Another Fine Mess

Plot

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are vagabonds being chased by the police. They hide in the cellar of the mansion of a Quatermain-esque adventurer, Colonel Wilburforce Buckshot (James Finlayson), who departs for a safari in South Africa. The mansion is to be rented out until his return, but the staff sneak off for a holiday, leaving the house empty. The boys are surrounded by police and have to deceive a honeymooning couple wanting to rent the house. Ollie disguises himself as Buckshot and Stan disguises himself as both butler Hives and chambermaid Agnes.

During a girl-talk scene with Thelma Todd and Stan (disguised as Agnes), Stan's comments get sillier and sillier. The real Colonel returns to fetch his bow and arrows, to find the disorder that had ensued after his departure. Ollie continues his masquerade as Colonel Buckshot to the real colonel, until he sees the portrait on the wall of the real owner. Stan and Ollie escape the ensuing row dressed as a wildebeest on a stolen tandem bicycle. They ride into a railroad tunnel and encounter a train, but emerge riding unicycles.

Production

Unlike other Laurel and Hardy shorts, the technical credits are recited by two girls in usherette outfits. Beverly and Betty Mae Crane performed the "talking titles" for several Roach productions during the 1930–31 season as an experimental alternative to standard title cards.

This was also the first Laurel and Hardy film to feature the well-known Leroy Shield scorings for background music. A couple of previous episodes began experimenting with it, but, beginning with this film, these tunes would be heard regularly in Our Gang, Charley Chase, Boy Friends, and other Hal Roach productions.

No foreign-language versions are known to exist of this short. It was possibly shown with subtitles in non-English-speaking countries, as audiences were critical of the unnatural quality of the alternate versions.

For the scenes inherent in the house was chosen the still existing villa of Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens, at 3500 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

The original version is in black and white. But a coloured version can be found on YouTube.