Topic: Chickens Come Home (1931) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_137_Chickens-Come-Home
http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/chickens.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021738/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26gd6k_chickens-come-home-b-w-1931-laurel-hardy_shortfilms

Watch CHICKENS COME HOME in the link above

https://archive.org/details/Politiquerias-chickensComeHomeInSpanish1931-laurelNHardy

Watch LA POLITIQUERIAS in the link above



      I want to start out by saying CHICKENS COME HOME may have the funniest joke ever spoken in a Laurel and Hardy film.  However, it is so subtle I never got it until now.  I won't give it away, but I'll tell you how to find it.  Look at the sign on the door and see what it is Stan and Ollie do for a living.  Remember this.  A few minutes later, Stan accidentally slams the door in Ollie's face.  Ollie then asks Stan where he's been.  Listen to Stan's response, keeping in mind what they do for a living.  I thought about the punchline for ten seconds, and when I finally got it, I laughed so hard I had to pause the film.

      Overall, a good short though I can understand if it's not to everyone's taste being a drawing room comedy more so than a slapstick.  Whatever, I enjoy it.  It's very well written, literate, funny, and engaging.  The basic premise is Ollie is running for mayor trying to reform the town from vice (a credit to Oliver Hardy that in spite of this, I like the character anyway).  A women from his past, played by Mae Busch, has a picture of them together from their younger days that she will get printed in the papers unless Ollie gives her hush money.  The rest of the film is Stan trying to prevent her from getting to Ollie's wife, played by Thelma Todd, and it's well played all around.  If I were casting this, I would have casted Thelma Todd as the woman from the past as she specialized in vamp like characters and had Mae Busch play Mrs. Hardy, but as is, both ladies did a fine job in their roles.  I also like Stan's wife in this one, she's a cute little spitfire that reminds me of a girl I know.  Love the way she breaks out the ax in the end, and her dealings with the gossipy lady who relishes in a being a busy body in everyone's business. Great characters all around in this one...and I forgot to mention James Finlayson as the butler who takes bribe, also a fun little role.

      The line, "Well here's another nice mess you've gotten me into" must have already been a pop culture phrase at this point.  Only the third film it was used, Oliver starts with a "Well," and then Stan finishes the line because he knows it by now!  Definitely a sign of the line's familiarity at this point.  I also love Ollie being referred to as the same apple cheeked boy by both Mae Bush and later Thelma Todd.  Stan's several minute wrestling match with Mae Busch is another highlight, dig the way Stan has the hangar still in his coat the whole time!  Also, any short with Ollie singing is all right by me.

      A very enjoyable film, and I also have to admit it was one of the first films I saw as an adult, which might contribute to its high rating.  While not the slapstick fest of HOG WILD or HELPMATES, this one gets a ten based on a more personalized taste..and man is that joke I mentioned earlier funny.

10/10

[luke795]

Chickens Come Home is a remake of the silent short Love 'Em And Weep.

[GreenCanaries]

I want to start out by saying CHICKENS COME HOME may have the funniest joke ever spoken in a Laurel and Hardy film.  However, it is so subtle I never got it until now.  I won't give it away, but I'll tell you how to find it.  Look at the sign on the door and see what it is Stan and Ollie do for a living.  Remember this.  A few minutes later, Stan accidentally slams the door in Ollie's face.  Ollie then asks Stan where he's been.  Listen to Stan's response, keeping in mind what they do for a living.  I thought about the punchline for ten seconds, and when I finally got it, I laughed so hard I had to pause the film.

Reminds me of when I heard a Shemp line in CRIME ON THEIR HANDS. He's popping the mints into his mouth, and right before he grabs the diamond, he says, to no one in particular, "With oranges, it's... much harder." I didn't really think anything of nor pay much attention to the line at first, but then I was using the facilities, and I think it was because of Shemp's distinct voice* that the line started rattling around in my head. Thus, I thought about it a bit more... and proceeded to laugh my ass off. Wouldn't surprise me if it was an ad-lib on his part. A bit more "on the surface" than Stan's line (which I agree is great), but it's one of my favorite Shemp lines. (Honestly, I think the visual of someone like a Shemp or a Larry trying to do the mint trick with an orange helps too.)

