Early to Bed
About Early to Bed
Stan and Ollie are broke until Ollie inherits from an uncle. He buys a mansion and hires Stan as butler. After a night of champagne he comes home to torment him. Stan wrecks the furniture. Ollie hides in a fountain whose cherub heads are his own face, and he is supposed to spout water. He runs dry, more than once. Stan notices, finds it funny, and lets it go.
Cast & crew
More about Early to Bed
Emmett J. Flynn directed. H. M. Walker wrote the titles; Leo McCarey also has a writing credit. Hal Roach produced. George Stevens photographed. Richard C. Currier edited. Ferde Grofé scored it. MGM released it on 6 October 1928. A timing of the short is 19 minutes 31 seconds. Wikidata says 18 minutes. The house dog is billed as Buster.
Themes
Making
Flynn, not one of the usual Roach comedy directors, stages the turn as a servant’s revenge and a fountain gag. The wrecked room is Stan’s answer to the champagne pranks.
Look
George Stevens shot the mansion, the smashed furnishings, and the fountain where Hardy tries to pass as one of his own stone heads.
Music
Silent. Ferde Grofé is credited with music.
Preservation
A silent print of about 19 and a half minutes survives.
Notes
- Ollie is the master and Stan the butler. The inheritance is what splits the usual partnership for the length of the reel.
- The fountain heads are carved as Hardy.
- Stevens, later a feature director, is the cameraman.
- Grofé’s credit is on a silent short: music for the release, not dialogue.
Scenes
- Ollie, suddenly rich, hires Stan and then pranks him after the champagne.
- Stan takes the house apart.
- Ollie stands in for a cherub and fails to keep the water coming.
