Another Fine Mess

Seeing Stan Laurel as Agnes the maid in this film is absolutely fantastic. I especially love his girlie chat with Mrs Plumtree on the sofa. This particular scene of the film illustrates Stan's adaptability to talkie films, and to situation comedy, where there is less of the usual slapstick.

I guess the use of more dialogue over slapstick in Another Fine Mess is due to the fact that it was thought that such comedy genre would be less funny, and therefore irrelevant to talkie films. Seeing Stan and Ollie with more dialogue to perform takes allot of getting used to. However, I think the duo pulled it off in this film Very good viewing!

L & H are on the run from the law. They are so broke they spent the night sleeping on a park bench. A nearby was not impressed with Stan after he addresses him as 'Ma'am'. They take refuge from the chase in the basement of Colonel Wilburforce Buckshot, who has just left to go on vacation to South Africa.

While hiding they pretend to be the owner and maid (Stan in his guise as Agnes) of the house when a new married couple (Lord Plumtree and his gorgeous wife) come around to rent the place. Obviously the usual hijinks and misunderstandings follow but the comic timing and Stan's indulgence in his Agnes disguise make it a half-hour laugh riot.

This is an enjoyable remake of the silent feature "Duck Soup", which had played such an important role in establishing Laurel and Hardy as the great comic duo that is now so well- known. This feature follows the same story setup, and expands it slightly while adding in a number of new gags that would not have worked as well on the silent screen.

Once again, Stan and Ollie find themselves forced to impersonate an absent homeowner and his servants, while hosting a prospective renter. The main story is also framed by a brief opening sequence and an interesting, nearly surreal finale. In the main part of the movie, they get a lot of mileage out of the basic situation, and Laurel plays his multiple role in an amusing fashion. James Finlayson gets a couple of good moments near the end, although he does not get as much to do as he did in some of their earlier features.

It packs a lot of material into a little under thirty minutes of running time, and there are a handful of moments when you can just tell that it was an early sound-era movie. But, as this example shows, Laurel and Hardy had little difficulty in successfully adapting their style to the new era.

Circumstances of poverty force Laurel and Hardy to take refuge from the police in James Finlayson's mansion. But it might be a stroke of luck as Finlayson is about to depart for Africa to shoot big game. He gives instructions to the butler and maid to rent the place for six months, but they leave themselves on a short getaway.

Which gives Ollie the idea to masquerade as Finlayson and rent the place himself. Stan masquerades as the butler.

But when the boys meet with Charles Gerrard and his lovely bride Thelma Todd who knows a maid comes with the package, Stan has to get into drag and quick change drag at that to be both butler and maid. That provides for a series of incredibly funny situations.

Of course it's all a big bust for Stan and Ollie, but you have to see one of their funniest short subjects to see how it all goes bad.

The comedy duo of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy continued to see their popularity rise by Hal Roach Studio's short films in 1930. Their November 1930 "Another Fine Mess" demonstrates how the pair reworked old material and still made it appear fresh and hilarious.

Busily working on their first feature film, Stan and Ollie still had one short film to produce to fulfill a distribution contract. They reached up on the shelves of their previously silent films and selected their 1927 "Duck Soup," based on a play by Stanley's father, Arthur Jefferson, 'Home from the Honeymoon.' The reconstructed film, "Another Fine Mess," delivers for the first time one of Hardy's most famous lines, which has been misquoted because of this movie's title. Viewers misconstrue Oliver's quip to Stan whenever they get into trouble as, "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." WRONG! Hardy never said that-ever. What he does say is "Well, here's another NICE mess you've gotten me into."

"Another Fine Mess" is also the first film music composer Leroy Shields wrote his catchy Laurel and Hardy's distinctive title song as well as the insertion of special sound effects embedded in his score. Shields' work is recognizable in the 'Our Gang" series and other Hal Roach shorts for which he was busy composing at the time.

Producer Roach thought up a unique way of delivering the opening credits by having two female on-screen announcers read the credits instead of listing the titles. The twins Betty Mae and Beverly Crane, dressed in theater usher uniforms, were tasked in several Roach films between 1930-1931 to say the names of the production personnel and directors. This is the only Laurel and Hardy movie they appeared, but recent copies of "Another Fine Mess" have eliminated their announcements, going directly into the opening scene. Roach stopped the practice when theater owners complained their patrons were yelling back at the women, becoming quite rowdy during their intros.

"Another Fine Mess" solidified Laurel and Hardy's reputation for successfully making the transition from silent to sound. Motion Picture Magazine loved the two, proclaiming, "Right now, they are the funniest comedy team on the Talkie market, with no let down in sight."

The mansion the pair hide out in is still standing at 3500 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. The 1910-built villa is now home to the Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy.