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CRIMSON PLAYGOER

Laurel and Hardy Stumble in and Out of Hot Water at Loew's State for Five Reals of Slapstick

The large and motley horde of movie-goers who follow with enthusiasm the irrepressible clowning of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy can get a plethora of it by trekking to the State Theatre. The two comedians are currently featured in "Pack Up Your Troubles," a five reel slapstick comedy. This picture, the second full length film which they have appeared in, takes them for the usual round of bad breaks, during the course of which Laurel's features continue to grow amazingly dumber and dumber.

The film opens at the outbreak of the World War, into which the boys are enticed by a hardboiled captain. Their misadventures in training camp are only intensified when they arrive in France, until they succeed in capturing a sizable part of the German army with a single tank. The rest of the picture deals with their attempts, back in America, to locate a man known only as Smith. Stan Laurel tries to identify the unknown with the cough drop brothers, and with "Al," unsuccessfully. In the end that old devil coincidence does the trick.

People who like their Laurel and Hardy in small doses will find this one a little too long-winded. Five reels of even the best slapstick is more than enough. The dialogue and plot are inconsequential, and when the clowning slows up there is nothing left to the picture.

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