Another Fine Mess

This is an enjoyable remake of the silent feature "Duck Soup", which had played such an important role in establishing Laurel and Hardy as the great comic duo that is now so well- known. This feature follows the same story setup, and expands it slightly while adding in a number of new gags that would not have worked as well on the silent screen.

Once again, Stan and Ollie find themselves forced to impersonate an absent homeowner and his servants, while hosting a prospective renter. The main story is also framed by a brief opening sequence and an interesting, nearly surreal finale. In the main part of the movie, they get a lot of mileage out of the basic situation, and Laurel plays his multiple role in an amusing fashion. James Finlayson gets a couple of good moments near the end, although he does not get as much to do as he did in some of their earlier features.

It packs a lot of material into a little under thirty minutes of running time, and there are a handful of moments when you can just tell that it was an early sound-era movie. But, as this example shows, Laurel and Hardy had little difficulty in successfully adapting their style to the new era.