Run Time: 23 minutes. Studios: Arrow Film Corporation, Mirthquake Comedies. Director: Ted Burnsten. Main Cast: Bobby Ray, Oliver Hardy, Janet Dawn, Frank Alexander. Producer: Billy West. AKA Hop To It Bellhop
As many of us today, were not even alive during the silent era, we all have our stories of how we got into silent films. My story is personally pretty simple. I was too young to have grown up with the classic comedy teams on TV, so I was introduced to them through DVD. As a kid, I was a major fan of classic cartoons, like Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Popeye. Because of this my parents and grandparents knew I would enjoy some equally zany humor of live action films of the same time. Because of this they got me DVDs of Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. At the time, I was not yet educated as to the history of these films, so when I saw one of those public domain sets of Laurel and Hardy, I had no idea that there were only four films with both Laurel and Hardy on the set (these films were the feature length Utopia (1950) and Flying Deuces (1939) and the shorts, Tree in a Test Tube (1942) and The Lucky Dog (1921)). The rest of the set was made up of silent short films that featured either Stan Laurel or Oliver Hardy solely before the two teamed up. I am sure many kids would have been disappointed by this, but I was not any kid. I loved these shorts and many of them left a large impact on me. Without them I don't know if I would have the attachment to silent films that I do today. So while a short like Hop To It may simply serve as footnote in Oliver Hardy's career to some, I have a special fondness for it.
Like many of the great short comedies, this film has a pretty loose storyline. This loose storyline involves two inept bellhops (Oliver Hardy, Bobby Ray) who unwittingly unleash havoc in the hotel.
Out of all the films Oliver Hardy made without Stan Laurel, this one probably most closely resembles a Laurel and Hardy comedy. This is because the relationship between Oliver Hardy's character and Bobby Ray's character is in some ways similar to that between the later Stan and Ollie. They are both stupid and inept at their jobs, yet Oliver Hardy's character believes that he is the smarter of the two and most keep the other in line. The main difference between this relationship and the Stan and Ollie friendship later is that there is much more hostility and no real warmth to this relationship. The similarities between this and later Laurel and Hardy films is enhanced by the fact that there is a certainly physical similarity between Bobby Ray and Stan Laurel. This has fooled many Laurel and Hardy newcomers into thinking that this is in fact an early Laurel and Hardy film.
Exhibitor's Herald, 1924
Exhibitor's Herald, 1925
While this may not be as great as a later Laurel and Hardy picture this film is a very fun little short comedy. The gags move at a fast pace and many of them are very funny and imaginative. The two leads have great chemistry and are a joy to watch share the screen.
Supporting actor Frank Alexander is said to have been working in movie comedies since 1913 beginning with the Keystone Studio. In the late 1910's he made multiple comedies with Larry Semon who both Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had worked with at different times. He is probably best remembered by silent comedy fans for being part of the A Ton of Fun comedy team. A Ton of Fun made a series of short comedies from 1925 to 1927. The other members of this team were Hilliard Karr (who starred in a series of shorts known as Josh Binney Comedies) and Kewpie Ross. As a size contrast Silm Summerville is also in a good number of these shorts. The producer of Hop To It was Billy West. West had made a movie career for himself in the 1910’s as a Charlie Chaplin imitator. He would dress as Chaplin’s Little Tramp character in films that were very much remakes of earlier Charlie Chaplin shorts. Oliver Hardy had appeared in some of these shorts and there imitated Eric Campbell who had played an antagonist in some of Chaplin’s best shorts. Despite their similarities to Chaplin shorts (or perhaps because of them) West’s films were incredibly popular with audiences. In fact if you look through old movie magazines you will find some exhibitors reviews that state that they preferred Billy West over Charlie Chaplin. This film distributed by the Arrow Film Corporation. Starting in 1920 Arrow would use the title Mirthquake Comedies for many of their short comedies. Some of the comedians who made Mirthquake Comedies included Bobby Ray, Hank Mann, Billy Blecther, Bobby Dunn, Billy West and Eddie Lyons. Oliver Hardy briefly worked in Mirthquake Comedies in 1925.
Motion Picture News, 1922
For anyone interested in watching, this film is available on YouTube and tons of public domain DVDs.
Resources Used
A-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glenn Mitchell.
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