Review of Habeas Corpus

Habeas Corpus has been described as a routine slapstick not typical Laurel and Hardy comedy. With the dawn of sound, the Hal Roach team must have put some thought on creating a Vitaphone music and effects disks to accompany this 1928 short. When viewed this way, it brings the film new life and is far from typical. The spooky hand clapping scene in the graveyard is a prime example geared toward the novel experimental sound medium. I have seen this film three different ways: Silent, new track added for the British DVD, and the original Vitaphone soundtrack on an out of print US DVD. In my opinion, the Vitaphone version is the best way to see this short. NOTE: One of the music cues "Dance of the Marionettes" later became Alfred Hitchcock's TV theme.