| Two Tars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | James Parrott |
| Written by | Leo McCarey (story) H.M. Walker (titles) |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | George Stevens |
| Edited by | Richard C. Currier |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 21 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent film English (Original intertitles) |
Two Tars is a silent short subject directed by James Parrott starring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 3, 1928
Two sailors on shore leave decide to rent an automobile. With Laurel at the wheel, he nearly crashes the car into a pedestrian at a street corner. Hardy apologizes for Laurel's poor driving, takes the wheel, and shortly thereafter crashes the car into a lamppost. Chagrined, Hardy drives off and parks in front of a drugstore where two young ladies are having difficulty with a street-side vending machine that has taken their penny without giving them a gumball. Hardy tries to shake a gumball from the dispenser but only ends up breaking the glass container, scattering gumballs all over the sidewalk.
Seeing this, the angry proprietor confronts Hardy with Stan joining in, constantly slipping on the scattered gumballs. The quartet escape to the open road, but not for long.
Accidental bumping of another motorist's car escalates into all-out "reciprocal destruction" war between dozens of motorists. When they aren't ripping vital parts off each other's cars, grease guns and overripe tomatoes make effective secondary weapons. When a policeman finally arrives, a steamroller flattens his motorcycle.
Laurel and Hardy use this distraction to make their escape----into a train tunnel. Their own car joins the pile of undriveable wrecks they have left behind them.
One of the most elaborate silent comedy shorts, Two Tars was filmed as a three reel (30-minute) comedy originally called Two Tough Tars and edited down to 20 minutes. The opening scenes were shot on Main Street in Culver City, and the car battle scenes were filmed in Santa Monica along what is now Centinela Avenue.
Chapters — called Tents — of The Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society, all take their names from L&H films. There are four Two Tars Tents in Solingen, Germany; Guernsey, Channel Islands; North Illinois/Wisconsin Border; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A fifth Two Tars Tent was established in Reidsville, North Carolina, but is no longer active.
