One Good Turn

1931
7.1| 0h20m| NR| en
Details

Down and out Stan and Ollie beg for food from a friendly old lady who provides them with sandwiches. While eating, they overhear the lady's landlord tell her he's going to throw her out because she can't pay her mortgage. They don't realize that the old lady is really rehearsing for a play. Stan and Ollie decide to help the old lady by selling their car. During the auction a drunk puts a wallet in Stan's pocket. Ollie accuses Stan of robbing the old lady, but when the truth is revealed Stan takes revenge on Ollie.

Director

Producted By

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
mark.waltz Laurel and Hardy strive to help little old lady Mary Carr whom they believe is about to be put out on the street. Little do they realize that the jokes on them. Starting off with them camping in the woods, for them it looks like everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But it was a nice though anyway. James Finlayson plays an important part, but this time he's not their foil, and they don't even share scenes with him. Carr is a sweet delight, obviously being an expert in these type of roles. In one of the few times that Laurel is allowed to show some temper, he actually gets to give Oliver a taste of his own medicine, that is until the final shot.
Jackson Booth-Millard Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Basicaly Stan and Ollie are living rough, with only some clothes and their car, and after managing to burn down their tent they see no choice but to go begging for food somewhere. They find the house of Old Lady (Mary Carr), and she agrees to make some sandwiches and coffee for them, while they do a little wood chopping, which of course doesn't last long. While tucking into their food, they overhear the Old Woman begging "villainous landlord" (James Finlayson) not to evict her when she can't pay him the $100 she owes. Stan and Ollie decide to try and sell their car and give the Old Woman the money to pay the villain off, and a paying drunk man accidentally puts his wallet in Stan's pocket, spurring Ollie to think he stole it from the Old Woman. So he forces Stan to go back (their car by the way collapses) to prove his guilt, but they both didn't realise she was rehearsing with the Community Player for a play, so Stan is very mad, and the film ends with a last squabble. Filled with good slapstick and all classic comedy you want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Worth watching!
rsoonsa A Great Depression theme underscores this two-reeler as the comedians, playing as sufferers of the general economic malaise, are on the road with little to their names other than a frazzled 1911 Ford jalopy and, after losing their shelter and provisions during the opening scene, the luckless pair begs for food at a house where the owner, played by matronly silent film player Mary Carr, takes pity upon them, serving a substantial lunch; while dining, they overhear dialogue from an amateur theatrical that is being rehearsed in the salon of their hostess, with subsequent events stemming from their eavesdropping, in a short feature that lacks the freshness of comedic execution that marks the best Laurel and Hardy works, although early career appearances of Billy Gilbert and Dorothy Granger are in evidence from among the cast.
knsevy ****SPOILERS****YOU WERE WARNED****Another great from Stan and Ollie's salad days.We find the boys, as usual, down on their luck. Of course, this was filmed during the Great Depression, when it wasn't uncommon for able-bodied men to beg meals. One of the qualities I've always respected about The Boys is that, no matter how depressing their circumstances, they never played it for maudlin sympathy. A movie about two men with no homes, no jobs and nothing to eat is kind of hard to envision as a comedy, on the surface, but The Boys pull it off grandly. Most of the great comedians of this era at least occasionally portrayed characters in dire straits - Chaplin did it almost constantly. I find it interesting to look at their disparate approaches to the same type of character.For instance, Chaplin, 'The Little Tramp', WAS a tramp. He could be sneaky, and would even steal if need be. Harold Lloyd could always be counted on to rise from poverty by his own brashness and go-getter personality. Keaton's character was half-sleepwalker, often stumbling into what he needed through a combination of bluff and sheer luck. I wonder how each of these characters would have faced the situation the boys find themselves in, when they discover that the nice old woman is apparently about to be put out on the street.Laurel and Hardy, they of the sincere, childlike ways, resolve to help the lady by selling their car, their last possession on earth. This, also could have been played up for schmaltz and sympathy, but instead the film takes this touching gesture and uses it as the springboard for the farce to follow.The film contains some of The Boys' trademark physical comedy, not slapstick or pantomime, but a dialogue of sight gags without a single word spoken. Two that come to mind are the sandwich-eating scene in the kitchen, and right after Stan manages to set their tent on fire. For me, the biggest laugh in the film was seeing a more and more-concerned Ollie watch Stan rush out of the bushes, grab a teacup full of water and rush back, again and again, until finally the tragedy is revealed.A real gem.