User Reviews

This is one of several L&H comedies I'm familiar with where the film ends with the boys, and sometimes others, in a car that sinks into a large water-filled hole in the road, usually where road work is being done. I would say this is an average L&H talkie comedy short. Edgar Kennedy also has a fairly important role, as Uncle Edgar, who lives with the Hardys, and is suffering form a severe case of gout, and has his foot well bandaged to minimize contact with other objects. Despite this protection, innumerable times during the film , he howls with pain from a physical assault. Even the dog, at one point, takes pleasure in using the bandage as a plaything, pulling at it........Kay Desly plays Mrs. Hardy, while Isabella Keth plays Mrs. Laurel. While they are included in many takes, they really have little to do, as the men monopolize the action and dialogue.........The film begins in the dining room. The boys have made a pile of sandwiches and Ollie is bringing them into the dining room on a tray. Unfortunately, the swinging door between the rooms hits Stan from behind, shoving him into Ollie, who drops the tray. A fight breaks out between the two, throwing sandwiches, pushing , etc.. The girls tell the boys to make up. On the surface they appear to acquiesce, but they're soon at each other's throats again. The changing expressions in Ollie's face are priceless.......But, their major difficulty in getting to a country picnic spot is the car. Optimistically, they wave goodbye to the neighbors about 100X, which gets wearing. But, the car immediately runs over a nail, and the back tire goes flat. As you can imagine, the boys have a heck of a time changing the tire. Several times, a cloud of smoke emanates from just in front of the driver, usually accompanied by a bang. Ollie tells Stan to throw out the clutch. Of course, he undoes the clutch and throws it on the road. When Stan forgets to let the carjack down, Ollie takes it and throws it far, going through a neighbor's window. The neighbor takes it and throws it through the windshield. Ollie throws it through another house window of the neighbor. The neighbor thows it through a window in Hardy's house. They stop when a minister walks by. The boys try to put their jackets back on, but keep inadvertently putting one arm in the jacket of the other. I've seen them do this gag in another film, and, for example, Harold Lloyd did it back in 1920, in "High and Dizzy". ......I saw the colorized version, at YouTube.

Preparations for a restful weekend picnic go awry at every turn for Laurel, Hardy, their wives (Isabelle Keith and Kay Deslys), and uncle Edgar Kennedy who happens to be suffering from a broken foot and who will suffer from a lot more before the day is out. If it isn't their jack Russell pooch making lunch out of Kennedy's leg, it's a car wheel landing on it during their unsuccessful attempts to change a tire and get out of their neighborhood. Friendly neighbors keep saying goodbye, obviously hoping they'll leave before they destroy the neighborhood, which leads to an extended glass breaking sequence. It's frantic and often absurd, but so are days where in real life, everything seems to go wrong at the same time. Laurel's lack of brain cells don't help, nor does Hardy's bad timing or bad temper. You just know that by they get to their picnic, the basket will either be filled with ants or spoiled food. Better them than us, but better us, because the laughs are ours, especially for the surprise finale, similarly used in "Helpmates", which is considered one of their best.

This is a short film featuring Laurel and Hardy. They are trying to be good husbands and offer to take their families out for a weekend drive into the country for a picnic. The weather is lovely and they have every reason to believe it will be the perfect day. But, considering they are Laurel and Hardy, you of course know this isn't true. Time and time again, little things keep happening that delay their departure. And, with each little problem, their enjoyment of this perfect day diminishes. Finally, when they have worked out all their problems, they are off---at which point a MAJOR catastrophe occurs and the film concludes--with an absolutely wonderful reaction on the part of the boys. About the only short-coming of this film is that the plot is awfully basic, but the execution is so good that this can be forgiven. Lovers of the team are sure to be impressed by this effort, though if you are a non-fan, this isn't their very best effort--for that, try BIG BUSINESS or SONS OF THE DESERT (my two personal favorites).

