Night Owls (1930) watch online HD

By no means this is the best short Laurel & Hardy film but it still one that offers some decent entertainment, which is thanks to the stupidity and clumsiness of the boys, especially Laurel's.

The movie and its story are rather simple. It relies on simple one comical premise; The boys trying to break in at the police chief's house, at the request of Officer Kennedy, so he can capture the boys later on and impress his chief, who is not very pleased with the 42 unsolved robberies committed on Officer Kennedy's watch. If the boys don't help Officer Kennedy out, they'll go to jail for 90 days for sleeping in a public park. Sometimes one simple comical premise is enough to fill an entire entertaining and hilarious movie with but the slapstick and moments in this movie begin to get rather tiresome after a while, since it's mostly more of the same, when the boys begin to try and break-in. The movie is perhaps lacking in great true comical originality but yet it's perfectly executed in the movie, which still makes sure that this movie is a very good and fun one to watch.

The Laurel & Hardy regulars also make sure that this movie provides some great entertainment, such as James Finlayson as Meadows, the police chief's aid and Edgar Kennedy. Kennedy's role is rather limited down, almost to an non-comical one. Baldwin Cooke also shows up in a small part as one of the police officers.

The comical situations and slapstick in the movie works out well, though it's never anything too original. It's one of the reasons why this movie is not really more than a slightly above average Laurel & Hardy short, that is perhaps a bit disappointing, despite its entertainment value.

7/10

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Stan Laurel makes most of the gags in 'Night Owls' work. In this comedy short a police officer (Edgar Kennedy) will be fired when he screws up one more time. He finds Laurel & Hardy sleeping on a bench in a public park. They have a choice. They can spend some time in jail or help the police officer. He wants them to break in with his chief. He will save the day and the chief will like him again.

The short, with sound, shows us Laurel & Hardy as burglars most of the time. They must be the worst burglars ever. They enter the house over and over again but they also manage to lock themselves out every single time. We have some laughs, all because of Laurel. Although this is definitely not the best Laurel & Hardy comedy short, it is another fine little movie.

Cop Edgar Kennedy is in trouble. Their have been forty-two robberies in the police chief's neighborhood and he'll be fired unless he makes an arrest. He gets an idea. Rather than run off two vagrants, Stan and Ollie, he convinces them to rob the police chief's house so he can arrest them in the process. It was a pretty good idea, if Stan and Ollie hadn't proved to be the most inept burglars in history.

"Night Owls" was the team's seventh talkie and definitely the best one to date. The concept itself is funny, and the slapstick gags are plentiful and well-performed. (My favorite bit is when the boys pretend to be cats.) Nor does it hurt that Stan and Ollie are backed up here by Edgar Kennedy and James Finlayson, two of their best foils. Stan and Ollie themselves seem very comfortable in this film. Their interplay has a smooth, naturalistic rhythm that one expects from the boys at their best.

This film isn't quite a classic, but it fine little film. The team had finally found their footing in the new medium of talking films.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. A cop finds himself in trouble for not making any arrests during a robbery spree. So, he talks vagrants Stan & Ollie into breaking into the Chief's home, where he can then arrest them. Like a couple of NIGHT OWLS, the Boys descend upon the house. Chaos erupts during their attempt to scale the wall & get through a window. But matters only get worse when they finally get inside...

A good little comedy, filled with hardy slapstick. Edgar Kennedy plays the cop; that's James Finlayson as the Chief's butler.

NIGHT OWLS

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white - Short film)

Hoping to make an arrest that will please his boss (Anders Randolph), a lowly cop (Edgar Kennedy) persuades two vagrants (Laurel and Hardy) to rob Randolph's house in the dead of night, so he can 'arrest' them. However, things don't go according to plan...

An early sound-era comedy, in which absolute silence is the main objective! Naturally, L&H make enough noise to wake the dead whilst attempting to extricate themselves from a tricky legal dilemma (Kennedy threatens to arrest them if they decline his 'request'!), leading to the usual array of comic complications. James Finlayson hams it up as Randolph's clueless butler, hurling shoes at 'cats' in the garden (actually L&H, trying to evade detection) and getting one hurled back at him for his troubles! Ollie bullies Stan into compliance at every turn, though Stan tolerates his behavior only so far, resulting in conflict at every turn, timed to perfection by artists at the peak of their craft. Directed by James Parrott.

During the 1920's, Laurel and Hardy starred in silent films up until 1929 when they began doing talkies. The 1920's was very much a forming in their partnership. The 1940's saw them join various companies mostly 'Twentieth Century Fox' and in truth, there films in the 1940's and their final film in 1950 (Utopia which is arguably the worst film ever made) saw the duo in decline starring in some poor films. The 1930's saw Stan and Ollie in their prime starring in excellent shorts and excellent feature films. It is their 1930's work which gives them legendary status which has lived on for generations.

