Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Featuring Edgar Kennedy, Mae Busch, and Thelma Todd.
Directed by Lewis R. Foster.
Synopsis
"Get a load of this, big boy!"
Stan and Ollie have been playing a bit of pool. They get hungry, so Ollie invites Stan back to his apartment so that Mrs Barbara Hardy (Mae Busch) can cook them both a nice steak with mushroom sauce.
Outside the Hardy residence, they bump into Mrs Kennedy (Thelma Todd) and pleasantries are exchanged.
Mrs Hardy is none too pleased to learn that the boys expect her to cook them a slap-up meal, so, after an argument with her husband, she grabs her coat and hat and leaves the boys alone, heading for refuge at her mother's.
This doesn't perturb the boys one bit, and with Hardy's lead, the pair set about making their own steak dinner.
Laurel fails to help in any manner whatsoever, and Hardy has trouble with the gas.
After hearing the racket that the boys are making, Mrs Kennedy enters. She very generously offers to cook for the "poor dear boys".
It turns out Mrs Kennedy isn't well-equipped for working in the kitchen; she sets her dress on fire, so Hardy tries to put out the fiery garments whilst Laurel just hits her with a cushion!
Things are resolved when Hardy rips off her dress, leaving Mrs Kennedy in her underwear (quelle surprise!)!
Stan covers Mrs Kennedy's modesty by giving her the tablecloth to wrap around herself.
She attempts to hurry back to her apartment, but, just as she opens the door, Mr Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy) is coming home! Despite Mrs Kennedy's fears that her husband will kill them all if he finds out she is in her underwear in the Hardy residence, Stan and Ollie decide the best course of action would be to tell the truth.
Hardy goes outside the apartment, only to see his wife returning! Slamming the door shut, he decides suddenly that the plan to tell the truth needs to go out of the window! A bit like Mrs Kennedy; however, they decide to shove her in a trunk instead.
Mrs Hardy is in a conciliatory mood (even bringing some nuts for Stan), but with Mrs Kennedy stuck in the trunk, Hardy must be inventive to resolve the situation and get Mrs Kennedy out of the apartment.
Telling his wife that upon hearing Stan's advice, he has decided to leave her and head to South America "to do big things", Hardy picks up the trunk containing Mrs Kennedy.
An angry Mrs Hardy is not pleased to hear that home wrecker Stan is trying to wreck her, erm, marriage. Mr Kennedy, a policeman by profession, hears the argument, and enters the Hardy residence.
Kennedy learns that there is a woman in the trunk. He sympathises with the boys, and tells Mrs Hardy that he will go and give Stan and Ollie a good talking to outside so that all will be patched up (and importantly, at his request, the trunk will be put in his apartment).
Inside the safety of his apartment, Kennedy laughs and jokes with the boys, telling them that they need to be careful if they are going to make whoopee by having extramarital affairs. He invites them both out on his rounds, so that they can see his technique of flirting with women without his wife being any the wiser.
Mrs Kennedy, none too pleased to hear of such things from her husband, glowers inside the trunk.
Kennedy promises to let "that cluck" out of the trunk after escorting Stan and Ollie back to the Hardy's apartment. With the three men out of the way, Mrs Kennedy climbs out of the trunk and hides in the living room, shutting the lid on the way.
Back in his apartment, Kennedy is surprised to open the trunk and find no one inside! Off-screen, a seething Mrs Kennedy throws a variety of household items at her wayward husband.
A battered and bruised Kennedy knocks on the door of the Hardy residence. He beckons Ollie outside, and off-screen, punches him on the nose.
Hardy returns inside and shows off his red nose to Stan. A frightened Stan is beckoned outside by Kennedy.
Once he gets outside, Kennedy tells him to shut his eyes. Laurel does so, and misses Mrs Kennedy appear with a giant vase and smash it over her husband's head!
An unhurt Laurel walks back into the Hardy residence and bids the couple farewell. A shocked Hardy hurries outside to find the unconscious Kennedy on the floor.
Laurel bids goodnight to Mr Hardy. After doing so, he trips and somersaults down the stairs.
Review
"Well, you look like a peanut!"
"Unaccustomed As We Are", as you're probably aware, was the first Laurel and Hardy "talkie".
It's a great little comedy with plenty of slapstick moments, and marks the first time that viewers will hear Hardy's catchphrase of "Why don't you do something to help me?"
As would be expected, there are plenty of marvellous "Laurel and Hardy moments" epitomising precisely what made the partnership so special, but the film is arguably such a laugh-fest because the supporting cast is so strong. Mae Busch, Thelma Todd, and Edgar Kennedy have all secured their places in the 'Laurel and Hardy' legend, and rightly so. In fact, as I'll discuss later on in this post, in my opinion, it might even be Edgar Kennedy who steals the show in this particular film with his lecherous, bungling ways.
