Film #6 - Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925)

    

Starring James Finlayson.

 

Featuring Lyle Tayo, Sue O'Neill, and Oliver Hardy.

 

Directed by Stan Laurel and Clarence Hennecke.

 

Synopsis

"What a face!"

 

 

 

 

 



"Yes, Yes, Nanette" begins with Sonny (Grant Gorman) handing his mother a letter. The letter is from Sonny's sister, Nanette (Lyle Tayo).

The letter reveals that Nanette has married Hillory (James Finlayson) and is going to bring him home to meet the family.

The family, including the father (Jack Gavin) and perennial chewing-gum chewer and giggling daughter (Sue O'Neill), are all ecstatic about Nanette's return.

Sunday arrives and the family anxiously wait to meet the returning happy couple.

Mother is delighted to see Nanette, but is rather disappointed that Hillory is not as attractive as she'd hoped he would be!

Even Pete the pup seems to be hostile towards poor Hillory.

Sonny insults his clothes and the daughter pokes fun at the way he looks.

Father begrudgingly accepts Hillory's present of an El Stinko cigar whilst viewing his son-in-law with disdain.

The daughter returns to torment Hillory, sticking her chewing gum to the wall in the process.

She goes to touch his "shiny hair" but Hillory jerks his head backwards against the wall, right where the chewing gum was placed.

Hillory's toupee sticks to the gum on the wall and reveals his balding head, much to the mirth of the daughter!

Dinner is a disaster. As the family bow their heads to say grace, Hillory's toupee falls onto the table.

Pete the pup takes the opportunity to grab the toupee between his jaws.

Hillory eventually gets his toupee back from off of Pete the Pup's head!

Hillory's after-dinner singing is unappreciated by everyone except his wife, so the lovers are left alone.

Nanette's ex-sweetheart (Babe Hardy) enters and is disappointed to hear that she has got married.

After inspecting Hillory's clothes and toupee, the ex-sweetheart gets 'hands-on' with him.

Taking advice from the slogan hanging on the wall - "It is better to give than to receive" - Hillory decides to take a heavy-handed approach with his wife's ex-lover.

After smacking him in the chops, Hillory chases the ex-sweetheart out of the house.

The family are impressed by Hillory's heavy-handedness and leave him alone with Nanette.

Nanette sits on her husband's lap and the chair collapses.

 

Review

"What do you do with your old clothes - after they fall off?"

 

"Yes, Yes, Nanette" is a fun little one-reel silent comedy, lasting nine minutes in total.

It seems to have garnered significantly more interest than other one-reel films from the mid-twenties, possibly because of its "Laurel and Hardy" connections. Not only does Laurel and Hardy's chief nemesis James Finlayson star in this slapstick short, but Oliver Hardy makes an appearance late in the film as a burly bully, and Stan Laurel, along with Clarence Hennecke, was co-director of the film. 

And in case you were wondering:

The title of the film is a topical reference to an incredibly popular Broadway and West End musical comedy from 1925 entitled "No, No, Nanette" (thank you, Mr. Wikipedia), although that's where the similarities end - apart from the fact that "Yes, Yes, Nanette" like "No, No, Nanette" features a woman named Nanette...

Even though the film is short and the comedy is of a domestic nature, the gags presented have stood up well against the test of time. Largely this is due to James Finlayson's impeccable comic timing, and thanks to Pete the pup!

Yes, that's right! Pete the pup of Hal Roach's 'Our Gang' fame gets some of the best laughs in this film.

Some say that his natural, near complete circle around his right eye was made a perfect circle by legendary make-up artist Max Factor (as in the man), who would put make-up on the dog before filming.

A dog wearing a toupee?! What's not to like?!

 

So, thinking about my favourite gags in "Yes, Yes, Nanette", it's safe to say that the comedy involving Pete the pup and Finlayson is some of the finest in the film.

Finlayson's character appears on edge from the very first moment that he appears on screen, scanning the street to check out the type of neighbourhood his wife's parents live in.

There's no doubt about it: Hillory gets bullied and insulted throughout this short film, but, when Nanette's mother takes one look at his face and bursts into tears, it makes for great comedy. The laugh is heightened by Finlayson's penchant for looking at us, the viewer, throughout this film, and even though he doesn't do his what would become infamous double-take look ala Laurel and Hardy films, his bemused gawps make us laugh.