Their 1930's opener was 'Night Owls' a decent film yet much better was to follow. In 'Night Owls' Police Officer Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy) is under great pressure from the Police Chief (Anders Randolf). There have been over forty burglaries on his patch in the last week and Kennedy has failed to make an arrest. The chief tells him, sort it out or you're sacked. That night, Kennedy sees vagrants Stan and Ollie on the street and threatens to arrest them for vagrancy. Yet he'll let them get away with it if they break into the chief of police house, he'll arrest them and then he'll fix it for them. They reluctantly agree to go through with it. Yet Stan and Ollie are as good as burglars as they are at everything else, totally useless. Making high amounts of noise during the robbery, will they be able to not get the attentions of the chief and his butler Meadows (James Finlayson). And where is Kennedy to arrest them...

This was a good film, with a decent beginning and middle, yet the ending is a bit disappointing, what happens to Kennedy? and who has been doing all the house breaking? Yet this aside, Stan and Ollie put in a great performance, being wonderfully noisy house-breakers. Also a good performance from the great James Finlayson as the Butler Meadows.

So Stan and Ollie's 1930's career had began with this good effort, better would definitely soon come.

My favourite part in this film is when Stan and Ollie try to climb on the wall and a cat runs past them at full speed making them fall off the high wall. Unfortunately, my DVD of this film has somehow cut this bit out. A shame.

Night Owls (1930)

** (out of 4)

A policeman is on the down and outs with the captain so he has L&H to pretend to be robbers so that he can arrest them. The boys think the policeman will then get them off the hook but breaking into a house is harder than they thought. This is a pretty lifeless short with only a few chuckles and mostly dead jokes. The scene where the boys pretend to be cats is certainly the highlight.

Ladrones (1930)

** (out of 4)

Spanish version of Night Owls has the exact same story, although there's an added third reel, which is a different ending. Like other Spanish versions, the alternate ending here is actually a lot funnier than the American one so you've gotta wonder why it was cut. Some of the physical gags also work better here but it's still not one of the duo's best.

In this 1930 talkie L&H short, Stan and Ollie are a couple of cat burglar stooges for officer Kennedy, who blackmailed them into robbing the police chief's house in exchange for his not reporting them for sleeping on a park bench. Kennedy's plan was that he would receive credit for capturing the boys, thus allaying the chief's complaint that ,last week, there were 42 burglaries on his beat, with no arrests. At one point, the boys even meow like cats, to convince the chief's live in assistant, Meadows (James Finlayson), that they were, indeed, alley cats, probably looking for scraps in the collection of garbage cans the boys had accidentally knocked over, creating a racket. This is one of the funniest scenes in the film. Also, Meadows threw a couple of shoes in their direction, hitting each in the head. Laurel unwisely threw one shoe back at Meadows, hitting him square in the face(funny). Instead of going to investigate, Meadows pulled down the shade, as if that would make them go away. ......To get to the chief's house , the boys had to climb over a high wall. They had quite a time accomplishing this, and when they got to the top, they crashed trough a mini-greenhouse on their decent, to make more noise........Eventually, they got to the front of the house, where they found 2 ground floor-windows unlocked. They had a time going in the windows and out the front door(why?) before they put some silverware in a sack. About then, Kennedy, who had been knocked unconscious by a loose street light globe, showed up. The boys thought he was another cop, panicked, dropped their silverware, and fled over that wall, Ollie's pants being ripped off, as he went over. Kennedy is in the house, looking for them. Meadows and the chief, who had been awakened by the player piano mysteriously playing, came down the stairs, and caught Kennedy with the sack of silverware. The chief suggests that maybe he is the burglar who committed those 42 robberies? Kennedy makes to effort to deny this accusation. Thus, wea're left to make up our own minds whether the chief was correct. ....See it in it's colorized or B&W form at YouTube.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Night Owls' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to the best of their late 1928 and 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still good with a lot of great merits.

It may not be "new" material as such and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going.

Also found it to end on an abrupt whimper, ending just like that with not much resolve or punch.

When 'Night Owls' does get going, which it does do very quickly, it is good enough fun, not really hilarious but never less than amusing. It is never too silly, the energy is there and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Night Owls' we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable, particularly in the pretending to be cats scene, the comic highlight.

'Night Owls' looks good visually, has energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, particularly from an enjoyably hammy James Finlayson.

Overall, good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy but hardly disgraces them either. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy (themselves), Edgar Kennedy (Officer Kennedy), James Finlayson (Meadows), Anders Randolph (police chief), Harry Bernard, Baldwin Cooke, Charles McMurphy (police officers).

