Directed by: James Parrott

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harry Bernard, James Finlayson, Thelma Todd, Charles K. Gerrard

Adapted from: Home from the Honeymoon, a stage sketch written by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel’s father. Laurel and Hardy had previously used the material for their 1927 silent comedy Duck Soup.

STORY

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are on the run again — although, as usual, their attempt to escape trouble only lands them in considerably more of it.

After being chased by a policeman for vagrancy, Stan and Ollie seek refuge inside what appears to be an empty mansion. The enormous house belongs to Colonel Wilberforce Buckshot, an eccentric big-game hunter who is preparing to leave for an expedition to Africa. The Colonel departs, his servants leave as well, and suddenly Stan and Ollie believe they have found the perfect place to hide.

For about five minutes.

Their peaceful sanctuary is interrupted when Lord and Lady Plumtree arrive to inquire about renting the mansion. Stan and Ollie now have a choice: admit that they are trespassing and risk being arrested — or pretend they actually belong there.

Naturally, they choose the option guaranteed to create complete disaster.

Ollie assumes the identity of Colonel Buckshot, while Stan is pressed into service as both the maid, “Agnes,” and the butler, “Hives.” What follows is classic Laurel and Hardy: increasingly elaborate lies, frantic costume changes, confused guests, suspicious authorities and two men desperately trying to maintain a deception that becomes more impossible with every passing minute.

Stan's transformation into Agnes is particularly wonderful. Dressed as a maid and attempting to navigate the expectations of Lady Plumtree, he somehow manages to make an already ridiculous situation even more absurd. Meanwhile, Ollie summons every ounce of his magnificent self-confidence to impersonate the mansion's wealthy owner, despite having absolutely no idea what he is doing.

Then the real Colonel Buckshot comes home.

Now Stan and Ollie aren't merely hiding from the police. They're occupying another man's mansion, impersonating him and his servants, entertaining prospective tenants and trying desperately to escape before everyone discovers exactly who they are.

It is Laurel and Hardy at their best: a tiny problem becomes a bigger problem, the bigger problem becomes an enormous problem, and before long the only possible solution is to RUN.

AIN BACKSTAGE SECRETS & AINTOIDS
THE STORY CAME FROM STAN LAUREL'S FATHER

This one has a wonderful family connection.

Another Fine Mess was based on Home from the Honeymoon, a stage sketch written by Arthur J. Jefferson — Stan Laurel's father.

Arthur Jefferson was deeply involved in the British theatrical world as an actor, playwright and theatrical manager. Long before his son became one of the great comedy stars of the movies, the elder Jefferson was already working in entertainment.

So when Stan Laurel made Another Fine Mess, part of the comedy's DNA came directly from his own family and the British stage.

THEY HAD ALREADY MADE THIS STORY ONCE!

If the plot seems familiar to serious Laurel and Hardy fans, there's a reason.

Stan and Ollie had already filmed the same basic material as the 1927 silent short Duck Soup — not to be confused with the Marx Brothers' completely unrelated 1933 classic of the same title.

Three years later, Laurel and Hardy returned to the material for Another Fine Mess, now taking advantage of synchronized dialogue and the comic possibilities of sound.

That makes the two films a fascinating opportunity to watch Laurel and Hardy adapt similar material on opposite sides of Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to talkies.

FROM SILENT COMEDY TO SOUND

By 1930, Hollywood's transition to sound was well underway, and Laurel and Hardy proved remarkably well suited to the new medium.

Their comedy had never depended solely upon dialogue. Stan's bewildered expressions, Ollie's exasperated stares into the camera, their elaborate physical routines and their beautifully controlled pacing already worked visually.

Sound simply gave them another weapon.

Ollie's pompous speeches, Stan's peculiar vocal delivery, their arguments, pauses and verbal misunderstandings became as important to their comedy as pratfalls and broken furniture.

THELMA TODD JOINS THE CHAOS

Lady Plumtree is played by Thelma Todd, one of the most recognizable comedy actresses of the early sound era.

Todd worked with many of Hollywood's greatest comedians, including Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers and Charley Chase, while also starring in her own series of comedy shorts.

Her glamorous appearance made her an especially effective comedy partner: she could enter a scene looking perfectly elegant and sophisticated and then participate completely in the insanity unfolding around her.

JAMES FINLAYSON — THAT FACE!

Laurel and Hardy fans will immediately recognize James Finlayson, who plays Colonel Buckshot.

Finlayson became one of the team's greatest comic foils, appearing repeatedly with Laurel and Hardy throughout their career. His enormous reactions, suspicious glare, bald head and spectacular expressions made him almost impossible to forget.

He didn't merely react to Stan and Ollie's destruction.

He made being furious about it an art form.

AINTOID: STAN LAUREL BECOMES AGNES

One of the film's great comic devices requires Stan to disguise himself as a maid named Agnes.

Cross-dressing and mistaken identity had been staples of stage comedy and silent film for years, but Laurel's performance makes the routine unmistakably his own. Stan doesn't suddenly become a convincing woman. He remains unmistakably Stan Laurel desperately attempting to behave like someone named Agnes — which is precisely why it works.

AINTOID: OLLIE BECOMES THE COLONEL

While Stan gets the dress, Ollie gets something perhaps even more dangerous:

authority.

Oliver Hardy's screen persona could project tremendous dignity even while everything around him was collapsing. Putting Ollie in the position of pretending to be the wealthy Colonel Buckshot gives him the opportunity to behave as though he is completely in command.

We, of course, know better.

That contrast — Ollie's absolute confidence versus the inevitable catastrophe approaching him — is one of the central pleasures of Laurel and Hardy.

AINTOID: “ANOTHER FINE MESS”

The title immediately sounds like one of Oliver Hardy's most famous complaints about Stan:

“Another fine mess...”

Interestingly, the line most associated with the team is often remembered as “Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into,” and variations of “another nice mess” appear in their films.

The phrase became so closely associated with Laurel and Hardy that Another Fine Mess feels like the perfect title for them — two men whose entire cinematic existence seems devoted to turning ordinary situations into monumental disasters.

WHY LAUREL AND HARDY STILL WORK

There is something wonderfully timeless about Stan and Ollie.

Ollie believes he is the intelligent one.

Stan knows he isn't.

And neither man has the slightest chance of getting through the day without the other.

Beneath all the destruction, arguments, misunderstandings and exasperated looks is one of cinema's great friendships. Stan and Ollie may blame each other for everything that goes wrong, but when trouble arrives, they invariably face it together.

That's why more than nine decades later, we don't merely remember the jokes.

We remember them.

Two bowler hats.

Two unmistakable faces.

And another very, very fine mess.