Topic: The Fixer Uppers (1935) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

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      Tell me where you heard this one before.  A couple of card salesman go door to door and run into an attractive lonely woman who says her husband is not giving her enough attention.  It is then decided if one of the card salesmen kisses the wife as the husband walks in he will be jealous, realize he loves the wife and needs to give her more attention and the couple will live happily ever after.  In reality, the husband gets jealous but instead of embracing the wife, wants revenge on the card salesmen.  If this sounds like BOOBS IN ARMS, you'd be correct.  THE FIXER UPPERS uses the same beginning plot done five years earlier.  Here the husband's revenge is by duel and the comics try to get away, only to be led by back a nice plot twist.  With The Stooges, they join the army and run into the husband who tries to make their life Hell, so we get plenty to distract from the jealous husband thing, unlike here and at that point, becomes a completely different film than this.

      The reason why THE FIXER UPPERS works is the casting, plain and simple.  After watching all those Keaton Educationals I can't help but wonder how Keaton would have fared working with Mae Busch versus some pretty yet barely out of high school inexperienced actress.  It makes all the difference in the world.  Mae Busch has been around for decades at this point and can balance the drama and comedy needed for a role like this - she is excellent here and worldly enough to pull off this role.  Still plenty attractive enough too. 

      Stan and Ollie are wonderful as well and Oliver Hardy especially so.  When Mae is upset, Ollie plays it genuinely sympathetic and straight when enquiring about her troubles.  The great camera work and editing during the kissing scene is also top notch.  Cutting back and forth between Stan's confused face - as he's in a catatonic shock like he's never kissed a woman before, and Ollie's fourth wall breaking reactions is another brilliant touch.  I am usually not a fan of jealous husband comedies, that and scare comedies have to be done really well for me to enjoy them.  God knows how many of those Columbia Shemp solo shorts go to the jealous husband thing and they don't work nearly as well as THE FIXER UPPERS.  It is the subtle things and great casting which makes all the difference in the world. 

      Just a personal preference, I'm a sucker for the atmosphere on the snow covered stone streets in old fashioned poor neighborhoods much like in BELOW ZERO.  So yeah, overall I really like THE FIXER UPPERS.  It's a plot that can be so cliched, but in the hands of the right cast and studio, be done well.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

Speaking of great casting, you can't leave out my man Arthur Housman.  He wears an ice bag like L & H wear their derbies.

[metaldams]

Speaking of great casting, you can't leave out my man Arthur Housman.  He wears an ice bag like L & H wear their derbies.

Agreed.  Arthur Housman was great here as usual.  Good role for Charles Middleton too.

[Umbrella Sam]

THE FIXER UPPERS is basically a better version of the silent SLIPPING WIVES, which featured Laurel and Hardy, though not really as a team. I do agree with the Laurel and Hardy Central writers in that I don’t find there to be a ton of memorable gags, but this is made up for by the little touches with Laurel and Hardy’s characters (including one of Laurel’s many sentence mix-ups) and excellent performances from the supporting cast: Charles Middleton in the furious husband role, Mae Busch in a slightly more dramatic performance, and Arthur Housman being...well, a drunk. As far as gags go, the more memorable ones involve the greetings cards and Laurel and Hardy both walking back and forth while Mae Busch is also pacing back and forth.

Not a super memorable short in my opinion, but still a good one nonetheless.

8 out of 10

[HomokHarcos]

This is essentially a remake of their silent Slipping Wives, the main difference here being that Ollie has a major role. Mae Busch gets another sympathetic role, I wonder if Hal Roach or somebody decided to change her film characterization. This is a common comedy plot that is made better by the cast, which being the Roach studio was top of the line. Of course their attempts to make the husband jealous ends up putting their own lives in danger.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Laurel and Hardy, Charles Middleton, Arthur Housman and the incomparable Mae Busch. How can you go wrong?

Before I shower praise on "The Fixer Uppers," let me state that Mae Busch is a national treasure and a tremendous asset to the L&H filmography. A pity she was dropped from the Hal Roach Studios roster (and relegated to mostly uncredited roles) after "The Bohemian Girl." Though I didn't mind Minna Gombell in "Block-Heads," I felt Mae was conspicuous by her absence.

As metaldams pointed out in his excellent review, casting makes all the difference in a film such as "The Fixer Uppers." I can't imagine the "jealous husband" scenario working nearly as well with any other ensemble. Like the best L&H shorts, the filmmakers keep things simple while playing to the strengths of Stan and Ollie, who transform a serviceable script into pure comedy gold. The leisurely pacing adds to the hilarity — there are no dead spots.

"The Fixer Uppers" has been criminally underrated for decades, but the critical tide has turned in recent years and it has been re-evaluated as Laurel and Hardy's final two-reel classic. For a penultimate release, the Boys showed no sign of losing steam in the shorts department.

9/10