* the same reason I love when he says, "Well this will make my Christmas dandy" in HE COOKED HIS GOOSE. Insignificant line, but dammit if the man doesn't he have a distinct voice...

[Seamus]

Wouldn't surprise me if it was an ad-lib on his part.

This totally sounds like a Shemp ad-lib. 

[Seamus]

Finally watched this last night, and I can get behind your 10/10.  This is so good.  This kind of drawing room farce looks dated today, but CCH is pretty much a perfect example of that kind of comedy and it still works.  Once the action moves out of Ollie's office the pace never lets up.  Even at three reels, the energy and the variety of gags keeps it boiling over for all thirty minutes.

There are some great casual gags mixed in with the more over-the-top stuff.  I got a big laugh out of Thelma Todd giving Ollie a withering look as she hands him the sheet music for "You May Be Fast but Your Mamma's Gonna Slow You Down" before his recital.  Then I got an even bigger laugh when they cut from the scene where Mae Busch is motoring it toward Ollie's house with a mind to raise hell, and the first thing we see upon returning to the drawing room is a nervous Ollie singing "Somebody's coming to myyyyyy house" (or something like that).

Another nice gag is the one Metal (finally) caught:

Look at the sign on the door and see what it is Stan and Ollie do for a living.  Remember this.  A few minutes later, Stan accidentally slams the door in Ollie's face.  Ollie then asks Stan where he's been.  Listen to Stan's response, keeping in mind what they do for a living.  I thought about the punchline for ten seconds, and when I finally got it, I laughed so hard I had to pause the film.

I like the subtle way they helped the audience connect the dots with this joke.  Stan delivers the punchline, then walks away to reveal the business venture painted on the door behind him.  Even though we'd already seen it at the beginning of the short, it's a well-timed and well-choreographed reminder that helps the audience catch a joke that might have easily been missed (I'm looking at you Metal) (OK I missed it too), without going too far out of the way to draw attention to it.

Those casual gags are extra little gems betwen things like Stan falling through hotel awnings, cars falling apart at the slightest bump with prudish old ladies inside them, the mind games between Ollie and Finlayson, some WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S style shenanigans with Mae Busch's unconscious body, and the classic two-people-pretending-to-be-one-very-tall-person gag (this time with the added fun of having one of the two people out cold).  Great stuff.  After watching L&H spend an entire reel-and-a-half trying to remove a boot in the last short, it's a pleasure to see so much fun stuff packed into this one. 

And thank god someone finally had the sense to stomp on that damned slide whistle that plagued the last two shorts.  Hope it was splintered into a dozen pieces.

[Umbrella Sam]

So, I’ll admit that after watching the silent version, LOVE ‘EM AND WEEP, I was actually a bit skeptical about this short. Don’t get me wrong; this is definitely the kind of situation I’d expect Hardy to get into. It was mainly the idea of Hardy being successful enough to run for mayor that made me skeptical, since in so many other cases Hardy could never even come close to that amount of success. Yeah, it is weird to see him like that, but I don’t care; this short is funny! There’s a great running gag of James Finlayson constantly agreeing to take a bribe and laughing with Hardy as a result. This laughing is much more tolerable than the laughing in ANOTHER FINE MESS.

I think it is interesting to note that there is a lot of Ollie and Stan working solo in this film than you’d expect, but in a good way. Ollie is fittingly nervous throughout the party, even crashing into Finlayson at one point (and having to bribe him again as a result), but the real stand out scenes are with Stan in Mae Busch’s apartment. Unlike in the silent version, where they’re at a restaurant and she makes a small scene, here Busch goes all out against Laurel, to the point that his phone calls to Hardy continue to show an increasing amount of distress and that fight outside of the apartment building is just fantastic.