Once Stan and Ollie enter the Hardy residence, the comedy really gets going. Ollie has made such a big deal of what a lovely wife he has, that her off-screen grunt of "What do you mean, yoo-hoo?" is made all the funnier by Stan's perfectly timed query: "Are we in the right apartment?" This wasn't what he was expecting!
In the past, it's been noted by some (read: George) that I'm not the biggest fan of Mae Busch, but I do like her performance in this film. In a couple of places, her voice lacks a bit of clarity - probably, to do Mae justice, because she's meant to be the grumbling wife - and although her voice isn't as clear as Thelma Todd's or Edgar Kennedy's, her argument with Ollie is good fun.
I particularly like the moment where Hardy puts on the record player, and Mae Busch starts shouting in time to the music, before smashing the record over Hardy's head. But the previous argument where Hardy and Mrs Hardy shout over the top of each other is a bit of a mess - arguably, rightly so, because they're having an argument, right? - but as a first talkie, the sound recording isn't marvellous, so it does sound a bit ear-splitting and it's overly long.
We're left, like Stan, watching in awkward silence.
And of course, Mae Busch leaves us laughing on her way out of the apartment when she insults Stan by saying that he looks "like a peanut!"
When the boys are left alone to their own devices, their comedy is often at its funniest, and it's certainly the case in this film. Only Stan could make laying a table difficult, what with Hardy tripping over his outstretched legs a couple of times and falling through the table thanks to Stan's bungling. Hardy takes quite a bump falling through part of the table!
There are also moments in this film where the boys' trademark "silence speaks louder than words" motto is used to good effect, particularly in the moments after Hardy drags himself up from the floor after falling through the table. His glare at Laurel is priceless!
Likewise, Hardy's look of despair at the viewer after he is launched through the kitchen door is hilarious.
Things certainly get quite risqué when Mrs Kennedy enters, and in the process of attempting to cook dinner for the boys, sets her dress on fire.
It's good fun seeing Hardy trying to be effective in putting out the flames - whilst in reality doing nothing - and Stan just whacking Thelma Todd with a cushion after his attempts to blow out the smoking dress fail.
And yes, this means it's another opportunity for Thelma Todd to appear on screen in her underwear (something that seems to happen fairly frequently - especially in the Todd/Pitts/Kelly shorts). At least they eventually get her a tablecloth to cover her modesty - until it comes off in the trunk.
In fact, on this blog, I'm going to keep a tally of how many times in films Thelma Todd appears in her underwear:
Thelma Todd déshabille: I
Are you making a note of the score? Good. Let's continue.
When the madness really begins with Mrs Hardy's unexpected return, you can't help but have a good chuckle when Ollie orders Mrs Kennedy into the trunk, only for Stan to start climbing in! Classic!
And trust Stan to confuse burning bridges with britches.
It's nice to see Mrs Hardy let off some steam at Stan's expense, after hearing that he was behind her husband's decision to go to South America. It's a pity that Mae Busch keeps her hat on during the argument, as you can't see her face very clearly at all - although that's the fault of the director, not Mae Busch, of course.
In my opinion (which is never much valued or asked for but the only one you get on this blog), Edgar Kennedy is the star of the film. Yes, you read correctly! Kennedy is the star as he tries to fix it; the Hardy marriage, that is.
His bravado in boasting to the boys about his success with women is genuinely hilarious, keeping in mind how uncomfortable Stan and Ollie look the whole time. Thelma Todd's facial expressions are also very funny, as she learns directly from her husband about his salacious ways.
Kennedy's attempts to coax "that cluck" out of the trunk are equally side-splittingly funny: "Your dickie-bird is waiting!" To see Thelma Todd scowling away in the background makes the moment one of the best in the film.
One of my favourite moments in the whole film is when Kennedy turns round after opening the now empty trunk and spies his wife standing there staring at him. Emitting a Homer Simpson style shriek, Kennedy's palm against his face and visible unease are terrific!
You won't be able to stop laughing when a battered and bruised Kennedy appears in the Hardy's doorway and calls Ollie outside.
After Ollie receives his punishment, Stan's exaggerated whimpering makes you smile. His confident air after escaping a beating thanks to Mrs Kennedy's intervention is short-lived, tripping down the stairs.
It's a nice way to end a funny film. "Unaccustomed As We Are" will probably never be your favourite Laurel and Hardy talkie, and the second half of the film is definitely funnier than the first, but it certainly has many memorable moments.
What do you think of "Unaccustomed As We Are"?
Watch it
"So, little dickie-bird is waiting, is he?"
"Unaccustomed As We Are" is available on DVD as part of Universal's Laurel and Hardy Collection. It is on Disc 7 - Block-Heads.
