Berth Marks (1929) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardyl
In Berth Marks, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are small-time vaudevillians, trying to catch a train. A very funny short film, where they cause massive chaos …. Unwittingly and without knowing it!
Review
Berth Marks is a very funny Laurel and Hardy short film. The plot is very simple. Stan and Ollie and vaudeville performers, trying to catch a train to their next enagement in Potttsville. The short, talkie comedy is broken into three segments.
- At the train station
- Trying to find their berth
- Simply trying to get into their berth and getting undressed.
At the train station
It’s a funny bit, as both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are actually at the train station. They look for each other …. And keep missing each other by only a few seconds! The photo shows exactly what’s going on. It’s hilarious, and frankly reminds me of trying to find someone in a department store …. Something that everyone can associate with.
Trying to find their berth
One of Stan and Ollie’s trademark gimmicks is acting like a catalyst. They cause something, that spreads around them, but they’re unaffected. In this case, it’s causing people to rip each others’ jackets, etc. Each thinking that someone has done it to them, and getting revenge. But they keep choosing the wrong person, and the madness spreads …
Trying to get some sleep
First, they have to get into the berth, which is very funny all in itself. Stan tries to boost Oliver up — which fails. Stan standing on Oliver’s back, then trying to help him up — which fails. A helpful porter gives them a stepladder — and Ollie falls out. Eventually, they both fall out. “I wish I’d checked you with the baggage!”
Despite their best efforts, they eventually make it into the berth. And they try to get undressed in the small space, and not assault each other. Which fails. Fails hilariously.
And, no sooner do they get settled down, then the train arrives at Pottsville! As the rest of the passengers are busy ripping each others’ clothes to shreds! And the undressed Stand and Ollie are at the train station …. Where they realize that they’ve left their instruments on the train! And Oliver loses his temper, and the short film ends with him chasing Stan down the train tracks.
Cast
- Stan Laurel (Below Zero) … Stan
- Oliver Hardy (Block-Heads) … Ollie
- Harry Bernard (Any Old Port!) … Train Passenger
- Sammy Brooks … Short Train Passenger
- Baldwin Cooke (The Hoose-Gow) … Train Passenger
- Eleanor Fredericks … Lady in Berth
- Paulette Goddard (The Great Dictator, Scared Stiff) … Train Passenger
- Charlie Hall (Angora Love, Should Married Men Go Home?) … Train Passenger
- Pat Harmon … Stationmaster
Trivia
- Film debut of Paulette Goddard.
- Paulette Goddard’s character is the one disturbed on the lower berth when Stan Laurel gets his ‘”fiddle” entwined in her curtain.
- Laurel and Hardy’s final destination was Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Pottsville at the time was a popular stop for Vaudeville acts.
Quotes from Berth Marks
Oliver: Well, we’ve lost the music. Now, what are we going to do?
Stan: We can fake it.
Oliver: Fake it? A good thing you didn’t lose the fiddle or we would be sunk!
Oliver: [Sharing the upper berth on an overnight train] Get your foot out of my face! And don’t crowd! Why don’t you stay on your own side? Will you quit crowding? [Stan starts to cry] Would you mind getting over further and don’t crowd?
Oliver: Did you know that you have my pants on your leg? [Stan starts to cry]
Oliver: [Stan and Ollie fall out of bed for the third time] I wish I’d checked you with the baggage.
Oliver: Where’s the fiddle?
[Stan looks around, checks his pockets, smiles, and points to the train that just left the station]