I guess the one minor problem I have with this short is the same thing metaldams mentioned: Thelma Todd should have played the old flame while Mae Busch should have played Mrs. Hardy, though both did well enough in their roles, especially Busch in the apartment, so I won’t mark the short down at all for it.

The Spanish version of CHICKENS COME HOME is POLITIQUERIAS. Much like the Spanish version of THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE, this is extended to feature film length, but unlike the Spanish MURDER CASE, this actually consists of entirely new material. One thing I will give this film credit for over the original is Linda Loredo as Mrs. Hardy, who is much more furious at Oliver at the party and even gets a funny scene where she’s standing outside the door, unbeknownst to Oliver. Besides, this, though, the rest of this is much like the other Spanish versions in that the main actors give weaker performances due to their struggling to learn another language. This is even worse, though, because it’s expanded to feature length.

Much like in BLOTTO, a lot of filler is added with some random acts performing at Oliver’s party. One of them is a magician who does a decent job, though still feels like a very pointless addition. The other is a professional regurgitator. I honestly do not know what people saw in this kind of act; I just find it really disturbing.

English Version: 10 out of 10
Spanish Version: 5 out of 10

[Dr. Mabuse]

One of the few L&H three-reelers that justify its length. A rare foray into politics, Stan and Ollie get an extra boost from the inimitable Mae Busch in a tailor-made role.  Thelma Todd and Norma Drew make the most of their limited screen time as "the wives." In his 1967 critical study Laurel & Hardy, Charles Barr ranked "Chickens Come Home" among the team's "weakest shorts." Nothing could be further from the truth.

9/10

[metaldams]

One of the few L&H three-reelers that justify its length. A rare foray into politics, Stan and Ollie get an extra boost from the inimitable Mae Busch in a tailor-made role.  Thelma Todd and Norma Drew make the most of their limited screen time as "the wives." In his 1967 critical study Laurel & Hardy, Charles Barr ranked "Chickens Come Home" among the team's "weakest shorts." Nothing could be further from the truth.

9/10

I can’t see this one being a weaker short at all, but I guess Mr. Barr, like anyone else is entitled to his opinion - he must have gotten it from the sample room Stan visited in this short.

[HomokHarcos]

This is probably the Laurel and Hardy team film where the spend the most time apart from each other. Most of the time Ollie is with his wife and Stan is with Mae Busch. It wasn't until you brought it up that I realized it probably would have been better with Todd as the vamp blackmailer. I think it's funny that apparently a picture of a young Ollie with Busch is enough to blackmail him. Like, was he supposed to be single his whole life to be fit for mayor? Also usually it can be said that Stan gets Ollie into trouble, but in this one it is clearly Stan who is the bigger victim of the two. He is forced to put his own marriage at risk because of Ollie. It's much better than the silent version, probably because we have Hardy in the main role instead of Finlayson (who thankfully is still in this one as a supporting actor). I don't have a problem with three reels, but I wonder if this hurt Laurel and Hardy's later popularity. I noticed that Our Gang seemed to have much more TV airplay down the road. The Laurel and Hardy films were actually bigger box office hits than Our Gang in the theaters, but in TV airings it seemed to be a reversal.

[Samurai]

In my 2 +/- years of dedicated L & H viewing, this has become a huge favorite. It was the second non-feature length 'short' that I had ever viewed...after 'The Hoose-Gow'. 

A few L&H firsts (for me) came from this 3-reeler. One was my realization of Ollie's penchant or breaking the 4th wall with his reactions (proving how much of a newb I was when this wonderful journey began). I'm guessing the concept is likely a remnant from the silent days, where it might be a necessity.  That said, seeing someone use that technique in the talkies, and with such subtlety, is a beautiful thing to behold. And, because it's Ollie, it does not get old.

Another first was my introduction to Mae Busch (and Thelma Todd). It's likely that I must have seen Mae at some point in my life, only I wouldn't have known her by name. I most certainly do now. When I gave a review of 'Women Haters', I lauded Marjorie White for her demanding role in that short, but in this short, Mae has her beat...and a half. Her wrestling bout with Stan for the car key was terrific, as was the prelim bout in the apartment...as was the post-faint shenanigans. A tough broad with great comedic timing, the ability to do taxing physical scenes...and look terrific in a fancy dress...all at once.

