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.

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.

Stan and Ollie decide to take their wives and their gout-ridden uncle Edgar on a picnic on a lovely Sunday afternoon. It's a good plan, but they never quite get their in this enjoyable, if slight, short.It was refreshing to see that the new dynamics of making sound films didn't keep the boys completely studio-bound. The vast bulk of this film was shot outdoors and, as a result, doesn't suffer from the same claustrophobia as "Unaccustomed as We Are," "Berth Marks," and the upcoming "They Go Boom." The film also benefits from appearance of the always reliable Edgar Kennedy, a frequent and hilarious foil. Needless to say, his gout-ridden foot will take a great deal of abuse for the film fades out!A nice short, reminiscent of Chaplin's "A Day's Pleasure." Not one of their classics, but well worth a look.

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).