Putting Pants on Philip

Putting Pants on Philip - movie poster - Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel

Putting Pants on Philip (1927) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy

The basic plot of Putting Pants on Philip deals with the stuffy J. Piedmont Mumblethunder (Oliver Hardy) meeting his Scottish nephew, Philip (Stan Laurel) at the docks, where he’s arriving for a visit.  One of the funniest bits of the movie is the medical exam the ship’s doctor has to give Stan before allowing him to disembark, with Stan Laurel’s gift for physical comedy in full effect.

The bulk of the short film deals with Philip’s girl-crazy nature, as he keeps chasing a beautiful girl, with his Scottish kilt getting in the way.  Not the least of which involves Stan losing his underwear! 

Ollie and the tailor literally putting pants on Philip

Later, Oliver takes Stan to his tailor, to get a pair of pants made.  But Stan will have nothing to do with it.  A good, zany chase scene inside the tailor shop ensues.  After trying to ditch his “uncle” on a double-decker bus, Stan again tries to make time with the young lady, removing his kilt (thankfully having replaced his undergarments!) and laying it across a muddy patch in the street for the girl to walk across.  But she instead skips across it altogether.  When Oliver tries to use it, he sinks into a massive muddy pit, losing the last of his cherished dignity.

Although a different Laurel and Hardy film, I enjoyed Putting Pants on Philip, and I hope you do as well.

Editorial review of Putting Pants on Philip, courtesy of Amazon.com

Stan Laurel is a kilt-wearing Scot, fresh off the boat, come to America to meet his cousin–that dapper man-about-town Oliver Hardy. Embarrassed by being seen in the company of a man wearing a dress, Hardy has to avoid losing his status in the community as Laurel causes one misadventure after another. Hardy soon gets his cousin to a tailor to begin the onerous task of Putting Pants on Philip.

Cast of characters

Additional Cast

Trivia

  • Although they had appeared in several films together at this point, Stan Laurel considered this the first official Laurel and Hardy film.
  • This is the first appearance of the famous, at least to Laurel and Hardy fans, of the Pink Pup Nightclub. This is on the Hal Roach Studios lot, and can also be seen in The Battle of the Century (1927), Their Purple Moment (1928), and That’s My Wife (1929).

[Updated January 11, 2023]

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Professional clown for over 25 years - happily married, with 5 children and 1 grandson