Dirty Work is a Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...

 short film Classic comedy made in 1933. It was directed by Lloyd French

Lloyd French

Lloyd French, was an American director of short films, most of them comedies. His best remembered films are several Laurel and Hardy comedies in the 1930s...

, produced by Hal Roach

Hal Roach

Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...

 and distributed by MGM.

Plot

The film is set in the home of a mad scientist

Mad scientist

A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...

 called Professor Noodle. Professor Noodle has just developed a rejuvenation

Rejuvenation (aging)

Rejuvenation is the hypothetical reversal of the aging process.Rejuvenation is distinct from life extension. Life extension strategies often study the causes of aging and try to oppose those causes in order to slow aging...

 solution that reverses the aging process. Stan and Oliver are chimney sweeps and arrive to sweep the chimney

Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...

. Oliver goes on to the roof and Stan stays below at the fireplace

Fireplace

A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...

. Stan begins to shove the sweep up the chimney and knocks Oliver backwards and down through the skylight. Oliver comes back on to the roof and begins to pull the sweep up. Stan has hung on to the sweep and arrives at the roof. Oliver drops him back down through the chimney. Stan doesn't have enough extensions for the sweep and decides to use a rifle to shove the sweep the last part of the way. The gun goes off nearly shooting Oliver. Stan decides to come on to the roof and as he opens the skylight he knocks Oliver off the roof and down onto a greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

. Stan and Oliver start to clean up the soot

Soot

Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is more properly restricted to the product of the gas-phase combustion process but is commonly extended to include the residual pyrolyzed fuel particles such as cenospheres,...

 around the fireplace. They become distracted and Stan shovels the soot into Oliver's trousers. Professor Noodle decides to test his rejuvenation solution. He puts a duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

 in a vat of water and adds a drop of his solution. The duck turns into a duckling. The professor is excited and decides to show Stan and Oliver his discovery. He puts another drop of his solution into the vat and the duckling turns into an egg

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

. Stan and Oliver decide to test the solution for themselves when the professor leaves the room. Stan accidentally knocks Oliver and the solution into the vat. Oliver emerges as a chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...

. Oliver says "I have nothing to say."

Cast

• Stan Laurel
  Stan Laurel
  Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
  
  
• Oliver Hardy
  Oliver Hardy
  Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
  
  
• Lucien Littlefield
  Lucien Littlefield
  Lucien Littlefield was an American actor in the silent film era...
  
  
• Sam Adams
• Jiggs the Chimp