Watch Tit for Tat For Free

Thanks for the memories!

The first must-see film of the year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Stan and Ollie run an electrical shop (I'm sure they are stellar businessmen). Unfortunately, they have had previous dealings with the guy next door who runs a grocery store. Somehow the guy gets it into his head that Ollie has a thing for his wife (Mae Busch) and decides to start a war (a tit for tat kind of thing) with the boys. Soon they are trying to outdo one another in their cruel attacks. What is also going on is a man who goes into Stan and Ollie's store and starts stealing their stuff. At first he takes little things. As time goes by, he is utterly ignored because the parties are so involved in their discord. Soon he is hauling out huge amounts of stuff, using a wheelbarrow. The timing and interaction between these people is delightful and, as usual, things don't go well.

This short was nominated for the Academy Award for Live Action Short (Comedy), losing to Robert Benchley's How To Sleep. There will be spoilers ahead:This short is a sequel to Them Thar Hills but can be watched without having seen that one. The short begins with Stan and Ollie opening an electronics store. This turns out to be an unwise move, because they are clearly not businessmen. There's a nice bit involving the beat cop and Stan creating a bit of friction there.There's a grocer next door and the two go over to introduce themselves, not knowing that they'd already met them on vacation and that meeting did not go well. Neither does this one. It will get much worse.Our heroes go back to their store and the running gag starts with a very persistent shoplifter who says "How d'ya do" as he robs them blind. Ollie decides to put more light-bulbs in their signage and winds up getting stuck outside the upstairs apartment over the grocer's and he comes down the steps with the grocer's wife, which burns up the grocer even more.Thus begins a "war" of sorts, with the grocer and the boys basically destroying each other's stores, escalating each round until the beat cop finally forces a settlement. The boys return to their store-an empty storefront, because their shoplifter has backed up a truck and loaded everything up quite thoroughly. Out of business on the day you opened.This short can be found on the Laurel and Hardy: The Essential Collection and is well worth getting. The collection is wonderful and so is the short. Recommended.

Like another reviewer, I saw "Tit for Tat" shortly after viewing "Them Thar Hills," (a crackerjack short in its own right) and was pleasantly surprised to see Busch and Hall back as the same characters; I didn't realize that this was a sequel until Stan referred to meeting them in the hills."Tit for Tat" is essentially a simple, one-joke outing. But, much like "The Music Box", Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy wring every last possible laugh out of the situation. Their battle with grocer Charley Hall starts small, but doesn't stay small for long.There's no need to see "Hills" before this one; the story really can stand alone...but is enhanced if you know about the previous antics.Other reviewers had remarked about Ollie's rather salacious-sounding comment to Mae Busch. Oddly enough, the Hays (censorship) code was in effect at the time; it was one of the reasons that Betty Boop ended up with collared, long-hem/long-sleeve dresses. Pre-Code, Ollie's remark wouldn't have been noticed. But with censorship rules in place, I too, am surprised that the line was kept in.Superior work from all involved makes "Tit for Tat" one of my favorite Stan and Ollie films.How do you do!

This movie perfectly shows the reasons why I like Laurel & Hardy pictures so much. It has got a great silly story, well timing and some great comical moments, all perfectly executed by the characters.The story is very, very simple but it works oh so well and is oh so strong. Basically the movie is about Stan and Olie, who just opened an electrical repair store, having a small war with their neighbor the grocer. Basically the movie is about the two parties taking constantly revenge on the other, in a comical hilarious way. This movie is a direct (and the only) sequel to a previous Laurel & Hardy movie, namely; "Them Thar Hills". The returning joke of the costumer who robs the store every time Laurel & Hardy went away is absolutely hilarious.The simple story of the movie is extremely well executed and makes this movie one of the most enjoyable Laurel & Hardy shorts.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/