YOUR BEST LAUREL AND HARDY FILM?

I'm not sure about the silent shorts. Big Business is very funny and probably the best crafted of their silents, but the climax of Liberty is brilliant.

It is in the sound shorts I generally prefer the boys, and it's impossible for me to pick a particular favorite. However, recently I watched the lesser-known Their First Mistake, which made me laugh as hard as anything the boys ever did. Chickens Come Home is another favorite, with Hardy running for a mayor when his ex-wife suddenly appears, trying to blackmail him. The Music Box was my favorite as a child and is indeed a masterpiece of comedy construction, but it somehow feels a bit too cartoonish for me now; I prefer Helpmates, which has more character.

As for their features, I think I'll go with the very Way Out West here; it's a near-perfect film, with so many breathtakingly hilarious sequences, the unforgettable dancing number as well as an engaging story and swell supporting characters. Other top favorites of mine are Pack Up Your Troubles, Our Relations, Blockheads and A Chump at Oxford. Sons of the Desert is funny, but I didn't laugh as much as I expected to do; I somehow found it a bit too hysterical.

I don't enjoy the musical numbers in The Bohemian Girl that much, but the comedy routines provide the boys close to their best. Too bad they didn't follow this up in the musical Swiss Miss, which IMO is by far the weakest of all their Roach-features.

I haven't seen the shorts in almost 40 years (I remember some were silents). The movies are what is usually broadcast. Bohemian Girl, Swiss Miss, The Big Noise.

But I try to watch Babes in Toyland (March of the Wooden Soldiers) every Christmas if I can so that's my pick.