Good concept, poorly executed.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

These L & H shorts are priceless. In this one Ollie has political aspirations. He is even practicing his acceptance speech as a mayoral candidate. Who should show up but regular Laurel and Hardy nemesis Mae Busch. She has a photograph of her cavorting with Ollie in a sort of compromising position. They were an item in a previous time. Of course, she has gotten wind of his recent political successes and decides to blackmail him. She demands money or she will show the photo to his wife. What transpires is a series of pratfalls and attempts to hide Mae in closets. Of course, the wives are again dangerous characters so Stan and Ollie get it from both sides. Marvelous effort once again.

Laurel gets to use one of Oliver's key lines in this excellent short, spoofing political scandals, not that those exist anymore. I feel sorry for the city that would have Hardy as a mayoral candidate, but indeed he is, and blackmailed by old flame Mae Busch. Since Hardy is married to the perky Thelma Todd, I can see why he'd not want to risk for the prune faced Busch. Ollie gets Laurel to stand in for him to find out Busch's demands, causing issues with Laurel's wife, too. Busch's temper (and suspicious Todd's too) will certainly leave scars in this rather adult entry in their series of shorts. Long running rival James Finlayson plays Oliver's nosy butler. Patsy O'Byrne is very funny as a nosy spinster with more than a passing resemblance to Margaret Hamilton.

Laurel and Hardy made a ton of comedy shorts together from the late 20s to 1935 and this one is a bit different because of its length. Unlike most, which were two-reelers (about 20 minutes more or less), this one was three. I'm not sure the plot needed the extra ten minutes, but the film didn't seem overly long or have any serious lulls.The film begins with Ollie in a very unusual position for one of their movies--he's a very successful man! He owns a manure business and is running for mayor. However, an old flame (Mae Busch) returns and threatens to blackmail him--even though they haven't been involved for many years. Instead of just coming clean or calling the police, Ollie enlists the help of Stan to keep this evil and very volatile lady busy until Ollie's dinner party with the judge and his wife is completed--then he can attend to Mae.Mrs. Laurel isn't so understanding when Stan calls home to tell her he'll be home late, though Ollie is the one that calls and tells Stan everything is fine with his wife! Later, when Stan tries to keep Mae in her apartment until Ollie can arrive, the explosive wench begins man-handling Stan--and an acquaintance of Stan's wife sees this and thinks the worse!Later, when Stan follows Mae to Ollie's house, Ollie is now panicked--and tells everyone that this is Stan's wife. However, when the real wife shows up, it's a pretty typical ending for a Laurel and Hardy short. In fact, the film's biggest weakness is the end, as it seems to end on a rather anti-climatic note.The film gets very high marks for energy and fun, though if you think about it, Ollie had done nothing wrong and this is a fundamental flaw in the plot. Still, it will give you a few laughs and is about average to above average for one of their films--which is still quite wonderful.

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are the heads of a successful fertiliser company. Hardy is ahead in the race to become the new Mayor of the city and is due to host a gala reception that night. However at work a lady comes out of the woodwork with incriminating pictures of a more carefree and loving Hardy which threatens his political career. Can Laurel keep her busy and away from the gala and, more importantly, Mrs Hardy?I noticed this short lasted 30 minutes which was 10 minutes longer than the last number of Laurel and Hardy shorts I had watched. I had assumed this was because it demanded a longer time and was a amalgamation of several really good sketches into a longer plot. Sadly this was not the case and the film didn't really work for me. The plot was simple and didn't need 30 minutes to deliver, and as a result it felt stretched beyond it's reasonable time span. There was no one scene that really stood out and I found myself waiting for `the scene' that most of their shorts have at least, unfortunately it wasn't there and none of the scenes really had the magic that they usually show at some point.The main reason for this for my money, was the fact that Laurel and Hardy were in separate scenes for a lot of the film. In this respect they didn't have each other to work off and this is to the film's detriment. While Hardy is at the gala, Laurel is trying to prevent the woman from getting to him – this is the body of the film and it means that both men are working without their partner. Both are lesser performers due to this – they are operating with one hand tied behind their back. The support cast includes the solid Finlayson but the film is too spoilt by the split to be redeemed by his trademark d'oh (which feels like it is rushed and doesn't fit in to the action).Overall I have seen several Laurel and hardy shorts and have yet to write a bad review of one – until this film. I just found that Laurel and Hardy's strength is the `and' – ie they are a partnership and work best when they are together. Here they are apart for too long and the film suffers as a result.