The first L&H sound effect that made me loff out loud came from here. When Stan returns from the 'sample room' (no, I didn't get it at first either  ), there's a fly buzzing around Ollie's chair. That buzzing sound, followed by the sound of Stan swatting it, was gold. It was used again for 'Our Wife', but a first funny impression is always the better memory.

Finally, a small moment from Ollie that inexplicably tickles me. At his desk, he bites the end off of his cigar. The sound he makes while weakly spitting it out just gets me going.

     

[Umbrella Sam]

Another first was my introduction to Mae Busch (and Thelma Todd). It's likely that I must have seen Mae at some point in my life, only I wouldn't have known her by name. I most certainly do now. When I gave a review of 'Women Haters', I lauded Marjorie White for her demanding role in that short, but in this short, Mae has her beat...and a half. Her wrestling bout with Stan for the car key was terrific, as was the prelim bout in the apartment...as was the post-faint shenanigans. A tough broad with great comedic timing, the ability to do taxing physical scenes...and look terrific in a fancy dress...all at once. 

Funny enough, I recently found out I had seen Mae Busch in a film long before I’d seen her in anything Laurel and Hardy related. Recently I rewatched the silent feature SOULS FOR SALE, a really good Eleanor Boardman film that I saw at least a decade ago, but had never really sought out again for some reason, despite the fact that I liked it even back then. Upon rewatching, I was shocked to discover Mae Busch played a fairly major part and I’d never noticed. I’m aware she was a fairly popular silent film star and have seen her in some other silent features (notably THE UNHOLY THREE), but for some reason I never made the SOULS FOR SALE connection until now.

[metaldams]

Samurai, I think it’s great you’re discovering Laurel and Hardy fairly recently.  Any of the old school comedians I’ve discovered over the past few years only have a small handfuls available if their films aren’t almost entirely lost (Lloyd Hamilton).  It’s a bit frustrating. You’ve got a lot of fun watching ahead of you and that’s not a problem with Stan and Ollie since there’s so much out there.

Mae Busch is indeed a treasure.  Beyond comedic abilities, which I’ve always noticed, I’ve noticed her even more when I’ve come to the realization she was my age when those films were shot.  Funny how that works, but yes, she was an amazing talent.

I’ve seen her as early as Mack Sennett in the teens and you know what?  She really did get better as a comedian when she got relatively older.

[Samurai]

Samurai, I think it’s great you’re discovering Laurel and Hardy fairly recently.  Any of the old school comedians I’ve discovered over the past few years only have a small handfuls available if their films aren’t almost entirely lost (Lloyd Hamilton).  It’s a bit frustrating. You’ve got a lot of fun watching ahead of you and that’s not a problem with Stan and Ollie since there’s so much out there.

Mae Busch is indeed a treasure.  Beyond comedic abilities, which I’ve always noticed, I’ve noticed her even more when I’ve come to the realization she was my age when those films were shot.  Funny how that works, but yes, she was an amazing talent.

I’ve seen her as early as Mack Sennett in the teens and you know what?  She really did get better as a comedian when she got relatively older.

It's been a fun journey. A definite case of better late than never. I've probably seen 85+% of their shorts at least once, and look forward to more focused re-viewings. The things that seem to make me loff the most, are so subtle, that multiple viewings are a necessity. I have a great deal of fun viewing ahead.

As for Miss Mae, I will absolutely go deeper into her silent history. With the exception of a few Keaton/Chaplin films, the vast majority of my experience with the silents has come from watching 'Fractured Flickers'. That will likely change.

[NoahYoung]

I think it's funny that apparently a picture of a young Ollie with Busch is enough to blackmail him. Like, was he supposed to be single his whole life to be fit for mayor?

I've always wondered about this, too. But let's take a closer look.

