Mogli sfuggenti

I wonder whether this was the film that convinced Hal Roach he had the makings of a comedy partnership in Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. They share a lot of screen time here, even though this isn't a Laurel & Hardy comedy as such. The boys play second fiddle to Priscilla Dean and a forgettable leading man, and they take an immediate and intense dislike to one another from the moment Stan appears on Dean's doorstep to deliver paint. Dean is feeling neglected by her artist husband and solicits the aid of Stan to cosy up to her in her husband's presence in the hope of making him jealous.

I don't think I would make Priscilla Dean feel neglected – she's something of a looker, and makes a good attempt at keeping up with the boys. Even though their third and fourth on the cast list, Laurel and Hardy supply all the memorable moments – apart from the guy who keeps departing with odd things attached to the top of his hat. Stan retells the story of Samson and Delilah at one point and, this being a silent film he has to tell it in exaggerated mime which he does very funnily. Another reviewer has observed that Laurel was a funnier comic than Hardy, and I think he's right. Having said that I think neither would have lasted long without the other once sound movies were established.

This isn't a classic by any means, but it possesses that frantic energy common to so many silent comedies and has quite a few funny moments. The chase finale is particularly good. The intertitles have a coy knowingness about them at times. 'He only kisses me on Sundays and holidays,' bemoans the neglected wife, and you know it isn't kisses that she's missing. And watch closely as Dean talks Laurel into being her accomplice. Read her lips. It looks to me like it's not 'do you want to make love to me,' that she's saying to him but something much more earthy.

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.

After 'Duck Soup' indicated a step in the right direction for early on in their careers after their previous two short films underwhelmed somewhat (especially '45 Minutes from Hollywood), Laurel and Hardy's fourth outing featuring them both 'Slipping Wives' sees a step backwards. It is nice and entertaining, more than watchable in an inoffensive way, but later offerings make far better use of Laurel and Hardy and their partnership and are much funnier. 'Slipping Wives' felt like they were not yet fully formed and yet to properly find their feet.

'Slipping Wives' looks quite good and hardly the work of an amateur. Priscilla Dean is charming and amusing and Laurel is great fun, especially in his re-telling of 'Samson and Delilah'. 'Slipping Wives' is worth watching for him alone.

There are amusing and charming moments, the aforementioned moment and the climactic chase finale are the highlights, and the pace is generally very energetic.

Hardy however has a relatively unimportant and nowhere near as interesting role and his material is inferior to that of Laurel's. A waste, and even more so that 'Slipping Wives' misses the chance to utilise their chemistry properly. 'Slipping Wives' doesn't really feel like Laurel and Hardy, due to Hardy having little to do and their chemistry barely existent, and more a Priscilla Dean vehicle featuring the two.

Not everything is funny, too much of it being predictable and not being sharp enough in timing. The story is very slight and erratically paced, sometimes too busy while not getting going soon enough.

In summary, worth a look but hardly a Laurel and Hardy essential. 6/10 Bethany Cox

"Slipping Wives" (1927) is an exploitative, though inviting, title to a comedy whose lead is Priscilla Dean of all people, but whose comedy is led by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy! Also in the plot are Herbert Rawlinson and Albert Conti. Begins a tad slowly until Stan Laurel shows up. Wowzer!! He and Hardy immediately get into it with Hardy taking a - well, a paint bath. Then Laurel is invited to stay to liven up events when Dean feels she's being slighted by her husband. He's already missed her birthday. So...she wants Laurel - yes, Laurel of all people - to make plays at her in front of her husband. It all leads to mix-ups that are genuinely hilarious. This early combo of the two (L & H) begins to show the character each will develop over the years into the duo we learned to cherish.

I must admit that I've never cared as much for the features of L & H, but I've really come to appreciate these early seminal silents of the pair. This one lasts 23 minutes, and it's really a lot of fun. I'm a Priscilla Dean fan, but I've never seen her do comedy before. Usually she's a tough of some sort, and she can usually hold her own against even gangsters like Lon Chaney, Sr.! Here, she's a completely different type, and she's very good.

A line or two to supply due credit:

This little film is indeed very important in the saga of Laurel and Hardy, but I don't like to see Priscilla Dean slighted. The lovely and lively woman gives a performance in this film which which must be considered outstanding in any silent comedy. She delivers carloads of presence and is not afraid to make hilarious comic use of her very pretty face. And she DOES have the lead, after all!

Viewed the above titled movie recently. This was one of the films Stan & Ollie made before they were teamed officially. It shows some bits of "business", that would become trademarks of theirs in later films. ie: Oliver being the know-all who constantly corrects and intimidates Stan. Also, the plot of their being used to make a husband jealous was used some years later in another film where they were greeting card salesman, and no less than Charles Middleton was the supposedly neglectful husband. This shows the early development of a pair of classic comedians. That is why I gladly give it a 7.