Big Business
1929The Christmas tree that won't fit
Big Business is one of Laurel and Hardy's most acclaimed shorts, added to the National Film Registry in 1992, built entirely on a tit-for-tat escalation structure: they're selling Christmas trees door to door in the middle of summer, and one uncooperative customer sets off a slow-motion war of attrition against their car and his house. It was directed by James W. Horne but supervised by Leo McCarey, the Hal Roach Studios producer who paired Laurel and Hardy together in the first place and effectively invented their on-screen chemistry.