Our Relations (1936)

Directed by Harry Lachman. Starring Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, James Finlayson, Alan Hale, Daphne Pollard, Betty Healy, Sidney Toler, Iris Adrian, Lona Andre, Arthur Housman, Ralf Harolde.

“I’m seein’ double here…four Krusty’s!” Or, two sets of identical twins played by Laurel and Hardy—Stan/Alf and Ollie/Bert. Alf and Bert are sailors who meet a couple of young ladies at a beer garden, and slip out to change clothes and get the funds needed to keep the night of entertainment going. Stan and Ollie are heading for the same establishment with their wives in tow, misunderstandings and shenanigans ensue. Slow to get going, and not many classic sustained bits for fans and newbies alike to cherish, but arguments over a bill, Finlayson’s penny-pinching engineer, a migrating ring, and cement shoes ensure a satisfactory number of giggle fits. Playing the beer garden proprietor, Alan Hale makes for a worthy foil for the comic duo’s (quartet’s?) antics. Photographed by none other than Rudolph Maté! L&H had previously played dual roles in a couple of short films.

69/100