Our Relations (1936) - film review

Stan and Ollie are two happily married men who, one day, are reminded of their twin brothers, Alf and Bert.  These two were the black sheep of their respective families, ruffians who ran away to sea and were then hanged for mutiny.  In fact, Alf and Bert are still very much alive and, as luck would have it, they turn up in town that very day.  Still employed as sailors, they are looking forward to a day’s shore leave, but only have a dollar between them after being swindled out of their savings by Finn, a fellow seaman.  Having collected an expensive pearl ring for their captain, Alf and Bert enter a beer garden, where they immediately fall for a couple of attractive girls, Alice and Lily.  Realising that the day is going to be more expensive than they had anticipated, Alf and Bert head back to their lodgings to persuade Finn to give them back their money.  This proves to be somewhat harder than they imagined.  Meanwhile, Stan and Ollie turn up at the beer garden with their two wives.  When Alice and Lilly mistake them for Alf and Bert, their wives immediately draw the conclusion that Stan and Ollie have been two-timing...

Although it is often overlooked, Our Relations is Laurel and Hardy’s most polished film, showing an attention to detail that is rare for a Stan and Ollie comedy.  This was the first film that Stan Laurel produced, and this might explain the marked improvement in production values.  More effort has been invested in the screenplay than most other L&H films (to the detriment of its comic spontaneity) and legendary cinematographer Rudolph Maté gives the film an eye-pleasing visual allure that makes the duo’s other films appear almost cheap and amateurish by comparison.   But what is it the Bard once said?  All that glisters is not gold...

For all its smoothness and quality feel, Our Relations does not have the irresistible comic impact of other L&H films.  The idea of Stan and Ollie having doubles has so much comic potential and yet much of this is left completely untapped.  Instead, we have a monstrously convoluted plot that revolves around supposed marital infidelity and a missing pearl ring.  The unrestrained anarchic fun for which the duo are renowned appears to have been ironed out here, and slapstick gives way to gentler, far less amusing, situation comedy. 

Whilst the film does offer many good comedy routines, most of these are so well-rehearsed and well-staged that they have lost that edge of dangerous unpredictability which elevates a good joke into a life-threatening belly laugh.  The only scene that could be considered classic Laurel and Hardy is the one where the boys have their feet set in concrete and are transformed into human weebles, wobbling perilously on the edge of a precipice.  This one hysterically funny sequence redeems a film that, for all it surface gloss and imaginative optical effects, is a tad under par in the comedy department.

© Brian Evans 2010

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