JB:
A good comedy with some well-timed and imaginative sight gags, Their Purple Moment,
though not one of their most memorable silents, is still important as a
precursor to many of their best films. Plot and gag elements from this
short were borrowed and reshaped for Blotto,
Below Zero, and most importantly, SONS OF THE DESERT, one
of the features most treasured by fans.
A couple
of notes here: While
Oliver Hardy plays himself, Stan plays "Mr. Pincher". They still hadn't
completely given up character names yet. Soon after this film, with few exceptions, they
would spend the rest of their careers playing
"Stan Laurel" and "Oliver Hardy". Neither Stan nor Babe had any regrets
having their real names associated with such dumb individuals. First,
it was a kind of career insurance --- nobody else could use the names
and characters ("He who filters your good name steals trash," as Stan
says in Tit for Tat).
Second, and more
importantly, the real Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy truly liked their
film incarnations. "He really is a nice fellow," Ollie would later say
of his character.
Final
note: Fay Holderness, who
plays Stan's wife here, has a memorable turn as Ollie's spouse a few
years later in Hog Wild,
making her one of the few actresses to play both men's wives. (Vivien
Oakland was another.)