Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This was part of a 3-DVD box-set, and this disc came with the Laurel and Hardy shorts Mud & Sand, Just Rambling Along, Oranges and Lemons and the Three Stooges ones Brideless Groom and Sing a Song of Six Pants; it also came with Malice in the Palace, and the features Atoll K(or Utopia) and Flying Deuces. It is the only L&H piece in color, and that makes it interesting for collectors. All they do is show what products they have on them for the jackass of a narrator to claim are made from trees, and it was reportedly shot on their lunch-break. For being propaganda, it could be far worse(no one is hugging the ground in an effort to protect themselves from a nuclear blast, for one thing). This was made during WWII, and during war-time, certain governments decide that lying to their people is fine. With five and a half minutes just barely edited at all, this probably won't inspire any laughter; it's silly and at times suggestive, but never funny. It does bear the distinction of, for what it is, not being terribly offensive or embarrassing today. The title is awkwardly fit in so that they could call this something catchy. This is a great cure for insomnia, as it is astonishingly dull. I recommend this solely for those curious of it. 5/10

It's surprising how old Laurel and Hardy look in this wartime propaganda short. They were only a few years past the prime of their career, but they looked like that period was about twenty years behind them.Made in their lunch hour according to IMDb's trivia section, you can't help thinking they could have probably found more interesting ways of filling their time. The film consists of Pete Smith's voice telling them all about the different things wood is used for. There must have been a reason the US government felt it was important that the country should know about this, but you have to wonder why. Was it so people would be kinder to wood? Or perhaps they wanted people to stop hoarding it. Whatever the reason, the boredom quotient of the subject matter is counter-balanced by Stan and Ollie's presence - they're definitely the best thing about this short.

The film consists of a narrator talking to Laurel and Hardy. The boys say nothing much (other than a laugh) and it was made on grainy color film for release in the theaters during WWII to educate (and bore) audiences on the importance of having wood.This was a Pete Smith Specialty--one of many Pete Smith shorts made during the 1940s. Compared to the other Pete Smith shorts I have seen, this one manages to be even duller--even though it uses Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to demonstrate that they've got wood in practically everything they are carrying--such as rayons, pressed wood, etc. In many ways, it looks like a film that should have been made for a wood products convention, as no other human beings could possibly find this interesting. In fact, tedious is probably the best description of the short. Even die-hard fans of Laurel and Hardy (like myself) would find this excruciating and you can't detect even the faintest whiff of a laugh.

Seen more as a curiosity than anything else, THE TREE IN A TEST TUBE was a propaganda short made in World War II about the wood products that we find in common use all over the country. Stan and Ollie are stopped by narrator # 1 (Pete Smith) as they are walking in the street carrying a suitcase. Smith asks them if they know what wood based products that are in everyday use they have on them. First of course is their newspaper (from wood pulp, of course) but soon they find all types of wood based plastics, rayon, and chemicals in their possession. The film is instructive, but the joke is strained. I like Pete Smith at his best, but he is sarcastic - and he can stay on a joke beyond it's worth. Here he makes some comments on the boys naiveté which are really uncalled for. That they remain friendly is due to their screen persons as "babes in the wood". Simplistic, they listen to Smith's comments and accept them with grace. Probably it is just as well. They do have some fun with a piece of woman's underclothes on Stan's persons, and later a pair of Stan's colorful undershorts - both of which are made from wood based material. This is okay, spoiled slightly by the soundtrack giving Ollie a laugh at Stan's expense that is reminiscent of Ole Oleson's high pitch screen laugh (a real annoyance, by the way).The boys do end up chasing a car that most of their clothes and belongings were put upon when unpacking them. It is a fitting moment - but one of too few good ones in this short.The short then leaves the boys and Smith and a second narrator talks about the Agricultural Department's Wood Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, where they have tree grown in a test-tube. That is how the film ends. Interesting as far as it informs us of wood and it's importance, but not great entertainment. To be truthful the color stock of the film is not the best either. Pity as that is the really best reason to see this film. The short is mediocre at best - only worth a "5" out of "10". It could have been better.