The 19-minute "Perfect Day" is a live action short film from 1929, so this one is already almost 90 years old. Wow! If you read the names of the people who made this, you will maybe realize already that it is a Stan&Laurel short film from their sound days already as they were among hose not too many who managed a successful transition from silent to sound film. But of course given the year when this was made, it is still a b&w film. Story-wise, I personally felt it just wasn't enough, not even for such a brief work. The 2 protagonists' wives added almost nothing except random waving at the camera that got repetitive at some point and Edgar Kennedy had no material either after the 10-minute mark. You could of course say this is realistic that he hasn't suffer even more from the lead duo's shenanigans, but well.. I don't know. To me he felt a bit wasted. I mentioned the repetitive waving already and in general they tried to stretch some joke here for too long, also everything involving the tire. Anyway, on a final note the right path for Laurel to shine is in my opinion the clumsy clown like Lloyd, maybe Keaton, but scenes like the brick window smashing scene should certainly be written for Hardy. Overall, this sadly is not the duo at their very best and it's really only worth seeing for the very biggest fans of the two. I give it a thumbs down.

An excellent short featuring Laurel and Hardy during their first year of doing 'talkies'

Stan, Ollie, their wives (Kays Deslys and Isabella Keith) and their Uncle Edgar (Edgar Kennedy) are off for a family picnic. Uncle Edgar has terrible gout in his foot which isn't what you want with Stan and Ollie around. In the house Stan and Ollie drop all the sandwiches on the floor. Yet they all get in the car and get ready to set off. But then there is a puncture, followed by a fracas with a neighbour. Will they ever get away...

This is a great film I think, with so many good routines. Uncle Edgar's gout created the best comedy in it for me. In the house, Stan just takes the chair Edgar is resting his leg on, which causes the dog to put his teeth into Edgar's very painful foot. Then there are several more incidents in the car, the funniest being when the car runs over Edgar's foot. Also great is the way they keep saying goodbye to the neighbours when they are ready to leave, yet something keeps cropping up, so they are repeatedly saying goodbye to their neighbours.

Based on an idea by Stan Laurel inspired by some of Laurel's neighbours who attempted to also go on a picnic, but failed to get away, the end sequence to 'Perfect Day' where they drive into a ditch was actually done full on in filming, with the cast having to be under water for a few seconds. A great short.

Laurel, Hardy, and their wives drag Uncle Ed along for a picnic. There is a good deal of fuss and bother getting the food together, getting into the car, starting it, and finally leaving -- but they only travel about a block before the car and everyone in it sinks into an arbitrary fathomless puddle of mud.

Some of the gags are very familiar by this time. At the sidewalk, Laurel throws a piece of metal at Hardy, misses, and it goes through a neighbor's window. The neighbor picks it up, slowly walks to the car, and throws it through the windshield. (In the shots that follow, the windshield has magically fixed itself.) Laurel deliberately takes the brick Hardy hands him and throws it through the neighbor's window. The neighbor retaliates in kind. We've seen it before, so we know what's coming and some of the humor is drained from it.

What I found most enjoyable was Edgar Kennedy's foot. The unhappy Kennedy has gout and his foot is wrapped in so many bandages it resembles a soccer ball. Now, gout is an extremely painful condition. The joints turn red and swell up. I couldn't count the number of ways that gouty foot is traumatized. In the first instance, Laurel unthinkingly yanks a chair out from under the propped-up foot. The foot falls with a thump to the floor and is savagely attacked by the family dog. After that, the foot is stepped on, sat on, has a door slammed on it, and has the tireless metal rim of a Model T Ford run over it. Pretty inventive stuff.

It was a perfect Sunday morning when the Laurels, Hardys and grouchy Uncle Edgar decide to go on a picnic. What's the worst that could happen? If you have to ask that, then clearly you don't know who you're dealing with. So it all began with the wives planning a lovely picnic, even insisting that Uncle Edgar come along, despite him having a terrible case of gout. Then the boys stroll merrily out of the kitchen, boasting a big, beautiful tray of sandwiches and fruits. Well, when stooping to get a dropped sandwich, the kitchen door swings and hits Stan, making him head-butt Ollie in the groin and making him drop that lovely array of food all over the floor. The boys start pushing and shoving and throwing food at each other before the wives break it up and remind them that "this is the Sabbath. A day of peace." So Stan and Ollie laugh and make up, then help pick up the food, only Stan accidentally slams Ollie in the head with the tray, then the dog attacks Edgar's gouted foot, and once again, all the food ends up back on the floor along with the damaged thermos. So anyway, now it's off to the picnic as everybody climbs into the iconic, yet clunky Model T Ford...and before any auto enthusiasts come after me with pitchforks, let me assure you that I agree the Model T was very revolutionary for its time and introduced many innovations in the automobile that improved operation and maneuverability and paved the way for the types of vehicles we have today. I get that, however let's be honest, the Model T could be very problematic when it wanted to be, and this is one such incident. After getting in the car, they all bid repeated farewells with the neighbors and suddenly acquire a flat tire. So they all get out, Edgar has a few accidents with his foot, and Stan accidentally puts the jack on the wrong side of the wheel, making it impossible to remove the tire, but when he manages to pull it out, the car comes crashing down on Edgar's foot! Ouch. Gout or not, that foot is now broken. Forget the picnic and get that man to a hospital. But, don't worry, in the world of Laurel and Hardy, nobody is ever seriously hurt, but I like how the wives treat Edgar like a crybaby, which he has every right to be in this instance.

