Silent movies - Putting Pants on Philip

After I brought you a short with just Stan Laurel the other week, it's time for one of Laurel and Hardy's silent shorts, one of the earliest of the 34 in which they appeared together.
It's "Putting Pants on Philip" from 1927.

I guess the picture already gives you a small idea of the plot, but let me give you the rest - with spoilers.

Piedmont Mumblethunder is waiting for his Scottish nephew to get off a ship. He has never seen him, and when he notices a man in a kilt, he's laughing just as much about him and his encounter with the customs officer in regards to the medical exam as everyone else. He's not as amused anymore when he finds out that this is his nephew Philip.

Walking around town, Piedmont also finds out that his sister hasn't been wrong about Philip liking the ladies as she wrote in her letter. Not only does Philip pursue one lady in particular whom they happen to meet more than once, but he also draws crowds every time in the attempt to meet her.
His "Marilyn number" also draws crowds - meaning his kilt is flying up when he walks over ventilation grates -  and even makes two ladies faint when he loses his shorts at one point (off screen 😉).

Piedmont decides to get Philip some pants which is easier said than done as his nephew absolutely refuses to have his inseam taken (which of course made me think of Mr. Humphries, IYKYK) and finally escapes through a window in another attempt to follow the pretty lady from before.

In order to impress her, he puts down his kilt on a mud puddle for her, but she easily jumps across the puddle without stepping on the kilt and leaves nephew and uncle behind.

To teach Philip a lesson, Piedmont decides to take up the offer instead and promptly ends up in a hole full of mud.

If you are like me, you probably mostly know the Laurel and Hardy talkies and you have a certain idea of the characters they play.
I think you already see some of those coming through in this short, even if they are not a team yet as in wreaking havoc together. Stan is already testing Ollie's patience here, though - the awkward kilt-wearing Scottish nephew, a bit whiny, who can't resist a nice Flapper versus the slightly pompous Piedmont trying to keep Philip in check and failing spectacularly.

While the film is a bit cheeky, I don't have the feeling it ever goes too far, and I really enjoyed the way our pretty Flapper not only got away from Philip, but even mocked him by repeating his signature jump before she left. Pretty impressive on her heels if you ask me!

One of our weekend entertainments was "Als die Bilder laufen lernten" (literally "when the pictures learned how to run" ("moving pictures"), the original title was "Mad Movies") in which Bob Monkhouse presented silent movies. Of course, it was dubbed in Germany and as a kid I probably didn't even think about the clips being silent thanks to the narrator.
Probably Laurel and Hardy were included as well, but I can't actively remember that.
So this is their first silent film I have watched consciously. You remember I had fun with jumping Stan in "Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" and it was just as funny here. I really liked Ollie as well and felt with him, though!

A cute little screwball comedy leaving the question open who did it better - Stan or Marilyn? 😏