Hillory's attempts to make friends with Pete the pup turn out badly as well, with Finlayson in top comic form as he jumps away in exaggerated fear from the barking dog, taking refuge by holding onto the hallway light.

Probably my favourite Pete and Finlayson moment is during dinner, when the naughty dog takes Fin's toupee between his teeth and bolts away from the table! Fin is the master of the funny face, and his comical embarrassment is complete when Pete appears at the entrance to the dinning room with the toupee on his head! That was a hilarious moment!

Finlayson's gift for getting laughs by creating a range of bewildered and bemused faces is used to good effect when he attempts to chastise Pete for stealing his toupee, clearly speaking to the animal as if he were human.

Pete and Finlayson have one more special moment together when Nanette plays the piano after dinner. An ecstatic Finlayson, in full song, thinks it delightful that his wife is pecking him on the cheek as he sings. However, it's not his wife, of course, but Pete the dog licking his face.

Finlayson's expression is priceless during this moment - he goes from smug to disgruntled very quickly indeed.

Oliver Hardy's small role in this film is interesting enough, even though the role doesn't allow for the type of hilariously funny slapstick that he was performing with Bobby Ray in the same year. Hardy's job here is to turn up, insult Finlayson, and take a punch on the nose before running away. He's great as this type of burly bully, but it's not the Oliver Hardy that we would all grow to love, of course. The role could just have easily been played by someone like Noah Young, in my opinion. But Hardy does take a solid punch, and positively throws himself into the staircase after Finlayson trips him up. He also does a remarkable job of throwing himself to the floor as he escapes down the garden path. Nice work, Babe Hardy!

I always found it funny how the ex-sweetheart just wanders straight into the front-room of his former lover...anybody else think that?! The only person who has ever got away with just walking into front rooms unannounced is Arthur Fonzarelli...

On a curious tangent, I've been unable to find out the name of the actress who plays the mother in this film. Does anybody know who she is?

Please leave a comment below if you have any information.

In terms of the other actors, Sue O'Neill gives a nice performance as the bratty younger sister of Nanette and her constant ribbing of Hillory is fun. But her performance is probably made better by the fact that Lyle Tayo, Grant Gorman, and Jack Gavin are playing bit-part roles at best. With more screen-time, Nanette's sister is able to engage in more hijinks than, say, her brother Sonny. Having said this though, Sue O'Neill brings a certain cheeky playfulness to the role of the brat, and you never feel like you hate her - despite the fact that the intertitles suggest that you'd want to hit her with a brick! In fact, it's surprising just how anonymous Nanette is in this film, and Lyle Tayo has very little screen-time and very little to do. 

For those readers who like their stats and trivia, here's a good 'un for you: Sue O'Neill would later perform under the name of Sally O'Neil - yes, that's right ,two "l's" in the first surname and then one "l" in the second surname. She even acted alongside her sister, Molly O'Day, in "The Beloved" (1927).

I really like the scenes where the daughter torments Finlayson - they have great comic potential.

The daughter's chewing-gum offers one of the best gags in the film. And after Finlayson's toupee gets stuck to the gum on the wall and his baldness is revealed, Sue O'Neill's facial expression of shocked laughter is great!

Fin's attempt to place his toupee back on his head promptly and properly is also wonderful. D'oooohhhhhh!

 

 

I've always been a great admirer of James Finlayson, and even though I think he is better playing the villain than he is the hero - watch some of his early films with a young Stan Laurel, for example - "Yes, Yes, Nanette" has enough trademark Finlayson moments to make it a steady and enjoyable comedy. I'd certainly rank it above some of the other early Stan Laurel films such as "Half a Man" or "The Soilers", or Oliver Hardy's "One Too Many", for example, which feature on the same collection.

What do you think of "Yes, Yes, Nanette"?

 

Watch it

"Little girls shouldn't chew gum - It ruins their horoscope!"

 

 

"Yes, Yes, Nanette" is available on DVD as part of "The Definitive Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Collection," restored by Lobster Films.

 

Here's the link: Definitive Collection DVD