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Laurel & Hardy: Unaccustomed As We Are [VHS]

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In 1929, The Hal Roach studio was wired for sound (several months ahead of Roach's distributor, MGM!). In short order, Laurel and Hardy got their first crack at making one of those new fangled talking pictures. The result, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE, seems quite primitive through our modern jaded eyes, but of course was a sensation when it was released. It's still a very funny picture, in spite of it's slightly awkward pacing and the occasional self-consciousness of the actors. Laurel and Hardy and their wonderful supporting cast (Mae Busch, Thelma Todd, Edgar Kennedy) all have good moments, and there are some inventive uses of sound which, while routine today, were quite novel in 1929 (i.e.Stan trips and falls down the stairs; while his descent is unseen, the soundtack plays a hilariously exaggerated series of bumps, thuds, crashes, etc.). The best gag in the film involves Mae's nagging and a gramophone (Sorry,I can't do it justice). The videotape also includes a silent version of the film, released to theatres that were not yet equipped for sound. But be forewarned: For some odd reason, the silent version comes first on this tape.By the way, this film was closely reworked by Laurel and Hardy in 1938 as the 2nd half of their hilarious feature film, BLOCKHEADS.

"Unaccustomed as We Are" is the first full talkie by Laurel & Hardy, which means no silent version was issued by Hal Roach's studio. Hardy brings Laurel home for a home cooked meal by his wife (Mae Busch), who storms out of the apartment at this imposition. Thelma Todd plays the friendly blonde next door who takes pity on the boys and makes dinner for them. Unfortunately she accidentally burns her dress and as soon as she has taken it off both her husband, cop Edgar Kennedy, and Ollie's wife suddenly return. Thelma hides in the trunk and then the comedy takes an interesting twist. Kennedy figures out what is going on and decides to have some fun of his own, making Laurel & Hardy bring the trunk over to his apartment. In the end both wives go after their husbands with pretty much everything in the kitchen. This 1929 two-reeler was directed by Lewis Foster from a story by Leo McCarey, who was writing most of the boys' comedies at this point. "Unaccustomed as We Are" is representative of early attempts at sound comedies, with sound effects used to convey action off screen. The entire plot eventually ends up as the last reel of Laurel & Hardy's 1938 feature "Blockheads."

This film was made as both a silent and a talking film. A as a transitional film, it was really neither fish nor foul. Both versions
are decent comedies, but could have been much better. They were still trying to find their footing doing talkies. But make the
transition to talking films they did, and their later efforts were much better.
Even if it`s not a great comedy there are still plenty of laughs to be had in it.

As most people should know, this was L&H's very first talkie, with a clever title to go along with it. Most fans are also aware that nine years later it was remade as the final third or so of their classic feature 'Blockheads.' Ollie has brought home a friend to dinner for the last time, and his wife (Mae Busch) walks out in frustration and rage. The boys resolve to make dinner for themselves, but of course they can't even do that right. Mrs. Kennedy (the lovely Thelma Todd) from nextdoor hears the commotion and comes over to see what's going on, and volunteers to make the dinner for them. However, her dress catches on fire, and she's left standing in only undergarments and wrapped in the tablecloth when they see her husband (Edgar Kennedy) returning home. Ollie tells her to tell him the truth, but changes his mind when he sees his own wife coming back. They have Mrs. Kennedy hide in a trunk, and Mrs. Hardy is told that Ollie is leaving for South America because of their fight. She calls over Officer Kennedy to help to sort out the dispute, and he talks to the boys man to man. However, Mrs. Kennedy cries out from inside the trunk when it's dropped a little bit, and he knows what's going on. He takes the trunk over to his own apartment, wanting to have a little fun that he thinks his wife will never find out about. She could have used this opportunity to get out of the trunk and put some clothes on when he briefly left the apartment and stepped back nextdoor, no one any the wiser, but she's so angry over hearing her husband calling her a cluck and planning to fool around on her that she gets out of the trunk and waits behind a screen to surprise him after he returns. Now Officer Kennedy is furious at Stan and Ollie, and goes back nextdoor to take care of them.

The silent version of this short doesn't work at all. It has the biggest glut of intertitles in any L&H silent, clearly demonstrating that this was made as a sound picture and just doesn't work as silent comedy. There are a few scenes that do work well as silent comedy, but overall it falls flat. The original sound version itself suffers from the opposite problem in reverse; it's paced a bit too swiftly and unevenly, and there's almost nonstop chatter, as though they were all showing off that they really could talk now and be heard by theatregoers. And the sound quality itself does sound rather creaky and primitive; it took a few years for sound recording to stop being so awkward and stationary. However, it clearly demonstrates that they had the perfect voices for their characters, and audiences probably couldn't have imagined them sounding any other way. They transitioned to sound without missing a beat.