Helpmates (1932)

Director:

James Parrott

Writer:

H.M. Walker (dialogue)

Release Date:

23 January 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Tagline:

When the cats are away, the mice start looking up telephone numbers

Plot:

Oliver's house is in a shambles after a wild party, and his wife is due home at noon. He calls Stanley to help him fix the place up...

Plot Keywords:

Fire | Gasoline | Party | Laurel And Hardy | Head Through Drawer

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie

Runtime:

20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S (1959) | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

The studio actually built a five-room façade on an empty lot in Culver City, and then burned it down to shoot the final scenes of this short.

Goofs:

Continuity: Stan has attached the drying line to the kitchen door and, when Ollie opens it, he pulls down the chimney pipe from the stove and is hit by a cloud of soot. Stan comes over and takes off Ollie's hat, and, trying to clean it , blows the soot from the top into Ollie's face. But the top of his hat was white and clean in the previous shot.

Quotes:

Ollie: Do you realise that this is the only suit I've got left? It's enough to make a man burst out crying.
[Stan starts to cry]
Ollie: Shut Up! Don't you realise my wife will be home at noon?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Moon and You

Hilarious!

This is one hilarious Laurel & Hardy comedy short.

The story is, as always, deliciously simple. Oliver Hardy just had a wild party in his house the other night. The next morning he hears by telegram that his 'lovely' wife shall return from Chicago were she has been with her mother the last couple of days. Of course the house is a total wreck so in all his panic, Oliver calls his good friend Stanley to help to clean the mess up before Oliver's wife gets home. But of course instead of cleaning up, the boys make an even bigger mess.

This is basically the only joke of the movie; the two boys cleaning the mess up. It provides some absolutely hilarious and well executed slapstick sequences. The slapstick moments are amazingly stupid and unlikely but because of that also extremely hilarious. This movie is really filled with great slapstick moments, so fans of slapstick comedy will be absolutely delighted while watching this movie.

This is how I want a Laurel & Hardy movie to be; simple, stupid and filled with well executed slapstick humor.

9/10