Come Clean

Laurel & Hardy return to a favourite plot device - that of blackmail - in this reasonably funny short. They save the life of a woman attempting to drown herself and are rewarded by having her threatening to have them arrested for attacking her if they don't take her home with them. Of course, being Stan & Ollie, this is what they do - with typically riotous results as they try to conceal her from their wives.

This one has a couple of classic moments: the encounter with the ice cream salesman in which Stan wants mustachio with his chocolate ice cream, and the boy's noisy attempts to cover the music blaring from another room by banging their crockery and singing at the tops of their voices. Not quite vintage Laurel & Hardy but still extremely funny.

The beginning of this film is an almost exact copy of SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME, as Ollie and his wife are trying to spend a quiet evening ALONE, but Stanley (and in this case with his wife) show up unannounced. Ollie and his wife hide and pretend they aren't home, but to no avail. Then, you soon notice that Ollie's wife is a pretty bossy and mean piece of work and she begins nagging him unmercifully. Stan wants ice cream, so he and Ollie leave to bring some back for everyone. On the way back, they catch a woman who appears to be trying to drown herself. Instead of being grateful, she is a major pest who follows them home and tries to make their lives miserable (a rather unbelievable turn of events, I know). And the last portion of the film consists of the boys trying in vain to stop this woman from revealing herself to the wives.

As far as the film goes, it's funny stuff, but also pretty forced. It's awfully familiar and ordinary. Not a bad film, but also not particularly memorable.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Come Clean' as one of their best and a bit disappointing compared to their late 1928 and the best of their 1929 efforts, which were among their best and funniest early work. It is still very good and has much of what makes Laurel and Hardy's work as appealing as it is.

The story is extremely slight to the point of non-existence and the first part takes a little bit too time to get going.

When 'Come Clean' does get going, which it does do quite quickly, it is great fun, not always hilarious but never less than very amusing, loved everything with the ice cream and Laurel in the bath-tub is extremely funny. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Come Clean' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable, especially Laurel's though Hardy at the end is one of the pleasures here.

'Come Clean' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, especially Mae Busch.

Overall, very good. Not essential or classic Laurel and Hardy, but a good representation of them. 8/10 Bethany Cox

James W. Horne does what he does best as a director of Laurel and Hardy shorts with Come Clean, a spry comedic short, which is erect a story and short film on the opportunities that naturally arise from situational comedy. His directorial style, combined with H.M. Walker's writing, is often comprised of coming up with a ridiculous story and continuing to feed its inanity by seeing just how far one could take it. This results in a short that is more than just endless bouts of physical comedy with no real humor whatsoever, but a showcase of two charismatic comedy talents and a screen writing exercise that serves as a fulfilling laugh-riot.

Come Clean may not live up to Horne's other Laurel and Hardy shorts, like Big Business and Thicker Than Water, but there is still an incomparable amount of energy and liveliness within the screenplay and the characters. The short begins by Mr. and Mrs. Hardy wishing they could have a restful, quiet evening in their apartment, but are interrupted, per usual, by the well-meaning but troublemaking Mr. and Mrs. Laurel. After trying to refuse entry, the Hardy's give up and decide to let them in, to which Laurel replies by hanging with his old pal Hardy and the wives are left to mingle in the frontroom. When Laurel and Hardy decide to venture out to get ice cream, they wind up preventing a woman from committing suicide off a bridge, to which she is ungrateful and begins making threats to both men if they dare leave her company. What results is a manic evening between the two men and the shrewish woman, as they try to get back to their wives for a dinner, while preventing the woman from screaming whenever she is unsatisfied with what's happening.

This is the first Laurel and Hardy short I've encountered where little sense is made in regards to the short's narrative or its cause-and-effect relationship. Why would this woman try and commit suicide? Was it all just a ploy to get the attention of someone she could blackmail? Why are Laurel and Hardy's wives so bitter and shrewish themselves? Writer H.M. Walker doesn't concern himself with that information so much as he does try his best to quietly obscure details by making such a ridiculous and wild short film, one that operates with the one-thing-leads-to-another formula of early comedy filmmaking, without so much as clearing up why one thing leads to another.

It's all in the name of comedy, and in that spirit, Come Clean is pretty funny, especially during the last ten minutes of its nineteen-minute runtime, where, per usual, all hell breaks loose and Laurel and Hardy are left to their own thoughtful wits, as lackluster as those often are. Come Clean provides for fun and enjoyment, which is precisely what most of these shorts have been giving me, so far.

Starring: Stan Laurel and Olive Hardy. Directed by: James W. Horne.

No question Mae Busch, a famous silent film actress in her day, proved to be the absolutely best foil for Laurel and Hardy. Mae made a successful transition to sound films, replete with a good voice and ready to SCREAM bloody murder if necessary!

Here, Stan and Ollie go out to get some ice cream for their "not too happy" wives and just happen to save larcenous Mae from drowning? Mae is at her best, setting up the boys to pay her off -- BIG TIME --or she'll tell the cops (and their wives) they tried to KILL her. What a bucket of suds they step into.

After a few failed attempts to ditch her, they reluctantly bring Mae home? Ollie stashes her in the bedroom (while Stan is telling a dirty joke to the wives about some farmer's daughter?...) INSANE. Charlie Hall, who plays the ice cream salesman here, was also credited for co-writing the film short, and got the job done.

Naturally, the story builds on itself; the boys play hide and seek with Mae, attempting to hide her around the apartment so the wives won't catch on. Both campy and suggestive material, definitely in the pre-code category of the 1930s, and you have to admit, audiences loved it. In fact, this type of risque storyline made Laurel and Hardy enormously popular through the years, inspiring the sex romps of the 60s and 70s, even sitcoms like LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE.

Two notes; Future director Gordon Douglas has a bit as a hotel desk clerk. He began his career working as a writer and casting director for producer Hal Roach. Spanish actress Linda Loredo, who plays Stan's wife, died suddenly after this production following an emergency appendectomy, at age 24. She also acted for Roach in his Spanish-speaking productions.

Get the Laurel and Hardy short film dvd box set for classics like this. Thanks again to METV Plus for running these golden oldies nightly, and MOVIES Net for featuring them Saturday mornings.