The Mae Busch character is obviously fairly wealthy -- a nice apartment with a maid to boot! And this was during the Depression. Where did she get the money from? Probably from blackmailing others. When Ollie sees the picture, maybe he realizes she also has other pictures more compromising...but they didn't have camera phones back then!

Now it's one thing to be worried about how it will effect his campaign, but why hide it from his wife? Did she think he never had a girlfriend before?

Because they never explain it, it leads to speculations -- was the Mae Busch character again (c.f. COME CLEAN, THE LIVE GHOST) supposed to be a lady of the evening? In this case, a high-priced one, I would think. (Think about how it was the nail in the coffin for Elliot Spitzer and almost for Donald Trump!) I know this was supposed to be a family film, but what other conclusions can one make? The other is that he was with Mae while he was married to Thelma, but we all know that Ollie would never do that, would he? But since it was in his gilded-youth, and Thelma is so much younger than he is, that theory doesn't hold enough water.

And remember the opening title: "Every man has a past, with some little 'indiscretion' he would like to bury." I doubt even in 1931 that having your picture taken with a legitimate girlfriend before you were married and while you were not dating someone else would be considered an "indiscretion." And it goes on to say that both Stan and Ollie have 30 or 40 of them!

You do the math...
 

But...Mae at one point claims that she was a "wronged" woman -- so maybe he jilted her? But that's not a crime...unless it was considered "Seduction",  a legal term from that era referring to engaging in intimate relations under false pretenses, particularly in cases where a man misled a woman with promises such as marriage. A 23 year old Frank Sinatra was arrested for that when a former girlfriend accused him of making such promises.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My favorite lines from this short are from Mae: "What d'ya think I came in this joint for, to test out your acoustics?!",
and "Well you wall-eyed pike! What's the big idea of sending this dumbell over to me?!"

Does anyone else find it odd that Stan and Ollie's wives don't know each other, despite the fact that they are friends and business partners?

Same as in HELPMATES -- Stan not only has never met Mrs. Hardy, he has never even seen a pic of her until Ollie shows him one. Apparently, he didn't even attend their wedding!

[NoahYoung]

One of the few L&H three-reelers that justify its length. A rare foray into politics, Stan and Ollie get an extra boost from the inimitable Mae Busch in a tailor-made role.  Thelma Todd and Norma Drew make the most of their limited screen time as "the wives." In his 1967 critical study Laurel & Hardy, Charles Barr ranked "Chickens Come Home" among the team's "weakest shorts." Nothing could be further from the truth.

9/10

Yup, he uses the traditional 1 to 4 star rating system for their films, but he rates this one with a "filled-in circle", which means it was a "dud."

I acquired the Barr book after having seen all the films dozens of times. I had grown up as a kid with Everson's book and the McCabe/Bann/Kilgore books as guides, but the Barr book was a revelation to me, since many of my favorites that those prior books somewhat panned were now elevated to a much higher status by Barr.

McCabe/Bann/Kilgore gave CHICKENS 2 and 1/2 "hats", which is slightly above-average, but odd since they gave THE LAUREL-HARDY MURDER CASE 4 hats! (I bought a re-print many years later and MURDER had been ammended to 2 hats.) Everson called it "one of the better L&H films from the period," and said the only real flaw was the length.

I took a closer look at this film to see if it could have been cut to 2 reels to improve it. It starts out slow, but as soon as Mae shows up there's not a wasted moment. She appears about 5 minutes into it -- so if you start from there it would still be about 25 minutes, but you obviously need at least 2 minutes before she shows up to set the stage. So the conclusion I came to was that it really needed to be a 3-reeler. (Of course, you can trim here and there, but there would be no reason to other than to shorten the length.)

The first time I saw this short, I loved it, and considered it one of their best. Then I went through a period where I soured on it. But it now remains one of my favorites. There's just so much going on, and any short of theirs with fast pacing I love. Without a clock in view, it really seems like a 2-reeler since it moves so fast.

