Tit for Tat (1935)

Although this two-reel Laurel and Hardy comedy is a sequel to Them Thar Hills, it has been revived more frequently than its predecessor because it is so incredibly rich in gags. It is second only to Big Business as the prime example of the duo's "reciprocal destruction" form of gags, in which small acts of violence grow progressively larger, and funnier, as each wronged party wreaks vengeance on the other. So much happens during the course of Tit for Tat (and you know that by the end, Laurel and Hardy's electrical establishment will be history) that it would take longer to relate it all than the actual length of the film. Some of the best jokes involve Charley Hall destroying a display of watches in a blender; the boys dumping a big bucket of lard over Hall's head; Stan tipping his hat when Ollie says "tit for tat" (it actually is a Cockney term for hat); the top of Ollie's hat being sheared off by a deli slicer; and the alum that Hall dumps in the bin from which the boys have been filching candy. What's even funnier is that it isn't Hall who ultimately finishes off the boys' store -- it's Billy Dunn, who, during it all, has been wandering in and out of the store, stealing whatever he fancies until he finally cleans the place out. Tit for Tat is one of the classic Laurel and Hardy shorts. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide