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7.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Any Old Port! remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like your comedy with a side of physical danger and genuinely earned belly laughs, yes. It's vintage Laurel and Hardy at their peak. But if you’re the type of person who needs a complex plot or high-budget spectacle to stay awake, stay far away.
The whole thing starts because they are hungry and broke, which is basically the baseline for every good short. Hardy spots an old friend who is a boxing promoter, and suddenly poor Stan is wearing boxing gloves he clearly doesn't know how to use. It’s the kind of setup that feels so simple it’s almost stupid, but it works.
Watching Hardy try to puff out his chest while Stan just sort of wanders around looking confused is a masterclass in screen chemistry. There’s this one bit where Ollie is trying to show Stan how to throw a punch, and he ends up hitting himself. Classic. I mean, you know it’s coming, but it still lands perfectly. 🥊
The fight itself? It’s pure chaos. They end up facing this massive, terrifying guy who clearly just wants to turn them into pancakes. You can feel the tension in the room, even though you know it’s supposed to be funny. It’s not like The Patent Leather Pug where the stakes feel lower; here, you actually worry if Stan is going to make it out in one piece.
Also, notice the way Hardy looks at the camera when things go south. That specific look—the one where his eyes get huge and he looks like he’s about to cry—is why I keep coming back to these shorts. It’s so much more expressive than whatever passes for acting in a lot of modern stuff.
I caught myself thinking about how much work went into these physical gags. You can’t just CGI that kind of fall. They actually had to hit the floor. Some of those hits look like they really hurt, and maybe they did. It’s a different kind of dedication, isn't it?
It’s not perfect, though. The middle drags just a little bit, like they were stretching for time before the main event. You can almost feel the movie trying to keep the momentum going without actually having anywhere to go. But then the bell rings, and you forget all about the pacing issues. It’s just good, dumb, wonderful fun. 🥯
It’s miles better than some of the other stuff from that era, like Kids and Skids which felt a bit thin by comparison. If you’ve got twenty minutes, give it a watch. Just don’t try to box your friends afterward.
IMDb —
1919
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