BIG BUSINESS (1929) Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy & James Finlayson | Comedy | B&W | Short| Classic Film

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Big Business is a 1929 silent Laurel and Hardy comedy short subject directed by James W. Horne and supervised by Leo McCarey from a McCarey (uncredited) and H. M. Walker script. The film, largely about tit-for-tat vandalism between Laurel and Hardy as Christmas tree salesmen and the man who rejects them, was deemed culturally significant and entered into the National Film Registry in 1992.

Synopsis:

Laurel and Hardy play door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen in California. They end up getting into an escalating feud with a grumpy would-be customer. Goaded by their repeated attempts to sell him a Christmas tree, he destroys it with hedge-clippers. Laurel and Hardy retaliate by damaging the man's doorframe with a knife.

Finlayson then goes to work on their clothes, and this escalates, with his home and their car being destroyed in the melee (after Finlayson has run out of Christmas trees to mangle). A police officer steps in to stop the fight (after vases are thrown out and smashed, and one hits him on the foot) and negotiates a peaceful resolution. Stan and Ollie give the homeowner a cigar as a peace offering. However, as the pair make their escape and the homeowner happily lights the gratis smoking-device, it is revealed to be a "trick" cigar rigged with a hidden powder-charge, which promptly explodes in his face.

Cast & Crew:

Stan Laurel as Stan
Oliver Hardy as Ollie
James Finlayson as the furious Home owner
Tiny Sandford as the Policeman
Lyle Tayo as the first Customer
Charlie Hall as Neighbor

Directed by: James W. Horne, Leo McCarey
Written by: H. M. Walker (titles)
Produced by: Hal Roach
Edited by: Richard C. Currier (as Richard Currier)
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date: April 20, 1929
Running time: 18:47
Country: United States
Languages: Silent film, English (Original intertitles)