That’s My Wife (1929) - film review

The Hardy household is not a happy place to be.  Mrs Hardy can no longer endure Stan’s presence as a guest and delivers her husband an ultimatum: either he goes or she does.  Ollie can hardly chase away his best friend and so his wife makes a quick and decisive exit.  For Ollie, this is a disastrous outcome.  He knows that his Uncle Bernal will cut him out of his will if he learns of this marital breakdown.  As luck would have it, the fastidious uncle turns up unexpectedly within minutes of Mrs Hardy leaving the premises.  There is only one thing to do.  Stan must pretend to be Mrs Hardy...

In the flurry of magnificent short films that Laurel and Hardy made in the dying days of the silent era, That’s My Wife is one that is often overlooked, although it is one of the funniest.  It is basically a one-gag film, the gag being Stan Laurel dressing up as a woman, with dumb-bells providing him with an ample bosom.  You would think that the comic potential of this situation would be mined out within the first reel, but no, the jokes keep coming right up until the end of the second reel.   This may not be the most sophisticated Laurel and Hardy film, but it is great fun, offer a tantalising glimpse of what the boys would achieve once they had made the transition to sound.

© Brian Evans 2010

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