The Music Box 2007

In a quiet music store, a woman, played by Tannaz Tabatabaei, arranges to purchase and have delivered a player piano as a birthday surprise for her husband. After sharing the address at 1127 Walnut Avenue with the store manager, the task is handed to the Laurel and Hardy Transfer Company to move the instrument using their horse-drawn freight wagon. The setup promises a simple delivery, but the real comedy soon unfolds as the stairs to the house loom large and unforgiving.

Two delivery men, portrayed by Rambod Javan and Shahrokh Foroutanian, face a nearly insurmountable obstacle: a lengthy stairway that seems to stack one challenge after another. They haul the heavy instrument upward, only to watch it slide and tumble, ricocheting off walls and banisters in a cascade of pratfalls. Along the way, they collide with a nursemaid, a cop, and the imposing Professor Theodore von Schwartzenhoffen, each encounter adding another layer of chaos to an already delicate operation. Yet the pair remains relentlessly persistent, their stubborn good humor carrying them through each setback.

Eventually they do reach the top, but misfortune follows close behind: the piano rolls back down, dragging one of the delivery men with it in a flurry of dust and splinters. Not discouraged, they reload and haul once more, only to be told that a simpler route exists—so they descend again to try a different path, then haul the piano all the way back up. When they arrive, they discover no one is waiting, and still they press on, managing to push the instrument into the living room, though not before leaving a mess of chaos in their wake.

The tension culminates in a confrontation with the irate professor who lives at the address. The professor, furious at the mess and the piano itself—an instrument he clearly detests—takes an axe to it as his wife arrives. In a rush of regret and muddled intent, he realizes the piano was meant for him and he agrees to sign for delivery. Just when the tension seems to settle, a final ink-spraying pen mishap erupts, reigniting the professor’s temper and forcing the two delivery men to hastily depart, leaving the scene in a whirl of comic mishaps and irrepressible energy.

This tale unfolds with a blend of physical humor, stubborn perseverance, and timing that keeps the audience amused from the first clumsy lift to the last swift exit. The day’s misadventures, though chaotic, prove that good-natured persistence can soften even the rough edges of a grand delivery gone awry.