A Patrulha da Meia Noite

After decades of watching this classic, I still can't figure out what the chief of police is doing with a "barrel" of sauerkraut in his basement --which Laurel and Hardy promptly fall into!

This short is OUTRAGEOUS, and has some history behind it. Here, the boys are rookie cops who answer a variety of calls on their first night. This comedy is peppered with some of the best stock players who worked with Laurel and Hardy, including Tiny Sanford and James Morton as cops and Charlie Hall as a guy who tries to steal the rear tire off the boy's police car! Stan Laurel made it a point to include actors who appeared with him back on the London stage.

Case in point is Frank Terry, who plays the wily safecracker who argues with Stan as which day is best for "him" to appear in court? In case you didn't know, the man with the deep, deep voice on the police radio is Frank Brownlee. Brownlee became famous --or at least his voice did --when he auditioned and won parts in Walt Disney cartoons. He moved to Warner Brothers and did many voices for Bugs Bunny cartoons and the like, however.... he NEVER got credit because there was a clause in Mel Blanc's contract to only give HIM credit. Lloyd French directed this short who also went to Warner Brothers and headed hundreds of popular big band musical and comedy shorts.

Get the Laurel and Hardy dvd short subject box set. Some have been produced in the UK, so beware as they will not play on American made dvd players. Check the details.

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short.

Novice cops Stan & Ollie are THE MIDNIGHT PATROL, guardians of the night. Their complete incompetence dealing with crime, however, soon leaves a trail of chaos & destruction.

A funny little film, although ending it with two murders is a bit much. Highlight: Ollie in the fishpond. That's Frank Brownlee as the Chief, Walter Plinge as the gentlemanly crook and Charlie Hall as one of the tire thieves.

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 'The Midnight Patrol' quite one of their very best, but it to me still very good.

Admittedly, the story is pretty thin, in fact there's not really much of one, and is pretty standard but the worst asset is the ending, which is both abrupt and mean-spirited in a jarring way.

Despite that, 'The Midnight Patrol' is great fun while also having a definite degree of substance, never less than very amusing and the best moments being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy 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. It's all simple but it is effective in its simplicity without feeling too thin. Hardy's fishpond scene is a highlight.

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 'The Midnight Patrol' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'The Midnight Patrol' looks good visually, is full of 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 cast support them well.

Concluding, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

New cops Laurel and Hardy bungle their way into arrest the Chief of Police in his own home.

Of course, that's not the only thing they bungle. They get into an argument with safecracker Frank Terry, with not a clue as to what is going on. That's one of the pleasures of Laurel & Hardy -- I almost wrote 'cartoons; -- shorts: their ability to keep going with no idea of what is going on.

It's not one of the best of the Boys' shorts. Well, they can't all be masterpieces. his one is only very funny.

While hardly the best of their films - frequently seeming to have been dashed off in about five minutes - it does however begin with a dramatic title sequence combining windscreen wipers and a police siren and provides the novelty of seeing Laurel & Hardy as members of the establishment - looking very dapper in policemen's uniforms with wing collars - playing a pair of cops so dumb their tyres are stolen while they're parked and are unable to spot misdemeanours being committed right under their noses by a hood in bowler hat and striped jersey; while their attempts to gain entry into a house where a burglary has been reported are more harrowing than funny. And would the Chief of Police really have (SPOILER COMING:) meted out such rough justice at the film's conclusion?