When I was gowing up, I of course watched L&H a lot with family and friends on Super 8, and even at an early age I observed which ones were crowd-pleasers, and which ones weren't. I use to hear comments like "they sometimes get too repetitive" when we watched certain films.

I didn't get a copy of this one on film until I was an adult (that 2 and 1/2 hats rating put me off), but I realize that had I gotten it in Super 8 as a kid, this definitely would have been a crowd pleaser! They don't do any of that "repetitve" stuff that non-aficionados might not like.

Back in the 70s, I was lucky if I saw even a handful of their shorts on broadcast TV, so in most cases the first time I saw these shorts was via a Super 8 copy ordered from Blackhawk Films. I maybe got about 2 per year. I used the McCabe/Bann/Kilgore and Everson books as a guide unless I had happened to see the short before on TV. I don't think I ever got a film ranked less that 3 hats once I got that McCabe/Bann/Kilgore book, although I had bought some prior to that.

It may seem strange now, but when I finally got to see all the shorts by renting those Nostalgia Mechant tapes from the video store, I was angry about how many great shorts were panned by those books I had been referencing! There were more than a few I would have gotten on Super 8 in lieu of some of the ones I did get! (I kinda liked them, but BELOW ZERO and THE HOOSEGOW, both rated at 3 hats, were far from crowd pleasers.) I could never get my head around MURDER CASE being rated higher than both HELPMATES and THE MUSIC BOX, which were each rated 3 and 1/2 hats. A few other somewhat lesser shorts also got 4 hats!  No real duds, but ANOTHER FINE MESS should have been more like 3 hats, not 4. At least I didn't buy MURDER CASE when I was a kid, mostly because Everson hated it!

Everyone's opinions may be different regarding these films, but my opinions are no less valid than the authors of those old books!

[Freddie Sanborn]

Many of us read the McCabe-Everson-Maltin-Bann -Barr books before we ever saw the films. I think it’s a shame that I didn’t watch the films with unsullied eyes. I might have enjoyed the Fox films more if I hadn’t been told beforehand that they were worthless (they’re not).

[NoahYoung]

Many of us read the McCabe-Everson-Maltin-Bann -Barr books before we ever saw the films. I think it’s a shame that I didn’t watch the films with unsullied eyes. I might have enjoyed the Fox films more if I hadn’t been told beforehand that they were worthless (they’re not).

Even more frustrating to me was finding out that these authors hadn't actually seen all the L&H films, at least not recent enough to remember all the details before writing their books! I believe Randy S. admitted that he hadn't see all the post-Roach films when he wrote his book! Yet he panned them like everyone else.

Barr was forthcoming in that he left ratings off films that were unavailable for him to view.

There are many mistakes in the Everson book, and he himself claimed that he offered to ammend them for a second edition, but the publisher rejected the offer and continued printing the book for years, mistakes and all. There are people on the internet who have defended Everson for the mistakes made because he hadn't seen some of the films in many years; my counter-point to that is the question: "Who twisted his arm to write the book???"

The Fox films are better than those old authors gave them credit for. Not always much better, but better nonetheless. To me the real gem is THE BULLFIGHTERS, which I find funnier than both SWISS MISS and THE FLYING DEUCES. THE BIG NOISE was supposed to be one of the worst films ever made, yet it's the second best film they made at Fox, and nearly as good as THE BULLFIGHTERS.

The 2 post-Roach M-G-Ms are another matter altogether. They both rank below the worst Fox film. AIR RAID WARDENS is the worst film they made after they became a team. NOTHING BUT TROUBLE is not far behind, but there are some elements of it that I enjoy just a bit. WARDENS should have been the better of the 2, but it's not. It also should have been at least on the level of some of the better Fox films -- but again it's not.

I've never seen the whole film, but I saw the clip of Robin Williams in DEAD POETS SOCIETY where he tells his students to rip the page out of the book which tries to tell them what the best poems in the book are. That's how I now feel about those old books on L&H, but I keep them for sentimental reasons, the generous amount of stills in them, and the facts (not opinions) that they contain.