Finally, after changing the tire (i.e. inadvertently putting the flat back on the car), they're finally ready to resume their picnic, but oops, they forgot to remove the jack. Exasperated, Ollie grabs the jack and throws it... right through nextdoor neighbor Baldwin Cooke's window. Baldwin retaliates by throwing it through the boys' windshield. Now, anybody who has seen Big Business knows that Stan and Ollie's specialty is property damage, so they chuck a brick through Baldwin's other window, and he returns the favor, now stuff is about to get real... but uh oh, everybody needs to hide. Why? A passing parson. So, after Stan and Ollie accidentally swap coats and get stuck in them, they're ready to go again, only this time the car won't start. Ollie gets out to crank it and narrowly avoids getting hit by another car when Stan pulls a lever and the Model T blasts him into the street. He even tries to help by literally throwing out the clutch. Ollie beans Stan in the head with it and orders, "keep your hands to your-SELF!" So finally, the car cranks to live... and the engine explodes. Stan grabs Baldwin's hose to put out the fire, and drench Ollie in the process. Enraged, Ollie strangles Stan, who then strangles him back, then he shoves Stan against the car, which finally starts up, so NOW our picnic can finally begin, right? Unfortunately not, as the moment they hit the road, they underestimate the depth of a puddle in the road.

Classic Laurel and Hardy, showing that bickering with one another will not accomplish anything, and when the odds are against you-in this case, their car constantly breaking down-you're pretty much going to be stuck in the same place all day unless you band together and work against the problem. A very valuable life lesson. Anyone who has ever had gout will certainly wince at the scene where Edgar has a car fall on his foot. Moments before that is a scene where everyone seems to gang up on Stan after accidentally sitting and bumping Edgar's foot a few too many times, which is probably why he put the jack on the wrong side of the wheel. This film also has a nice callback to Big Business where the boys try to sell James Finlayson a Christmas tree. Man, that was some epic property damage! You gotta see that one, and you've got to see this one too. Hard to believe both films are almost 90 years old. How time flies. New Laurel and Hardy fans should definitely see Perfect Day, diehard fans should see it again, it's just a fine example of how a simple premise, perfectly timed jokes and gags and a terrific team of performers can bring together a strong, viable product. And to think, they might have saved a lot of trouble by just having a picnic on the front lawn.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films. Mrs. Hardy (Kay Deslys) and Mrs. Laurel (Isabelle Keith) are looking forward to a picnic with Uncle Edgar (Edgar Kennedy), suffering from a gouty foot, and husbands Ollie and Stan. Before setting off they are clumsy enough to drop the sandwiches (twice), and the dog is having a nibble at the Uncle's bandaged foot. So they all at last get to the car, injuring the Uncle's foot a couple of times, but after saying goodbye to everyone, a pin in the road flattens the tyre, and Ollie and Stan try to change it. After this pickle, and another goodbye to neighbours, the jack was left on, and Ollie chucks it away, crashing through the neighbour's window, and they have a little bit of a fight. So after this, getting their coats back on in a muddle, and yet another goodbye, the car needs the starting handle winded, and there is a quick blow, then overheating, which Stan sorts with a hose. So finally, the car is ready to go, and the film ends with the goodbyes to the neighbours, and ignoring the road, they drive into a closed part of the road, and as result end up sinking into the large puddle (possibly wet tarmac). Filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian. Very good!