Hitchcoc I'm told this is the second sound film for Laurel and Hardy. They really look young in this one. They are a couple musicians, trying to get to a gig. They manage to get an upper berth on a train, so both have to sleep in the same bed. As they work their way through the close quarters, they do some troubling things. This time they don't pay the price because other people are mistaken for their actions. The ongoing joke has to do with people ripping up each other's clothes. The boys spend their time trying to locate music that Stan has misplaced and everywhere they go, trouble ensues. We can see the comic genius here. Obviously, they also did many silent features.

lynchfilmlover This short film means a lot to me. When I was young, my family would watch the likes of Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. My Grandad specifically likes Laurel & Hardy, who we had a one or two videos of. This, by far, was his favourite and mainly for one scene! More on that shortly.Berth Marks was made and released in 1929. It is the second sound film made by Laurel & Hardy. On some reviews on here it is stated that it was the first. This seems to be incorrect. Interestingly there was also a silent version made for cinemas who were not yet wired to show talkies! According to the book, 'Laurel & Hardy: The Magic Behind The Movies' by Randy Skretvedt, it was later reissued in 1936 with a music score added to introductory scenes. This is currently the only surviving version and was subsequently included on the 10-disc Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection DVD set. I have a the single film on DVD running at 20 minutes.The film opens with Stan and Ollie trying to meet at a railway station, they keep missing each other. When they finally meet, they ask a conductor as to whether the train they are about to catch stops at Pottsville. What ensues is the funniest moment of the film. The conductor mumbles a list of incomprehensible words while Stan & Ollie look on with confusion. Ollie asked him again and as the conductor walks of listing the same incomprehensible list, finally in the distance we hear him shout, "..and Pottsville". Now as stated before, my Grandad adored this scene. He could watch it again and again. Every time he would laugh out loud with tears streaming down his face. A wonderful memory that, as he passed in 1997, stays in the forefront of my memory.As the film continues, we see another great scene which plays off screen for the rest of the film, until the pay off at the end. We see passengers mistakenly assuming that the person stood behind is riping their suit. The complete orgy of people fighting at the end is a joy to see.Now to review this as an adult is difficult. The film means so much to me and by no means am I putting the film down, but one has to be honest about the rest of the film. Equally one must take into account that sound was still a new medium.The rest of the film sees Stan & Ollie really struggle. It is clear that they are having trouble with the newly invented talkies. Most of the second half of the film has them both entangled in each others clothes in their berth. They both seem to ad-lib, for effect, and it makes that section feel very disjointed.There really isn't that much else to say about it. I haven't seen that many of their films but from memory I remember in other films, there was more slapstick than is on show. By no way is it a criticism, it is rather a acceptance that they were on a learning curve.As a footnote, according to Wikipedia: Several train sequences (included a few not used in the English release) were used for foreign language releases versions of The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case in 1930. Laurel and Hardy released three different versions of The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case combined with Berth Marks for the foreign language market. In German, French and a the Spansih version which lasts for 49 minutes.Despite it's failings, this is still a much loved short for me and very much worth a watch. Especially if you want to follow on from this with their later films, to see how they developed from silent to talkies.

MartinHafer While this isn't a bad film, it certainly isn't one of the team's better efforts. It's a shame really, as 1929 to the mid 30s was the absolute prime period of their work together. I guess considering all the great films they made, it's okay to have a bit of a let-down,...and that's exactly what this is. The routines are not especially funny and the same type things had been done before by them with better results.Stan and Ollie are a Vaudeville team catching a train to their next gig. They have trouble locating each other at the station and Ollie loses his papers from his suitcase in this opening scene--not terribly funny stuff at all. Then, on the train, two main comedy bits are used. The first involves people grabbing and ripping each other's clothes. This has been done before and the set up for this wasn't very smooth or believable--people just start doing it for apparently no reason at all. Next, Stan and Ollie must both climb into an upper sleeping berth designed for one. This seems to take forever and is frankly stretched too long.Really, now that I think about it, this movie was a pleasant enough short but really had no laughs.PS--you can tell, in spots, that this film was originally a silent film or that they were unfamiliar with making sound films, as the sound is absent in some of the early scenes or seem tacked on. This isn't as bad or noticeable as in many early sound films, but if you look you'll notice.

Prichards12345 Several published works on Laurel And Hardy seem to rate this as one of the boys' poorest shorts. How dare they! This is extremely funny - if not quite top drawer - Stan and Ollie. An early talkie, half the film is simply our two heroes trying to get undressed in the upper berth of a sleeper train, getting entangled in each others trousers, night-shirts etc. The boys have also inadvertently set the rest of the passengers against each other, via a method I won't spoil by revealing. It's simplicity itself, yet it works wonderfully well. When most comedies of the twenties and thirties have long been forgotten, the films of these two lovable characters continue to delight.The real secret is surely in their universal humanity; there's a little bit of Stan and Ollie in all of us.