Review of We Faw Down (1928) by Mike M — 24 Aug 2011

You're struck by the innocence of what transpires: the worst Stan can think of to get up to on an evening away from his missus is to be poked and have his hair ruffled by the good-time gal he's plucked from the gutter.

(Ollie, looking on, smiles benignly.) If the second half, in which the leads have to explain themselves, plays as a little flatter, Stan's extended mime to Ollie, describing what the pair of them were supposed to have seen that night, might be read as a worthwhile training ground: the stars were learning how to sell a joke, or an idea, or even just a lie, without words.

In the final image, suggesting this wasn't the only deception in town, innocence is replaced by (carnal) knowledge.