Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
View MoreTerrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
View MoreThere is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
View MoreBecause of the nature of this comedy, where the duo have twin brothers, who, are getting mistaken for them/each other it was a good vehicle for total confusion that works well.The 'respectable' Ollie and Stan and their twin bad-boy sailor brothers, 'Bert and Alf' get into these scrapes. Ollie and Stan decide NOT to tell their wives that they have no-good twin brothers though, leading to more confusion. So much so, it is hard to explain away the gags - it's far better to watch this film and enjoy it. 'Bert' and 'Alf' naturally will try and pick the girls up, only for the married Stan and Ollie, with their wives in tow, who get split up from the boys allowing further confusion, to be accused later of philandering and so the situations continue. This was well written with plenty of gags. It was nice to see Betty Healy as Stan's missus, as according to IMDb she hadn't had much in the way of acting roles and intentionally or not, she looked a good, gangly and scatty partner to Stan.Of course, the great Jimmy Finlayson played the boys' foil well with some good lines coming his way too.Very good and it reminds us all of why the boys are the greatest comedy duo of all time and rightly so!
View MoreIt's a good half-hour before this LAUREL & HARDY feature goes into gear because it's a little more plot heavy than usual. "Here's another nice mess you got me into," wails Ollie when their plans to go on the town on shore leave are thwarted by a crooked mate who steals their money (JAMES FINLAYSON). The merry mix-up starts when the boy's twin brothers decide to go to the same beer garden they just exited.Waiter ALAN HALE has a good line waiting for them when the twin brothers arrive at his beer garden. "I know what you boys will have," he tells them sarcastically. IRIS ADRIAN, as one of the girls the sailor boys picked up, confuses the other twins for the guys that stood them up. And so it goes. Alan Hale returns the diamond ring the sailors left for security, but to the wrong hands.The wives, who know nothing about the boys having a twin brother, walk off in a huff when the misunderstandings keep piling up. The twin theme really gets a workout with a lot of gags and ALAN HALE is especially good as the exasperated waiter at the beer garden.If you're a Laurel and Hardy fan, this one is highly recommended for some good chuckles.
View MoreStan Laurel's first shot at producing eventually becomes a truly enjoyable experience, and one that is certainly more fun than William Shakespeare's Comedy Of Errors, from which this film obviously takes its cue.Here fans of the dynamic duo get double value as the boys play twin brothers with naturally mirthful results. Stan & Ollie are mischievous sailors on shore leave who are entrusted with the safe delivery of a diamond ring, knowing their personal penchants for blowing all their cash they have left their cash with Captain Toler under strict orders not to let them have it until they are at sail again. It just so happens that the town they are visiting is also the place that their twin brothers {Alfie & Bert} live as henpecked but happy husbands, they may look the same but each respective set of twins are polar opposites in how they live their lives.The plot takes all four men and hurtles them into scenario after scenario of confusion with great results, the spouses, the villains, the captain, the drunk {a wonderful Arthur Houseman}, and a number of fun characters all get mixed up in the confusion. The film is slow for the first part because we are introduced to a number of characters, but it's really just a question of time before it all comes together, and it certainly does. If you aren't holding in your sides come the wharf finale then you have had a sense of humour bypass !, 9/10.
View MoreA variation on Shakespeare's 'COMEDY OF ERRORS' (there are occasional references to the bard through the film),OUR RELATIONS is one of Laurel and Hardy's better features.It is certainly the most stylishly-produced film they ever made,and arguably the best from a technical viewpoint.If there is a fault it is with the overly-complex and overly-plotted storyline;it does rather mitigate against truly classic and hilarious routines that were evident in SONS OF THE DESERT and WAY OUT WEST(their best feature films),because there is so much story conveyed.And it's debatable if the familiar 'double' device,which was becoming hackneyed even in 1936,can squeeze that much humour out of it's various confusions and mistaken identities.The large number of characters supporting Stan and Ollie are also something of a distraction;some are relevant to the story,others are not so and abruptly depart somewhat improbably during the narrative.These quibbles aside,the film is consistently amusing throughout,with familiar L & H foils (Finlayson,Housman),and those not so familiar (Toler,Hale) giving fine support.The most impressive aspect of OUR RELATIONS is it's technical sheen;it is very handsomely produced;the nightclub set particularly is highly impressive,and possibly the most elaborate and polished production design ever seen in a Laurel and Hardy film.Behind the camera,aspects are pretty accomplished too.Director Harry Lachman,usually more comfortable with straight drama (DANTE'S INFERNO with Spencer Tracy was his other most notable cinematic achievement) handles the comic sequences nicely,and commendably directs with a slick,speedy pace.This quickness has a slight downside;it would have been better if Lachman had sat back on a few occasions to allow L & H to indulge in their slower,yet more nuanced and subtle routines.We do see this near the beginning when Ollie reads a letter from his mother,and Stan conspires to break Ollie's reading glasses.This familiar and intimate bit of business is possibly the funniest scene in the film;the welter of plot complication after means we see virtually none of this well-versed style of theirs from this point on.Their encounters with the various many characters are amusing alright (especially Fin,who is well and truly savaged in his battle with the boys on this occasion),but OUR RELATIONS may have been even superior if Lachman had utilised a more methodical pace and concentration on L & H.Rudolph Mate,one of Hollywood's best Black and White cinematographers of the 30's and 40's, does a very accomplished job on the visuals,with some unexpectedly dramatic lighting,especially with the latter gangster sequence.This scene itself is rather over-stretched and perhaps even a trifle intimidating,with Tiny Sandford,in his final L & H film,not entirely comfortable as a brutish thug here.After being dispatched(entirely by mistake)on the dockside,the gangsters involved unconvincingly vanish from the scene,though Stan,Ollie,Alf and Bert finally meet at the end after all these complications.OUR RELATIONS is not quite the best Laurel and Hardy feature,but only a small handful(WAY OUT WEST,SONS OF THE DESERT,BLOCKHEADS)could probably regard themselves as superior.There are no musical numbers or romantic sub-plots,perhaps because there's so much plot and incident abound! It would have been preferable had there been more emphasis on just L & H themselves,but from a technical and production point of view,OUR RELATIONS is Laurel and Hardy's most polished film;and while not their funniest,is still very amusing.Rating:7 and a half out of 10.
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