"Tit for Tat" is a 1935 black-and-white short film from the days where you could actually hear Laurel and Hardy's voices. The silent era was long gone and this was actually one of the last short films from the duo. This one was Oscar-nominated and was made after "The Music Box", which even won the Award. The was one thing that Stan and Ollie had over the likes of Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton, but this was also really only because they did not transition really into the era of non-silent films.Anyway, this film here runs for almost 20 minutes and the two own a store. Sadly, another store owner suspects Ollie of having a relationship with his wife and so mayhem ensues and the two go against each other all the time. Rogers, Busch and Hall have worked on several films of the two, so quite a few familiar faces in here. I find Laurel as funny as Ollie, probably more, so it sucked a bit that he was only a spectator here most of the time. His look at Ollie's broken hat was priceless though, maybe the best thing about this film. Other than that, I was not too well entertained though, so all in all I think there are better films out there with the two. Not recommended.

Tit for Tat concerns Laurel and Hardy as entrepreneurs, opening an electrical goods store in a strip mall next door to another shop owner (Charlie Hall), who is weary of their behavior after seeing Hardy with his wife (Mae Busch). In response, the shop owner triggers a fight with them by breaking items in their store, which prompts Laurel and Hardy to conduct "eye-for-an-eye" treatment on the man by destroying his shop, a small little grocery outlet. In the mix of senseless fighting, a shoplifter (Bobby Dunn) repeatedly enters Laurel and Hardy's shop, taking more and more items each time, rendering the entire situation increasingly maddening for all parties.While Tit for Tat is a sequel to the Laurel and Hardy short Them Thar Hills (unseen by me), it almost plays like a remake of Big Business (from 1929) in style, where Laurel and Hardy were feuding with the next door neighbor, taking turns demolishing each other's homes. While I have been critical of the more slapstick-infused shorts of Laurel and Hardy, these types of "eye for an eye" shorts work largely because they are competitions between the characters for how far they want to take their situational humor. In addition, it's also a pleasure to see how wise the characters can be under the circumstances of revenge while simultaneously remaining so dumb and foolish throughout the entire time. There's a great amount of pleasure that comes in watching Laurel and Hardy compete for superiority when the prize is nothing more than another crack in their fragile dignity.Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charlie Hall, Mae Busch, and Bobby Dunn. Directed by: Charles Rogers.

I'm always learning something new when I research a film on the IMDb, like how this Laurel and Hardy short was a sequel of sorts to "Them Thar Hills". So now I'll have to search that one out to round out the experience.When I watch anything with Stan and Ollie in it today, I have to marvel at just what a pair of comic geniuses they were. As a kid, I always preferred Abbott and Costello, but I realize now that that with A&C, they did funny things, but Laurel and Hardy did things funny. As an example, just check out the timing involved whenever they leave Hall's grocery store and eat one of his cookies. They start out very simply and wind up after three or four tries in an increasingly complex choreography that's just brilliant to watch.There's also the misdirection with the pilfering customer in Stan and Ollie's electrical supply store, who starts out on foot and winds up hauling the entire store away in a moving van. With the boys none the wiser, they carry on their feud with Hall in an escalating series of comic encounters. And how about Ollie getting away with that line to Hall's wife coming down the stairs from the bedroom - "I've never been in a position like that before". I would never have picked up on that double entendre as a kid, but boy oh boy, it was right out there in plain sight for the alert viewer to pick up on and and go 'huh?'.In any event, just about any Laurel and Hardy short offers as much entertainment as anyone else's full length feature, so taking in three or four at a time can only quadruple your fun. And by the way, why is it you never hear about alum any more?

Laurel and Hardy open up an electrical hardware store and go to introduce themselves to the neighbouring grocery store owner only to find that it is Mr and Mrs Hall, whom they encountered previously on a mountain trip for health reasons. Mr Hall still has issues regarding his wife and Hardy. These issues boil over when Hardy inadvertently gets involved with her again leading to a battle of retribution between the two men. Meanwhile, no one is minding the store.Having just seem `Them Thar Hills' the day before, the fact that this film followed on from that one was a pleasant surprise. The strongest part of that film was a `tit for tat' battle with Charlie Hall, Well, someone clearly agreed that this was funny, so the vast majority of this film is given over to a continuation of that battle – directly referring back to Them Thar Hills. The whole film is hilarious. Not only does the humour strike an imaginative chord but the calm `accept my punishment' style approach of the film makes it even funnier. There is also a great running joke each time the duo leave their store.Laurel and Hardy do great work – both giving and receiving the blows. Charlie Hall is about as spot on as I've seen him in these shorts. Here he has a bigger character than he often does and he really works hard to thank the film for the part I guess. Busch has less to do and is really only the plot driver here.Overall this short is one simple idea – a running battle between Laurel and Hardy and Mr Hall the grocer. It is wonderfully simple and wonderfully effective as it is hilarious from start to finish.