Our Wife (1931)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Here we have "Our Wife", another Stan and Ollie short film from their sound days and Horne and Walker worked with them on several occasions like they did here. It runs for 20 minutes like some of the others and it is in black-and-white of course as it is over 85 years already,. Don't be fooled by versions where color was added later on. This one here goes more into situational comedy like the long Stan translating/interpreting scene than into (violent) slapstick Stooges style like some of their others and I liked it. I also liked that romance played a bigger part here than usual with Laurel and Hardy films as normally you just see their mean bullying wives, but there seems to be some real affection for the chubby chick by Hardy. Now they only need to overcome some truly high obstacles like the girl's father not too amused about her man of choice and eventuallöy in a brief sequence a short-sighted priest. Sure there are some unrealistic and unfunny reactions like the woman in the end punching Stan and the film goes over the top at times too, which was a common problem for movies back then, but I still believe that story-wise and comedy-wise this one has to offer more positive than negative. That's why it is among the works from S&O's sound days that I like more than other and that I also give a thumbs-up. Sure greatness may not have been achieved here and it is a relatively simple story, but we need to keep in mind it also is just a 20-minute movie. Overall a positive recommendation for this one. Go see it if you are into old movies, unless you already did as this is certainly not among Stan and Ollue's least seen, not among their most known either though.

Released in 1931, "Our Wife" is about Ollie planning to marry his sweetheart and with Stan as his best man. Naturally, things don't go according to plan! First, the future father-in- law James Finlayson objects to the marriage. Second, the bride to-be is of a considerable shape. The latter problem features much more later on in the film! Ollie decides to elope with his girl but this also presents a few challenges... The first half of "Our Wife" works very well but somehow, the final 10 minutes isn't quite so great. It is still a good Laurel and Hardy short but not quite vintage. I laughed at Stan trying to help Ollie prepare for the big day because you just know it won't work the way they wish!

Our Wife concerns a happy-go-lucky Ollie planning to marry his sweetheart Dulcy (Babe London), with his pal Stan by his side as his best man. However, when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie, he becomes disgusted and appalled and calls off the wedding instantly. Frustrated, the couple plans to elope, with Stan and Ollie sneaking Dulcy out of her home to have a secret marriage ceremony; one can only imagine how Laurel and Hardy manage to turn this immense task into one of troublesome blunders.But, as we expect, they find a way to do so, and Our Wife becomes infested with circumstantial comedy, arising from everything like Ollie falling into Dulcy's window, the three having difficulty fitting into a small car, and then, finally, arriving for the marriage ceremony only to have it incomparably screwed up thanks to a cross-eyed priest in true Laurel and Hardy fashion. Our Wife sticks to a premise more built on situational comedy and misunderstandings, as writer H.M. Walker and director James W. Horne team up once again to deliver a spry, fun short. Laurel and Hardy function the best when they struggle to do a simple task to no success, engage in goofy banter, or stumble over activities that should be easy and quick. When they punch, kick, fight, and slap, their shorts descend into the kind of humor The Three Stooges did and did infinitely better. When the duo stick to trying to go along with a story and having issues executing their plan, they predicate themselves off of the building blocks of comedy, where characters do something they don't want to do or are having difficultly doing something. Our Wife works for that specific reason and results in a rousing good time.Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Babe London. Directed by: James W. Horne.

While this isn't the best short made by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, it is among the better ones and there is very little I would change about it. The boys are a well-established team when this film was created and their performance seemed effortless and magical. This was NOT the case with their later films, but don't get me started on that,...Ollie is getting married to a woman that looks a little bit like Ollie in drag (fortunately it was NOT Ollie in drag--a dopey device they used in another of their films). But the father of the bride (James Finlayson) hasn't met Ollie and when he sees a photo of his future son-in-law, he loudly announces they WON'T marry!! In the meantime, Ollie is getting ready for the wedding--unaware of the problem with his father-in-law-to-be. And, of course, his Best Man, Stanley, is doing almost everything possible to make a mess of everything. It isn't intentional--just Stanley being his usual stupid self (such as spraying the wedding cake with bug spray to drive away the bugs).Ollie gets a phone call from his beloved and learns that "Daddy" won't let it occur. However, Ollie announces they'll elope and asks Stanley's help in the endeavor. Well, when they arrive at the house, Stanley, it seems, rented a car like Ollie asked but it was smaller than a Mini Cooper! It almost looked like one of those cars that clowns pop out of and watching the three of them squeeze into it was a riot.In the end, they finally get to the justice of the peace and it's cross-eyed Ben Turpin--who, due to his eye sight, marries Stanly to Ollie--or so it seems!