Our Relations (1936)

Two pairs of long-lost twin brothers experience high jinks involving a valuable ring, cases of mistaken identity, and gangsters.

Director:

Harry Lachman

Writers:

W.W. Jacobs (suggested by story "The Money Box" by), Richard Connell (screen story)

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stan Laurel	...	Stan Laurel / Alf Laurel
Oliver Hardy	...	Oliver 'Ollie' Hardy / Bert Hardy
Alan Hale	...	Joe Grogan -Denker's waiter
Sidney Toler	...	Captain of SS Periwinkle
Daphne Pollard	...	Mrs. Daphne Hardy
Betty Brown	...	Mrs. Betty 'Bubbles' Laurel (as Betty Healy)
James Finlayson	...	Finn - The Chief Engineer
Iris Adrian	...	Alice
Lona Andre	...	Lily
Ralf Harolde	...	Gangster Boss
Noel Madison	...	Second Gangster at Pirate's Club
Arthur Housman	...	Drunk

Storyline

Unbeknownst to Stanley and Oliver, their long-lost twin brothers, sailors Alfie and Bert are in town on shore leave carrying a valuable pearl ring entrusted to them by their ship's captain. All four get involved in multiple cases of mistaken identity as a gang of hoodlums try to steal the ring Stanley and Oliver wind up with their feet in cement, about to be dumped into the harbor.

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Plot Keywords:

mistaken identity | doppelganger | husband wife relationship | sailors | twin brothers | 

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Taglines:

Two Innocent Sailors on a Holiday...But They Ended Up All at Sea...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

30 October 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sailors' Downfall

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Roach Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min 68 min (colorized)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

King Edward VIII (aka Duke of Windsor) of Great Britain requested a command performance screening of the film in October of 1936, before it was released.

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Goofs

When Ollie is dragged out of the fallen telephone kiosk first, he's on his back then on his front.

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Quotes

Drunk: Ya, ya know the trouble with him? He's drunk.

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Alternate Versions

There is also a colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in Kovanaama (1954)

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Soundtracks

Let's Face It
(uncredited)
Music by Leroy Shields
[Barely audible under beer garden scene when the women walk out on L&H.]

User Reviews

"Everybody has a black sheep in their closet."

Is this the most violent Laurel and Hardy film ever made? Surprisingly, while Stan and Ollie's twin brothers – Bert and Alf – are described as "bad lads", it's the originals that are the most malicious, in this sadistic – yet very funny all the same – Laurel and Hardy showcase. Stan gets to headbutt a barman and set fire to another man's chest hair, while Ollie, for his part, sticks a lightbulb in a man's mouth (James Finlayson, a regular stooge for the boys in 35 movies) then punches him in the face so he swallows the broken glass. Their supposedly rogue twins, meanwhile, merely try to save money and treat some ladies to a meal. In order to distinguish between the twins (other than the level of violence they display), musical cues are used – a sea shanty for the sailors Bert and Alf, and the Laurel and Hardy theme for Stan and Ollie.

There are lots of great sustained jokes in this movie, such as Ollie's broken spectacles, and the ultimate in a sustained gag is the mistaken identities between the sets of twins. This joke is taken so far towards its logical conclusion that the duos don't discover each other's existence until the final ninety seconds of film. This causes the plot to be far more imaginative, whereas a lesser film would have had greater reliance on the two pairs meeting. Arthur Housman is also good as the drunk, a role he seemed to make a career out of playing in many of his 159 film roles. It was a also a role he reprised with Laurel and Hardy, having played both "drunk" and "drunk sailor" in Scram!, The Live Ghost and The Fixer Uppers.

The direction by Harry Lachman is well above average for the pair. Some scenes are shot through a fish tank or the back of a bed's headrail, and there are lots of aerial shots. The split screen technology, while used sparingly, was extremely proficient for the time. One thing of note is that a couple of the sequences, such as the crushed in the telephone box scene, are slightly similar to sight gags in the Marx Brothers film of the previous year, A Night At The Opera. It's not that obvious, and may just be coincidence, but I'd rather hoped that Laurel and Hardy had inspired the Marx Brothers, and not the other way around. But it's probably funnier here anyway, particularly poor old Stan with a boot on his neck. Finally, one of the concluding scenes – Stan crying hysterically as he rolls around on concrete boots – is a real winner.