''Another Fine Mess'' is a 1930 short
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
James Parrott
James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase.
Biography Early years
James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blan ...
and starring
Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play ''Home from the Honeymoon'' by Arthur J. Jefferson,
Stan Laurel's father, and is a remake of their earlier silent film (and debut as an "official" duo) ''
Duck Soup''.
Plot
Oliver Hardy and
Stan Laurel are vagrants being chased by the police. They hide in the basement of the mansion of
Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel ''King Solomon's Mines'', its one sequel '' Allan Quatermain'' (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. An English professional ...
-style
adventurer
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...
Colonel Wilberforce Buckshot, where they become trapped. The colonel has just departed for an African safari and the mansion is to be rented until his return, but the staff sneak off for a holiday, leaving the house empty. The house is surrounded by several policeman who are looking for Stan and Ollie, who must deceive a rich couple seeking to rent the house. Ollie disguises himself as Buckshot and Stan disguises himself as both butler Hives and chambermaid Agnes.
The real Colonel Buckshot unexpectedly returns to fetch his bow and arrows, only to find the disorder that had ensued after his departure. Ollie continues his masquerade as Colonel Buckshot to the real colonel until he sees a portrait on the wall of the real owner. The colonel calls the police and Stan and Ollie escape dressed as a
wildebeest
Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...
on a stolen
tandem bicycle
A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle (occasionally a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side by side), not the number of riders. Patents relat ...
. They ride into a railroad tunnel and encounter a tram but emerge riding
unicycles because the tram has split the bicycle in half.
Cast
*
Stan Laurel as Stan
*
Oliver Hardy as Ollie
Uncredited:
Production
The film's technical credits are recited by two girls in usherette outfits at the beginning of the film. Beverly and Betty Mae Crane performed the "talking titles" for several Hal Roach productions during the 1930–31 season as an experimental alternative to standard title cards.
''Another Fine Mess'' is the first Laurel and Hardy film to feature background music by
Leroy Shield
Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the ''Our ...
. Several previous Laurel and Hardy sound shorts experimented with music scores, but beginning with this film, music would be heard regularly in Laurel and Hardy,
Our Gang and
Charley Chase
Charles Joseph Parrott (October 20, 1893 – June 20, 1940), known professionally as Charley Chase, was an American comedian, actor, screenwriter and film director. He worked for many pioneering comedy studios but is chiefly associated with pro ...
shorts and other Hal Roach productions such as ''
The Boy Friends''. Although some contemporaneous Laurel and Hardy films were also produced in foreign-language versions, with dialogue spoken phonetically, none are known to exist for ''Another Fine Mess''.
Exteriors were filmed at the former Guasti Villa at 3500 West Adams Boulevard in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. which still stands and is the home of the Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy.
See also
*
List of American films of 1930
A list of American feature films released in 1930.
'' All Quiet on the Western Front'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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See also
* 1930 in American television
* 1930 in the United State ...
References
External links
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{{James Parrott
1930 films
1930 comedy films
Remakes of American films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by James Parrott
Laurel and Hardy (film series)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films
Sound film remakes of silent films
Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker
Films set in country houses
1930s American films