Director: JAMES PARROTT. Story: Leo McCarey. Story editor: H.M. Walker. Film editor: Richard Currier. Photography: George Stevens. Music composed by T. Marvin Hatley and Harry von Tilzer. Production manager: Henry Ginsberg. Sound recording: Elmer R. Raguse. Producer: Hal Roach. A Hal Roach Studios Production.

Copyright 6 January 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. A Hal Roach Comedy. U.S. release: 4 January 1930. 2 reels.

COMMENT: Exquisitely timed, "Night Owls" is one of the team's funniest entries. In fact, it's nothing less than a slapstick riot in which Laurel and Hardy are joined by the delightfully daffy Edgar Kennedy who "convinces" the boys they should rob the chief of police so that Patrolman Kennedy can then claim credit for their arrest.

"Night Owls" is a 20-minute American black-and-white short film from 1930, so this one will soon have its 90th anniversary. Maybe the names of director Parrott and writer Walker will tell you already that here we got another Laurel and Hardy short film that actually includes in the cast list also quite a few names that the duo worked with on other occasions. Familiar faces we got here like Finlayson who is fun too. This is one of the duo's early sound films, but for that it sounds fairly good and I have seen and (especially) heard weaker stuff. Add to thatb that the story is nothing too complicated beyond the main plot that has our two heroes pose as burglars, so the local police inspector can impress his impatient boss. Of course, a whole lot goes wrong with this plan, some of it because of Stan and Ollie's shenanigans, but also some for which they cannot be blamed. But the two surely made this one work and their elevating the material is really what sets this apart from other films from that era, also other films from the two, as they carry story and comedy nicely and keep it successfully from becoming boring or dragging. I think you should watch it. I am definitely a bit picky when it comes to these old films, but this one here I enjoyed quite a bit. See it.

"Night Owls" was one of the last Laurel and Hardy films for comic foil, Edgar Kennedy. He was soon to be replaced by Billy Gilbert. Released in 1930, Stan and Ollie are playing their vagrant characters who are offered the change of avoiding jail by carrying out a burglary for corrupt cop, Kennedy (who is on the verge of being fired from the force). The house in question, is none other than that of the police chief! Although this comedy short was all filmed in the "Hal Roach" studios, this doesn't affect the comedy in any way. James Finlayson is great as the put-upon butler of the said household. At one point, he takes a leaf out of Hardy's book by addressing the camera. I loved it! Stan and Ollie's attempts at burglary are like everything else they put their hand to - the final results being a disappointment. They both really squabble with each other during "Night Owls" but they always remain united against any adversity. One of their very best.

I've read quite a few reviews of Laurel and Hardy films and a similar pattern is emerging, for some reason a few people want to analyse the plot. This is old fashioned comedy at its finest and some of the best slapstick that you are likely to see, the plot was never intended to be the focal point of any of their films. The same thing can be said about a number of comedy teams at the time, so I'm not sure where their critical view of a weak plot comes from, certainly die hard fans of this duo cannot be surprised about the thin plot and to be honest, who cares?

More sophisticated comedy exists, but not many films or sitcoms can touch Laurel and Hardy's brilliance. I often feel let down by comedy in modern times, Night Owls though is harmless, hilarious and it does what comedy should do, it makes you laugh and it makes you feel good. If you seek comedy films with a better plot, then by all means search for what is right for you, otherwise perhaps it's best to leave Laurel and Hardy to people who love, admire and enjoy comedy from this era, because they are far above and beyond what some people are making them out to be, on this website. Overall, I would recommend Night Owls, in my opinion it is close to the level of Helpmates and Music Box, some of their finest work.

Stan and Ollie are put in a no-win situation. A police officer finds the poor guys sleeping on a park bench and is ready to throw them in jail for vagrancy. Their choice is the slammer or to help him get back in good graces with his captain by solving a burglary (there has been a rash of burglaries and he is being blamed for his slow actions). Of course, this sets up a series of ridiculous attempts to break into the Captain's house so they can be caught and later released. There are numerous pratfalls where the boys break in and then accidentally lock themselves out. Jimmy Finlayson is in the picture and provides more comedy as is Edward "Slow Burn" Kennedy, who is the officer who sets things up. Even a weaker effort like this one is better than most comedy. Isn't it interesting how much funnier these things are than the lowest common denominator stuff that passes for comedy eighty years later.

