Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.
While not classic Laurel and Hardy, later films, short and feature, had stronger chemistry when fully formed and used their considerable talents better, 'From Soup to Nuts' is a lot of fun. Before, Laurel was much funnier and more interesting while Hardy in most of the previous outings had too little to do. 'From Soup to Nuts', along with 'Leave Em Laughing' and 'The Finishing Touch', is one of their first very good efforts, to me it's easily one of their best at this point of their careers and one of the first, along with the two mentioned above, to feel like a Laurel and Hardy short rather than a short featuring them.
'From Soup to Nuts' is slight and it affects the pace slightly of the early stages.
A few gags are a bit repetitive and old-fashioned, like slipping on bananas.
Laurel however is very funny, and sometimes hilarious. It is wonderful seeing Hardy having more to do and he is on Laurel's level and actually even funnier. The chemistry is certainly much more here than in previous outings of theirs, namely because there's more of them together and it was starting to feel like a partnership. Support is nice, particularly from Anita Garvin who actually steals the show.
Both Laurel and Hardy have great moments, Laurel's salad routine is classic and Hardy with the cake is fun too.
A good deal of the humour is well timed, hugely energetic and very funny if not always hilarious, with everything going at a lively pace and there is a lot of charm and good nature to keep one going. 'From Soup to Nuts' looks quite good still with some interesting shots.
In summary, a lot of fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox
