The Wet Paint Routine

In Habeas Corpus (1928), Oliver Hardy shinnies up a post to read a street sign at the top.  He reaches the top only to find a sign that reads, "Wet Paint."  He can see now that the post has been freshly painted and the paint has left a thick white stripe running down the front of his suit.

This gag appeared in earlier films, including a 1920 Roach comedy called Money to Burn and a 1925 Sennett comedy called Sneezing Beezers!.  Here is the scene in Money to Burn.

Laurel & Hardy used the gag again in the 20th Century Fox feature The Big Noise (1944).

The gag continued to be used by others in a variety of films.

 I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

 


The Runaway Bus (1954)