AllMovie

The Music Box is widely regarded as a masterpiece of short comedy. Produced by Hal Roach and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, this film contains some of the most intensely funny physical comedy of any era, and the entire proceedings are bright and sharp. With a succinct running time of 29 minutes, The Music Box maintains its pace in a way that likely could not have been sustained had the concept been stretched to feature length. The stars are ably assisted by Billy Gilbert as Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen, to whom the piano is to be delivered. At the Academy Awards, The Music Box received the first-ever Comedy Short Subject Oscar, though only Roach was officially named.