching quite a few of Laurel and Hardy's film shorts lately, both silent and talkie, and one item of note for this picture is that there seems to be a fair amount of close-ups of the Boys that weren't standard for most of their work. This is most likely due to the limited space in which most of the story takes place, though it's not much of a story when you get right down to it. Stan and Ollie go through an inordinate amount of contortions in order to get ready to take a nap in their upper train berth. It actually gets to be very physical and I had to wonder if they might have suffered any amount of pain or bruises while falling down a small ladder or inadvertently sticking a foot in each other's face. In the meantime, the rest of the passengers on board revel in tearing each other's clothes off due to an unintended accident initiated by Stan. A lot of this was pretty standard stuff for Laurel and Hardy, and the version I saw courtesy of Turner Classics had their traditional 'Cuckoo Song' opening the program. As this is considered by many to be their first talking picture, I don't know if the Cuckoo music was there from the beginning or added later, but it was a neat reminder of the way I remembered these shorts when I was a kid watching them in the Fifties. Great memories and great to see them all over again.

Laurel & Hardy play vaudevillians headed to their next gig in another town who must deal with the cramped conditions of a railroad sleeping berth.Many fans consider this film, their second sound short, to be their worst short. I have to agree with them. There simply isn't much too this film. The train station opening isn't particularly inspired, although their exchange with the stationmaster is amusing. The main problem is with the main action. There is simply too much of the boys trying to get undressed and comfortable in the upper sleeping berth. The sequence is probably hurt by the script-- or lack thereof. Without any memorable dialogue, we are simply left with general whining and complaining.There were better possibilities. Early in the film, the boys inadvertently set off an avalanche of tit-for-tat violence and retribution. Unfortunately, after they initiate it, they leave it and we only get to see the repercussions of it at the end. Laurel and Hardy were masters of that form of stylistic violence -- as evidenced in "Two Tars," "Big Business," and "Tit For Tat." I would have preferred more jacket ripping and less feet in the face.That said, the film isn't a total waste. Watching it now on the newly-released "The Essential Laurel & Hardy," did bring some smiles Since I never really sought it out since I originally saw in the 1970s, it did have the benefit of being somewhat fresh to me. Still, it is not one of their better shorts.

I'm a huge fan of Laurel & Hardy but found this to be hard going even though it was only twenty minutes long. It's easy to see that the boys aren't used to - and are uneasy - working with sound, a fact demonstrated by long sequences played out in near total silence. Much of the dialogue between them seems to be improvised and sounds forced and unconvincing.Added to these problems with sound, the routines involved just aren't funny. The sequence in which the boys struggle to prepare for bed in a cramped sleeping berth on a train seem to go one forever (without raising even the ghost of a smile).This has to go down as one of their weakest efforts - and that includes the stuff they did for 20th Century Fox in the forties.

For anyone who doesn't believe that train rides can be a total hassle, see this film, and your views will be sorely changed. Laural And Hardy, two vaudeville stars heading for Pottsville, take us on a 20 minute ride of their life (one most of us wish would never happen). This movie makes me laugh tears right from the opening scenes, as the boys even find boarding the train a hard thing to do (this is one of the best scenes in the short). Next we find them on the train, and they've apparently lost their music for their act, can things get worse? of course! stan, on the way to his berth, walks into a womans room, causing her husband to think someone was looking at her, and a free for all coat fight ensues! The next scenes are what tops the short off... Stan and Ollie spend the last 15 minutes just trying to get in the berth and get settled into it! These last scenes make this short a killer, one to be remembered forever, and even though i am only 18, i will make sure my grandkids watch this when they are my age. A truly great L&H short...for everyone