The nouveau riche really are something. Just like Russian dolls, the first over-dressed figure hides a second, which betrays their uncivilised origins. In this case, a lady of the house of humble origins hosts an elegant dinner which needs to go perfectly. Naturally, nothing goes right. The idealised grand soiree has to contend with a tiara that refuses to remain in place and a dessert cherry that proves impossible to pick up. Moreover, fate has yet more in store for the poor lady, with Laurel & Hardy acting as waiters. Imagine what happens when she orders that the salad be served undressed. Or when a banana peel ends up on the floor just as the soup is about to be served. The strength of From Soup to Nuts would appear to lie in its stubborn refusal of plot. Its goal is to build a sustained rhythm of sure-fire gags. It has a reassuring, functional and functioning compactness. The sumptuous Anita Garvin, a frequent and refreshing presence in the duo’s adventures here playing the role of the parvenu, takes up at least half the film. Imogen Sara Smith defines her as a “mistress of white-hot fury”. We can only agree.

Andrea Meneghelli

When Laurel & Hardy take on the gothic, it adds a degree of human solidarity, a reduction of the distance that separates us from them. They sneak into a cemetery in the middle of the night and are afraid, just as most of us would be. On many other occasions, they are obliged to carry out little tasks that inevitably lead to disaster; however, this time they do not have to deliver a piano but rather dig up a cadaver in the interests of science. Or so it seems, since we immediately have doubts about the professor who hires them when he begins using his jacket pockets as an ashtray. The knot of discomfort we feel when seeing our heroes engage in such an abject task (possibly reinforced by echoes of the later films Frankenstein and The Body Snatchers) gives Habeas Corpus a strangely queasy feel, which enriches the film. Nevertheless, the gags are both excellent and abundant. Some (such as the surprising echoes produced when hands are clapped in a graveyard) benefit from the possibilities offered by sound – specifically the Vitaphone system, which allowed the images to be synchronised with music and sound effects recorded on disc.

Andrea Meneghelli