Laurel and Hardy once again fall in with bad companions, agreeing to rob the home of the police chief (Anders Randolf) so the clumsy cop Edgar Kennedy can step in and arrest them in order to fix his reputation and get in good with his boss. The dumbest of plots us saved by everything that can go wrong really going wrong and Kennedy accidentally being knocked our so he can't keep his part of the bargain. Another example of how risk taking often didn't pan out well, and how early technology often made these films somewhat difficult to get through. James Finlayson makes another appearance here, again as their foe, showing his frustration as the Chief of police's caretaker in his huge home. There are some moments of comedy with their attempts to get over the wall to the chief of police's house (complete with cats, piles of garbage, and a shoe-throwing Finlayson who keeps hearing Laurel and Hardy's cat noises), but overall, soundless moments make it difficult to enjoy fully without getting restless.

This film is an okay film, but as a Laurel and Hardy short, this is a bit of a disappointment. Quite frankly, the boys were capable of better stuff than this rather limp short.

Stan and Ollie are hobos who are caught by a cop (Edgar Kennedy). Instead of locking them up, the cop asks them to rob the police chief's house so that Kennedy can catch them in the act and impress the boss. He promised to then let them go after nabbing them at the house. Well, Stan and Ollie are completely inept at robbing the house--with Stan again and again and again and again being too loud and stupid to allow them to get inside the house without alerting the entire neighborhood. This is an idea that is just beaten like the proverbial dead horse and after a while it just isn't very funny. The time spent out in the alley making TONS of noise went on far too long and they were so loud, the dead would have risen to tell them to get lost!! Shortly after this, when they pretended to be cats, once again it was too much and went on far too long. In fact, there weren't that many great moments in this short apart from this overly long scene. A few laughs, yes, but that's really about all.

FYI--This videotape was from Hallmark/Artisan and was Colorized. As always, Colorized films look like crap and detract from the overall experience unless you have a fetish for ugly pastels. Try to find a non-colorized version if at all possible--they do exist.

Stan and Ollie came up against Edgar Kennedy a few times in their career - and he's as incompetent and clumsy as them in this fair-to middling short. Kennedy plays a cop under pressure to perform by his boss after 42 unsolved burglaries take place on his patch. Stumbling across a couple of bums (guess who) sleeping on a park bench one night, he persuades them to burgle his boss's house so that he can nab them and get into the boss's good books. Exactly how he persuades them is something of a mystery, but there you have it - this is a Laurel & Hardy comedy after all...

Naturally, Stan and Ollie prove to be the world's worst burglars. In their attempts to keep quiet they manage to smash a greenhouse and set fire to the curtains in between smacking each other with their bowlers. James Finlayson is the police chief's manservant in this one, although he and the boys don't really share a scene as such. The film ends fairly suddenly, with Stan, his backside jammed into a dustbin, scurrying away like a demented crab. Poor Ollie has never looked more consistently exasperated than he does in this one.

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. The newspapers are reporting forty-two recent burglaries in the neighbourhood, and Officer Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy) seems like the only one to blame. To try and get his reputation back, Kennedy finds Stan and Ollie, sleeping on a bench, and makes them a proposition to let them off if they rob the house of the Police Chief (Anders Randolf), and he saves the day. So Stan and Ollie join Kennedy at the Chief's house and have problems knocking things over, climbing over the wall, pretending to be cats meowing loudly, getting through the window and door, knocking Kennedy out with a brick, and eventually getting to stealing valuable stuff. While they are doing all this, of course the Chief can hear a lot of noises, and the butler Meadows (James Finlayson) is the one who is getting most annoyed with having to deal with it. In the end, Stan and Ollie are caught robbing, and the Chief realises Kennedy (after waking up) was involved in this attempted burglary, and the boys run away from approaching police sirens. 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!

A police officer is under fire from his boss for not being able to catch any criminals. Eager to prove his worth he sets out to catch some criminals. He comes across Laurel and Hardy sleeping rough in the park and offers to let them go without a charge if they agree to break into his boss's house (after which he plans to catch them). The reluctantly agree but find that crime is harder than they first thought.

The plot here is a little crazy – I was confused as to why Laurel and Hardy would agree to the policeman's offer in the first place. Likewise how the policeman would actually benefit from it was also very unclear, but I quickly forgot as the set up gave way to the comedy. The routines all centre around the break-in to the house. The duo struggle to get into the house and cover the noise they can't help but make. A running gap about impersonating cats is nicely done even once inside the house!

Laurel and Hardy do good work once inside the house although the film struggles as it sets up the plot for a minute or so without them onscreen. Finlayson is good as the butler even if it's not quite him at his best, his double take is still good.

Overall despite a muddled plot the actual delivery is as good as always and the main body of routines are all good. Aside from the set up in the beginning the only other flaw is at the opposite side of the short – the end, the film lacks a strong punchline and just stops. In the version I saw it didn't even have closing music, `the end' just came up and that was that! Watch it for the stuff in the middle I guess.