The Finishing Touch is a 1928 short comedy silent film produced by Hal Roach, directed by Clyde Bruckman, and starring Laurel and Hardy.

Despite their earnest efforts, the duo encounters a series of mishaps, exacerbated by the interference of a nearby hospital's head nurse, who enlists a policeman to enforce noise regulations.

However, their triumph is short-lived when a minor incident involving a bird leads to the chimney's collapse, compromising the structural integrity of the entire dwelling.

"[1] The Finishing Touch is set in an area undergoing real estate development in 1927; its wide open spaces provide a sense of a more pastoral Los Angeles that would soon vanish as more structures filled it in.

[2] The script also provided additional backstory on how the duo came to be hired to work on the house: an unfilmed scene portrayed the original construction crew having the same difficulties with the same folks from the same nearby hospital and quitting in frustration.

In an era when primitive film stocks did not permit many generations of copies to be made from a master, producers often set up multiple cameras during shooting to obtain more first-generation elements to work with.

The Finishing Touch is considered a prototype film for Laurel and Hardy, marking the first of their "workingman" pictures, where their professional task itself becomes the backbone of the plot.

"[1] William K. Everson, author of The Films of Laurel and Hardy, delivered a mixed review in 1967, stating, "Considering the promise it offers, The Finishing Touch is a slight disappointment.

"[5] Randy Skretvedt, author of Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies, is more guarded in his assessment, saying, "If The Finishing Touch isn't as memorable as the films which preceded it, it's a pleasant enough little picture.