Their First Mistake

A LAUREL & HARDY Comedy Short. The Boys make THEIR FIRST MISTAKE when Stan convinces Ollie to adopt a tiny baby in order to placate his ferocious wife. Arriving home with the infant, the Boys discover that Mrs. Hardy has left him for good - leaving Stan & Ollie to look after the baby. This, of course, is something they are spectacularly ill-equipped to do.

Not much plot in this little film - plenty of sight gags, though. Stan's preparation to milk the baby is hilarious. That's Billy Gilbert as the process server & Mae Busch as Mrs. Hardy.

"Their First Mistake" is restricted to just 3 very simple sets and the comedy does the rest. Released in 1932, Ollie's wife leaves him after she accuses him of deserting her for Stan. An almighty argument occurs at the beginning which leads to the early exit for Mae Busch as the irate wife. Stan convinces Ollie that adapting a baby would solve his marital problems but it is still too late. The boys are left to fend for themselves, baby and all. They truly need to rely upon each other as Ollie is being sued for divorce and thinks all his friends will ostracise him. Moments like this are more like drama and it compliments the comedy perfectly. Stan and Ollie in their efforts to care for the baby are so funny! It is a case of lurching from one disaster to another. The comedy builds very carefully but surely, just like with all Laurel and Hardy talkie films.

Mae Busch, Oliver Hardy's wife, thinks he spends too much time with Stan Laurel. They decide that what she needs is a baby, so they go out and adopt one. When they return to the apartment, they find Mae is suing Ollie for divorce and Stan for alienation of affection. All well and good but what are the Boys going to do with a baby.

This is sometimes cited as the 'gayest' of the Laurel & Hardy shorts, and there;s something in that, but if so, it raises the implication only to make fun of it. Stan and Ollie are almost all the movie; the baby gets one close up to establish it as real, Miss Busch is gone after the first minute, Billy Gilbert plays a process server, and director George Marshall appears briefly as a neighbor.

THe gags are good, but there's no real ending. Apparently Stan and Ollie improvised so many gags, there wasn't time.

Mr Hardy is married, his wife disapproves of his friendship with Mr Laurel and sees neither of their lives going anywhere. When Hardy tries to sneak out with Laurel without letting her know she snaps and a large fight ensues. Laurel has the idea that a baby in the family will distract and placate Mrs Hardy and the pair go off to adopt. Returning home with the baby, Laurel and Hardy find that Mrs Hardy has left and is filing for divorce, leaving them, quite literally, holding the baby.

I love Laurel and Hardy. I found something wonderful about the fact that their shorts were made before even my parents were born but yet ¾ of a century later I'm still watching (and enjoying) their films. The fact that the humour is so universal is shown in the way they not only travel well but have transcended generations. Laugh for laugh this is not one of their best shorts, the reason being the lack of really strong routines.

The plot only allows for basic knockabout stuff and the final scene is not anywhere near strong enough to finish on. The only really strong bit is the `lights out' sequence but the rest is quite ordinary. Happily we have a talent like Hardy to lift things – for me he made this better than it was. His constant double-takes and looks of amazement to camera are worth the price of this film alone. Even lacking several strong physical scenes, he plays the dialogue for all it's worth and makes Laurel's clowning funnier than it is by complimenting it with double takes etc. That's not to say Laurel is lesser, but here he is much more clearly in a supporting role than in other films.

Overall this has some good moments and is carried through the rest by a well used and on-form Hardy, but it is not one of their better efforts – too much of it is ordinary and lacking their inspired wit.

In this talking Laurel & Hardy movie Hardy is married. Laurel is also unhappy. With these two statements the short movie starts. Hardy's wife thinks he does to much with Laurel, he likes Laurel more than he likes her. When Laurel calls if they will do something nice tonight Hardy pretends that he is talking to his new boss. When the wife finds out she gets very mad. Laurel thinks he has the solution. They need a baby, because that will draw all the attention of the wife and Hardy can do fun stuff with Laurel again. Hardy thinks it is a pretty good idea and they adopt a baby. When they enter Hardy's home again his wife is gone. A man arrives telling them both that Hardy is sued for divorce and Laurel is sued for the reason of alienation of Hardy from his wife. Now they are stuck with a baby, their first mistake.

This is a very nice short. Of course a baby is an inspiration for a lot of nice little gags. The bottle with milk has a main part for those gags and Laurel makes sure every single one of them works. The usual jokes with tripping over things also work most of the time, although they are very predictable. It is quite an accomplishment that those predictable moments also bring a smile to your face. Like with most Laurel & Hardy shorts you will have a pretty good time.