A police officer is under fire from his boss for not being able to catch any criminals. Eager to prove his worth he sets out to catch some criminals. He comes across Laurel and Hardy sleeping rough in the park and offers to let them go without a charge if they agree to break into his boss's house (after which he plans to catch them). The reluctantly agree but find that crime is harder than they first thought.
The plot here is a little crazy I was confused as to why Laurel and Hardy would agree to the policeman's offer in the first place. Likewise how the policeman would actually benefit from it was also very unclear, but I quickly forgot as the set up gave way to the comedy. The routines all centre around the break-in to the house. The duo struggle to get into the house and cover the noise they can't help but make. A running gap about impersonating cats is nicely done even once inside the house!
Laurel and Hardy do good work once inside the house although the film struggles as it sets up the plot for a minute or so without them onscreen. Finlayson is good as the butler even if it's not quite him at his best, his double take is still good.
Overall despite a muddled plot the actual delivery is as good as always and the main body of routines are all good. Aside from the set up in the beginning the only other flaw is at the opposite side of the short the end, the film lacks a strong punchline and just stops. In the version I saw it didn't even have closing music, `the end' just came up and that was that! Watch it for the stuff in the middle I guess.
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