| Another Fine Mess | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | James Parrott |
| Written by | H.M. Walker |
| Based on | Home from the Honeymoon 1908 play by Arthur J. Jefferson[1] |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Starring | Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy |
| Cinematography | Jack Stevens |
| Edited by | Richard C. Currier |
| Music by | Leroy Shield |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | November 29, 1930 |
Running time | 28' 09" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Another Fine Mess is a 1930 short comedy film directed by James Parrott and starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play Home from the Honeymoon by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel's father, and is a remake of their earlier silent film (and debut as an "official" duo) Duck Soup.
Plot
The mansion of Allan Quatermain-style adventurer Colonel Wilberforce Buckshot is to be rented while he is off on a hunting trip in Africa. Meanwhile, Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are being chased by a police officer. The officer tells another that the duo are vagrants he was trying to clear out of a park, only for Stan to make him violently angry after accidentally calling him "ma'am". Stan and Ollie hide in the basement of the mansion. There, they overhear the butler and maid sneaking off for a holiday to get away from their eccentric owner, leaving the house empty. With the officer loitering around the building trying to find them, the duo become trapped.
Just then, a rich couple - Lady and Lord Plumtree - arrive, seeking to rent the house. Ollie has Stan disguise himself as the butler, dubbing him "Hives", and tell them they need to leave. Stan tries, but seeing the officer still outside, he instead decides to keep them occupied to avoid drawing attention and calls for Buckshot. This forces Ollie to play the role of Buckshot. Stan and Ollie are forced to keep entertaining the couple, with Stan further dressing up as Hives' twin sister and the maid, Agnes, and end up endearing themselves to the Plumtrees.
The real Colonel Buckshot unexpectedly returns to fetch his bow and arrows, only to find the disorder that had ensued after his departure. Stan and Ollie try to entertain him, but eventually see a portrait on the wall that makes them realize the truth and proceed to flee into a closet. The colonel, assuming Stan and Ollie are burglars, alerts the police outside and calls for backup. Lord Plumtree, oblivious to the situation, directs Buckshot and the police to the closet. Stan and Ollie escape dressed as a wildebeest on a stolen tandem bicycle. Chased by the police while Buckshot taunts them from his home, they ride into a railroad tunnel. A tram soon comes by and splits the bicycle in half while also literally stripping the officers of their uniforms. Stan and Ollie emerge from the tunnel riding "unicycles" and slowly pedal to their fate.
Cast
- Stan Laurel as Stan[2]
- Oliver Hardy as Ollie
Uncredited:
- Harry Bernard as policeman
- Bobby Burns as bicyclist
- Betty Mae Crane as talking titles
- Beverly Crane as talking titles
- Eddie Dunn as Meadows
- James Finlayson as Colonel Wilberforce Buckshot
- Thelma Todd as Lady Plumtree
- Charles K. Gerrard as Lord Leopold Ambrose Plumtree
- Bill Knight as policeman
- Bob Mimford as policeman
- Gertrude Sutton as Agnes the maid
Production
The film's technical credits are recited by two girls in usherette outfits at the beginning of the film. Beverly and Betty Mae Crane performed the "talking titles" for several Hal Roach productions during the 1930–31 season as an experimental alternative to standard title cards.[3]
Another Fine Mess is the first Laurel and Hardy film to feature background music by Leroy Shield. Several previous Laurel and Hardy sound shorts experimented with music scores, but beginning with this film, music would be heard regularly in Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and Charley Chase shorts and other Hal Roach productions such as The Boy Friends. Although some contemporaneous Laurel and Hardy films were also produced in foreign-language versions, with dialogue spoken phonetically, none are known to exist for Another Fine Mess.[3]
Exteriors were filmed at the former Guasti Villa at 3500 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, which still stands and is the home of the Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ Rowan, Terry (2017). The Kings & Queens of Hollywood Comedy. ISBN 978-1-365-85364-7.
- ↑ "Another Fine Mess – Cast". IMDb
- 1 2 Skretvedt, Randy. (1987). Laurel and Hardy : the magic behind the movies (1st ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Moonstone Press. ISBN 0-940410-78-8. OCLC 15108873.
- ↑ Bengtson, John (February 1, 2015). "How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Another Fine Mess". Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more). Retrieved September 4, 2020.