Our Wife

[StevePulaski]

Our Wife (1931)
Directed by: James W. Horne

Hardy and his bride-to-be in Our Wife.

Rating: ★★★

Our Wife concerns a happy-go-lucky Ollie planning to marry his sweetheart Dulcy (Babe London), with his pal Stan by his side as his best man. However, when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie, he becomes disgusted and appalled and calls off the wedding instantly. Frustrated, the couple plans to elope, with Stan and Ollie sneaking Dulcy out of her home to have a secret marriage ceremony; one can only imagine how Laurel and Hardy manage to turn this immense task into one of troublesome blunders.

But, as we expect, they find a way to do so, and Our Wife becomes infested with circumstantial comedy, arising from everything like Ollie falling into Dulcy's window, the three having difficulty fitting into a small car, and then, finally, arriving for the marriage ceremony only to have it incomparably screwed up thanks to a cross-eyed priest in true Laurel and Hardy fashion.

Our Wife sticks to a premise more built on situational comedy and misunderstandings, as writer H.M. Walker and director James W. Horne team up once again to deliver a spry, fun short. Laurel and Hardy function the best when they struggle to do a simple task to no success, engage in goofy banter, or stumble over activities that should be easy and quick. When they punch, kick, fight, and slap, their shorts descend into the kind of humor The Three Stooges did and did infinitely better. When the duo stick to trying to go along with a story and having issues executing their plan, they predicate themselves off of the building blocks of comedy, where characters do something they don't want to do or are having difficultly doing something. Our Wife works for that specific reason and results in a rousing good time.

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Babe London. Directed by: James W. Horne.