1932 - THE MUSIC BOX - the classic Laurel and Hardy short film

Laurel and Hardy were big stuff back in the early days of movies.  Their elaborate slapstick comedies aren't really something that you hear much about anymore.  Stan Laurel was the creative genius behind the team who along with producer Hal Roach developed the team's slow boil comedic approach.

The Music Box is a short film with Stan Laurel and his partner Oliver Hardy as two delivery men who are hired to transport a player piano to a home on a very high hill.  The comedic situations arise from these two having to carry the piano up some very steep stairs only to see it repeatedly come tumbling down to the bottom of the stairs and on to the street.  

 

Is it funny?  Well I guess so.  It's clearly based on the legend of Sisyphus who was doomed by the Greek gods to push a rock up a mountain for eternity only to see it constantly tumble down the same mountain.  Laurel and Hardy updated this old Greek legend with a player piano in a wooden crate which continually makes noise as if it is a Greek chorus commenting on their progress or lack or progress.

 

Obviously the humor is dated, this film was released 93 years ago.  However watching this piano constantly rolling down the steep stairs does produce a kind of anxiety in the viewer.  The Music Box is an interesting film almost like it was filmed by a dadaist,

The film was written by H. M. Walker, the running time is 30 minutes