On a gaffé

Just a quick note to say that this movie is silent, but was nevertheless released with music and effects on Vitaphone discs. The discs has been found, and at least the German Kinowelt DVD release of Sons of the Desert has We Faw Down as an bonus, complete with the music and effects track.

It is always a bonus to watch the silent Laurel & Hardy comedies with the proper, original music and effects track. This brings us a little bit closer to the film's original state.

In general, the Vitaphone system did not last very long, but the system of having soundtracks stored separately does open the possibility of restoring soundtracks even if the film element has been put together from various prints.

WE FAW DOWN

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Silent

(Black and white - Short film)

Stan 'n' Ollie get mixed up with a couple of floozies (Kay Deslys and Vera White) after setting out to visit a theatre which burns down in their absence! Needless to say, their tyrannical wives (Vivien Oakland and Bess Flowers) are not amused...

Leo McCarey's OK comedy laid the narrative framework for William Seiter's masterpiece SONS OF THE DESERT (1934), with L&H playing brow-beaten victims of circumstance, forced to tell a monstrous lie which backfires in spectacular fashion. Much of it is very funny, especially the scene in which Stan is teased by Deslys, leading to a violent game of push and shove. However, some of the fun is undercut by Oakland and Flowers, playing their roles completely straight, which adds an element of unpleasantness to the 'henpecked husband' scenario. Originally released in the UK as WE SLIP UP.

We Faw Down (1928)

** (out of 4)

Routine Laurel and Hardy short has the boys lying to their wives and sneaking out for a poker game but they're picked up by two flirts. This here has a couple good laughs including a wonderful site gag at the end but there's really nothing here that separates it from better shorts dealing with the same subject matter.

I viewed this film in the 21-disc, UK box set, which is a dream come true for fans of Laurel and Hardy. It's certainly worth the money if you are a fan.

This is a fairly obscure Laurel & Hardy comedy which deserves to be better known, for while it's no masterpiece it is quite funny and entertaining, as well as unusual in some respects. We Faw Down is one of the earliest explorations of Stan & Ollie's relationships with their wives, and in 1933 it would serve as a blue-print for their best Battle of the Sexes feature, Sons of the Desert. It plays rather like a silent version of "The Honeymooners." Imagine Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton in this scenario: the boys tell their wives a fib in order to sneak out and play poker, but en route to the game they manage to get entangled with a boxer's flirty girlfriend; later, after narrowly escaping from the murderous boxer, they make matters worse for themselves by blatantly lying about the whole episode to their wives, who are now furious. The Gleason & Carney parallel with Laurel & Hardy has long been noticed, but it's especially apparent here, although in Laurel & Hardy's world it appears that forgiveness and understanding are harder to come by than in the Kramdens' apartment: at the end of this film, Mrs. Hardy is chasing the guys through an alley with a shotgun, firing at them. It's hard to imagine Alice Kramden doing that.

At any rate, what we have here is a Roaring Twenties sitcom, nicely photographed (by George Stevens, no less), smoothly directed (by Leo McCarey, no less), and beautifully well acted by the entire cast, Stan and Ollie in particular. At their best, Laurel & Hardy are so natural we don't even think of them as actors, but what better definition is there of first-rate acting? As actors playing off each other, the guys are at the top of their game in this short. Watch the interplay of their facial expressions in the opening scene as they conspire to fool their wives -- they couldn't fool grade school kids, but it's fun to watch them attempt to be sly. And later, when the boys are semi-innocently ensnared by two good time gals, there is a delightful extended sequence in which Stan is playfully tormented by the boxer's girlfriend, to his mounting annoyance and Ollie's growing amusement.

This is where the film gets into unusual territory, at least for viewers accustomed to the later, more child-like Laurel & Hardy. Although their characterizations are essentially in place in this early short, Stan and Ollie are distinctly more grown-up in their response to the sordid situation they get themselves into; they're simpletons to be sure, but grown-ups nonetheless. They're not entirely innocent, and they exchange wicked conspiratorial grins throughout. Even in the final sequence, when their story unravels and they stand revealed as liars, they can barely conceal their impish amusement over the whole thing -- and that's something you won't find later on, as they became more infantile and more fearful of their wives. They do pay for their misbehavior here, but at least they get some kicks along the way, and that's kind of a treat. You might say that We Faw Down presents Laurel & Hardy at their naughtiest.

Casting Note: In this film Mrs. Laurel is played by Bess Flowers, later to become famous -- to movie buffs, that is -- as the Queen of the Hollywood Extras. She appeared in scores of movies throughout the entire Golden Age of the studio system, usually as an elegantly attired dress extra. (Just check out this woman's filmography, it's amazing!) We Faw Down provides Ms. Flowers with a rare opportunity to play comedy in a featured role, and gives viewers a rare chance to get a look at this attractive lady for more than a few seconds. It's nice to see that she could hold her own with two of the top comedians in the business.

Once more the famous two get in some serious trouble with their wives, after a series of unfortunate incidents, which forces them to come up with a lie, which of course only make their situation even worser...

The jokes remain funny, even after they are repeated multiple times in the movie. The events leading up to the confrontation with the two wives are both wonderfully constructed and executed and filled with some typical slapstick humor. The movie knows to remain constantly funny throughout the whole movie which makes this a very consistent comedy to watch.

The ending might have some slow moments in it and might not be as funny as the first part of the movie, it doesn't really make the movie less pleasant to watch. "We Faw Down" is good enough for more than a few laughs and it shows Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy once more in top-form and their chemistry and timing is spot-on!

Perhaps not as memorable and good as other Laurel & Hardy pictures but still an entertaining and watchable comedy-short from the famous comical duo.

7/10

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