Chickens Come Home (1931)

Director:

James W. Horne

Writer:

H.M. Walker (dialogue)

Release Date:

21 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Tagline:

Every man has a past - With some little "Indiscretion" he would like to bury. Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy have thirty or forty they would like to cremate.

Plot:

Ollie is running for mayor when an old flame (Mae Busch) tries to blackmail him with a old photo ('just the same old apple-cheeked boy')...

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | Axe | Mayor | Husband Wife Relationship | Automobile

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Thelma Todd	...	Mrs. Hardy
James Finlayson	...	Butler

Also Known As:

Chicken Come Home (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

This film was also simultaneously produced with Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and a Spanish speaking supporting cast and released as Politiquerías (1931). Laurel and Hardy read their lines from cue cards on which Spanish was printed phonetically. At the time of early talkies, dubbing was not yet practical.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ollie and his blackmailer are sitting in a desk chair by a window. When people burst into the office, the chair is now suddenly on the other side of the desk. Moments later, the chair is back again behind the desk and near the window.

Quotes:

Ollie's blackmailer: Give me that key!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy (1967)

"Somebody's coming to my house......."

For my money this is probably my favorite of the L&H shorts (except, maybe for "Two Tars," or perhaps "County Hospital," or maybe "Helpmates," or "Another Fine Mess," or could be "Them Thar Hills"... oh well; you get the point). It's a hoot to see grandly pompous Ollie, in his run for mayor, brought low by the machinations of a former paramour from his "primrose days." Mae Busch, a stalwart regular in the L&H flicks, is wickedly wonderful as the old girlfriend. Ollie's sub rosa business with his knowing butler, good old Jimmy Finlayson, is a delight, and the comic high point - a thoroughly discomfited Ollie warbling "Somebody's Coming to My House" for his dinner guests, accompanied by his wife - as disaster approaches, is a treasure. The Boys will always live in the memory of their devoted fans, to whom they brought so much joy.