Unaccustomed As We Are

The comedic team of Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy serves as a prime example of the success a handful of comedians from the silent era had when they were first heard on the cinematic screen. More common were those comedians such as Charlie Chaplin who hesitated in bringing their voices into their movies. But Laurel and Hardy didn't think twice when Hollywood studios made the conversion to sound. The pair appeared in their first all-talkie, May 1929's "Unaccustomed As We Are." Suddenly, the viewers could hear Laurel whimpering in his trademark sobbing when he was confronted by the husband (Edgar Kennedy) seeing him with his undressed wife. Hardy could be heard explaining to his wife (Mae Busch) why he's leaving her.

"Unaccustomed As We Are" was one of the first films to be shot on the new sound stage producer and studio owner Hal Roach built in the spring of 1929. The movie's title is drawn from the then popular phrase "Unaccustomed as we are to public speaking," which, despite the pair's previous stage experience, was still a somewhat jarring experience for all the actors on the set miked up for the first time. Laurel especially was wary about being amplified by the sound system because he was known to have a slight lisp and felt the technology would exaggerate his speech defect. It turned out no one picked up the lisp.

Directors Lewis Foster and Hal Roach used the new audio devices to great effect in "Unaccustomed As We Are.." When Edgar Kennedy is bragging about his female escapades to Laurel and Hardy, his wife is hiding in a traveling trunk so she wouldn't be discovered having the two men in her apartment. She later emerges enraged at his philandering and throws everything she can get her hands on at him. As the comedic pair retreat to their apartment across the hall, the noise heard off-camera emphasizes the violence taking place, an audio technique which will be used in many future comedies. Similarly, when Laurel falls down several flights of stairs, viewers don't actually see him tumbling, but they hear his body hitting the hard stairs. Such sound effects were impossible to replicate in silent films.

Throughout their movie careers, Laurel and Hardy were known for their catchphrases. "Unaccustomed As We Are" was the first time Hardy says "Why don't you do something to help me." The movie had to be shot during the evenings since Hal Roach had money to outfit only one studio set for audio. The 'Our Gang' film "Small Talk" was using the same set during mornings and afternoons because the childhood actors were restricted to only day shoots.

'Unaccustomed As We Are' is another comical short where Laurel and Hardy argue with Hardy's wife...again. The duo are back with Thelma Todd, Edgar Kennedy and Mae Busch. It starts off with an Hardy bringing Laurel home to dinner and he's very excited about introducing him to his wife. Throughout the entire twenty minutes, the kitchen burns down thrice, the sensual neighbour has to disrobe and hide herself in a box, a policeman is involved...and lots of hilarious silly adventure. The short is quite well executed. I'm not much used to see Laurel and Hardy talk (and this apparently is their first talkie) so this was quite different from their usual work that I'm more acquainted with. Yes somehow I still prefer their silent films. While this may not be the best of the classic comic duo, it still remains entertaining thanks the the actors' impeccable comic timing even though it's now almost 80 years old.

It would take a couple of talkie films before Stan and Ollie adapted to the new medium of sound but they soon did. Released in 1929, "Unaccustomed As We Are" is about Ollie inviting Stan to an evening meal with he and Mrs. Hardy - and that soon finishes in anarchy! Mae Busch is once again cast as Mrs. Hardy and does very well. Edgar Kennedy is cast again as a Police officer who lives across the hall from Ollie and his wife. Thelma Todd plays the wife of Officer Kennedy and she shows how feisty she can be! The comedy is a bit awkward at times but that isn't the fault of Laurel and Hardy, it was only a temporary problem. There are some funny scenes, such as when the boys play a gramophone record to drown out Mrs. Hardy's constant nagging!

Early on while watching Laurel & Hardy's "Unaccustomed As We Are" I figured out that the plot was going to be similar to their later "Block-Heads", with Ollie bringing Stan home, only to have his wife get angry at his expectations of her (the later movie expanded the plot). This 1929 short has the guys doing their usual stuff, and in some scenes I could predict what was about to happen. Predictable though some of it may be, the whole thing is a fun romp. It's not their best, but I recommend it.

Noticeably absent is James Finlayson, whose annoyed grunt inspired Homer Simpson's catchphrase.

Considering this was the boy's first talkie the title of this short is quite cute and the film itself is pretty good. There's certainly not that much evidence that L&H were embarking on what was essentially a new career in sound. It must have been a real bonus for their fans to discover how well suited each one's voice was suited to their character. The film's plot is a familiar one of marital spats and misunderstandings culminating in L&H trying to conceal their comely semi-naked neighbour (a sexy Thelma Todd) from Ollie's shrewish wife (Mae Busch) and Todd's jealous husband (Edgar Kennedy).

There's some interesting experimentation with sound here. Hardy and Busch's dialogue overlaps as they argue and it's oddly compelling - as well as funny. The physical comedy is still there too, with numerous pratfalls and a couple of explosions. All in all, an accomplished sound debut from the boys..