Our Wife: Laurel and Hardy vs. a very tiny car

Is it worth a watch?

If you have twenty minutes and want to see a car look like it is being eaten by three adults, watch this. It is for anyone who likes seeing things go wrong in the most preventable ways possible. If you need high-stakes drama or hate black-and-white slapstick, you will probably find this annoying as hell. 🤡

Ollie is getting married. He is being very dainty about it, which is always my favorite version of Oliver Hardy. He has this way of waving his fingers that makes you forget he is a big guy.

The first scene with the cake is just... weird. There are actual flies on it. Like, real flies crawling on the frosting while they are talking. I do not think they were supposed to be there, but they just kept filming. It makes the whole wedding prep feel a bit grimy in a way that is accidentally funny.

Stan shows up and he is, well, Stan. He is trying to help, but his help is a death sentence. It reminds me of the clumsy energy in Bumps and Thumps, where you just know something is going to break.

James Finlayson plays the dad. He has that face that looks like a frustrated thumb. His squint is iconic. When he tells Ollie to get out, you can almost feel the spit landing on the camera lens. It is way more aggressive than most modern comedies, even if it is just a guy making faces.

Then we get to the elopement. They use a ladder. Stan manages to make a ladder look like a complex alien technology. There is a bit where the suitcase hits Ollie on the head, and the sound effect is so loud and fake it made me jump. Thwack.

But the real reason this movie matters is the car. I do not know what kind of car it is, but it looks like a toy. It is tiny. It is impossibly small. It is smaller than some modern refrigerators.

They try to fit Ollie, the bride (who is not small), and Stan into this thing. It is not just a quick gag. It goes on and on. They get in. They fall out. The door pops open. Ollie’s leg is sticking out of the roof. 🚗

I think I spent five minutes just staring at the suspension of that car. You can see the metal groaning. It is the kind of physical comedy that feels dangerous because you know that car was actually about to snap in half. It is much more satisfying than watching something like The Gun Runners where the action feels a bit more choreographed.

There is a moment where the bride, played by Babe London, is just sitting there with this look of pure regret. She is barely a character, mostly just a prop they are trying to shove into the backseat. It is a bit like The Bride's Relations in how the wedding itself is just a backdrop for total disaster.

The ending happens at a justice of the peace's house. Ben Turpin shows up. If you do not know Ben Turpin, he is the guy with the crossed eyes. It is his whole thing. He is the judge, and because he cannot see straight, he almost marries Stan to the bride instead of Ollie.

It is a cheap joke, but it works every time. The way his eyes dart in two different directions makes the whole scene feel dizzy. 😵‍💫

I noticed a smudge on the camera lens during one of the indoor scenes. It is right in the top left corner. It stayed there for about three minutes and I couldn't stop looking at it. That is the thing about these old movies—they feel like they were made by people who were in a hurry to get to lunch.

The music is also very repetitive. It is that same bouncy tune over and over. It starts to feel like a fever dream after a while. I think I prefer the weirdness here to the more serious tone of something like A Branded Soul. At least here, everyone knows it is a joke.

Ollie’s reaction when he finally realizes everything is ruined is gold. He doesn't scream. He just looks at the camera with this deep, soulful sadness. It is the look of a man who knows the universe hates him specifically.

Is it a masterpiece? Probably not. It feels a bit like they ran out of money for the ending. It just kind of stops. But the car scene alone is worth the price of admission, even if you are just watching it on a phone in bed.

It is definitely better than Ain't Love Grand? which tries too hard to be sweet. This is just pure, concentrated stupidity. And I mean that as a compliment.

One last thing: the way Stan packs the suitcase is infuriating. He puts things in and they immediately fall out the other side. I felt my blood pressure rising. If you have a low tolerance for incompetence, this might actually be a horror movie for you.

Anyway, go watch it for the car. And the flies. Don't forget the flies on the cake. 🪰