''That's My Wife'' is a 1929 synchronized

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

film produced by the

Hal Roach Studios Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and, through its TV production subsidiary, Hal Roach Television Corporation, television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and busin ...

and starring

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized orchestral musical score with sound effects. It was shot in December 1928 and released March 23, 1929, by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Plot

Mrs. Hardy is visibly discontented, carrying a suitcase as she confronts her husband and Stan, who sits passively on the sofa. Faced with Mrs. Hardy's ultimatum to choose between her and Stan, Ollie hesitates briefly before his wife departs in a fit of anger, disregarding his financial concerns. The narrative continues when Stan is disguised as Ollie's wife to deceive Uncle Bernal, who arrives unexpectedly. Despite their efforts to conceal the chaos, Stan's clumsy impersonation of Ollie's wife leads to complications, particularly during a dinner outing at The Pink Pup. At the supper club, Stan's behavior further exacerbates the situation, drawing unwanted attention from a drunken patron and a dishonest waiter who steals a diamond pendant. Subsequent misadventures on the dance floor culminate in Uncle Bernal's decision to disinherit Ollie, leaving him distraught and disillusioned. As Ollie contemplates his misfortune outside the club, he receives a final blow when the same drunk patron from earlier spills soup on his head.

Cast

Production and exhibition

December 1928 was a frenetic month for the Laurel and Hardy unit at Roach: they had a commitment for several films, and the studio was slated to close at the end of the month for the installation of the new sound equipment.Skretvedt, Randy (1996). ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies''. Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing. , pp.143-4. The filming of the "minor masterpiece"Mitchell, Glenn (1995). ''The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia''. London: B.T. Batsford. , p.261. ''

Wrong Again ''Wrong Again'' is a 1929 synchronized sound film, sound short film, short subject film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Laurel and Hardy. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized orchestral musical score ...

'' had just wrapped on the first, and the unit would go on to wrap its landmark ''

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

'' just after Christmas. Leo McCarey got the "Story by" credit, although ''L&H Encyclopedia'' author Glenn Mitchell also traces some lineage back to the 1926 Roach short ''

Along Came Auntie ''Along Came Auntie'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Fred Guiol and Richard Wallace featuring Glenn Tryon and Oliver Hardy. Plot Mrs Remington Chow is concealing her second marriage from her aunt in order to receive a larg ...

'', with

Glenn Tryon Glenn Tryon (born Glenn Monroe Kunkel; August 2, 1898 – April 18, 1970) was an American film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1951. Biography He was born as Glenn Monroe Kunke ...

and Oliver Hardy and a writing co-credit for Stan Laurel. L&H scholar

Randy Skretvedt Randy Skretvedt (born November 1958) is an American film and music scholar, author, lecturer and broadcaster. His 1987 book ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'' (updated in 1996) is the reference standard for Laurel and Hardy fan ...

has run down many of the "action scripts" for L&H two reelers, and the one for ''That's My Wife'' reveals a few differences between original concept and finished film. One is a sub-plot that finds the actual Magnolia Hardy at a nearby table at the Pink Pup, and she becomes the target of flirtations from Uncle Bernal. There was also an unfilmed (or unused) gag where a helium balloon tangles in Stan's wig and keeps threatening to lift it off his head. Most significant, though, is the script-to-screen evolution of the ending. On paper, Stan was to have been searched — bodily — by a female officer in the hunt for the purloined pendant; he was to refuse the manhandling, though, and leave the club after revealing the masquerade to Uncle Bernal. Ollie was then to have informed Uncle that his ''real'' wife was the woman whom Bernal had been flirting with, and, embarrassed, Uncle would promise to pony up the inheritance — which in turn would power newfound interest by Magnolia toward her rotund hubby. "The problem with this ending," writes Skretvedt, "is that it's just too happy. Ollie still has his fortune and his wife, but he's lost Stan's friendship. In the film, he loses everything ''but'' Stan's friendship — which is more like it."

Critical reception

Among the run of late silent shorts which constitute some of the duo's best work, ''That's My Wife'' is an unheralded entry. Pioneer Laurel & Hardy film analyst

William K. Everson Keith William Everson (8 April 1929 – 14 April 1996) was an English- American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector, and film historian. He also discovered several lost films. Everson's given first names were Keith William, but he ...

wrote in 1967 "Comparatively little known, this is perhaps the funniest and best of the many films in which Laurel masquerades as a woman. The single theme is handled with infinite variety throughout...." Everson's judgment, though, might be clouded by the fact that he was writing from memory in the pre-home video days; he does, after all, write that "Laurel... makes a most fetching dame...." Film critic

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

calls the short a "lesser-known star comedy which well sustains its basic joke and includes some splendidly timed farce in a restaurant."Walker, John, ed. (1994). ''Halliwell's Film Guide''. New York: HarperPerennials. , p.1182 Glenn Mitchell added "The intricacies of balancing on high heels are matched by the task of maintaining an ersatz bosom (supplied by small barbells), but Stan convinces in the role."

References

External links

* * * {{Lloyd French 1929 films 1929 comedy films 1929 short films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films 1920s LGBTQ-related films American black-and-white films American LGBTQ-related short films Cross-dressing in American films English-language comedy short films Films directed by Lloyd French Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker Laurel and Hardy (film series) LGBTQ-related comedy films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films Silent American comedy short films Surviving American silent films Synchronized sound films