ANOTHER FINE MESS was another film Thelma Todd made with Oliver Hardy.

Another Fine Mess

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Another Fine Mess
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Parrott
Produced by	Hal Roach
Written by	H.M. Walker
Starring	Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy
Music by	Leroy Shield
Cinematography	Jack Stevens
Editing by	Richard C. Currier
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	November 29, 1930 (1930-11-29)
Running time	28' 09"
Country	United States
Language	English

Another Fine Mess is a 1930 short comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play Home From The Honeymoon by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel's father, and is a talkie remake of the 1927 silent Laurel and Hardy film Duck Soup.

Plot

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are vagabonds being chased by the police. They hide in the cellar of the mansion of a Quatermain-esque adventurer, Col. Buckshot (James Finlayson), who departs for a safari in South Africa. The mansion is to be rented out until his return, but the staff sneak off for a holiday, leaving the house empty. The boys are surrounded by police and have to deceive a honeymooning couple wanting to rent the house. Oliver disguises himself as Buckshot and Stan disguises himself as both butler and chambermaid.

During a girl-talk scene with Thelma Todd and Stan (disguised as the maid), Stan's comments get sillier and sillier. The real Colonel returns, but Stan and Ollie escape dressed as a pantomime wildebeest on a stolen tandem bicycle.

Cast

Production

The title of the movie is Hardy's famous catchphrase "Another fine mess". However, in films Hardy always said "another nice mess". The only known occasion when "another fine mess" was apparently said by Ollie was in a radio programme in which the team appeared in the 1940s.^{[citation needed]}
This is also the second film to feature the line "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into," which was first used in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case.
Unlike other L&H shorts, the technical credits are recited by two girls in usherette outfits. Beverly and Betty Mae Crane performed the "talking titles" for several Roach shorts during the 1930-31 season as an experimental alternative to standard title cards.
No foreign-language versions are known to exist for this short. Possibly this short was shown with subtitles in non-English-speaking countries, as audiences were critical of the unnatural quality of the alternate versions.

External links

Another Fine Mess at the Internet Movie Database
Another Fine Mess at Rotten Tomatoes

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Although "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" was the version originally used in their dialogue in the movies, today Laurel and Hardy are frequently associated with the version used in the title of this film. Oliver Hardy does say "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" in this one, although the line seems to have first been used in the previous year's LAUREL AND HARDY MURDER CASE.

Laurel and Hardy frequently seem to be on the lam in their adventures, but never for anything really serious. After all, the idea is that this is supposed to be a comedy.

They also don't seem to actually be put in jail very much, possibly because their adventures tend to end before they can be apprehended by the forces of law and order. Again, the idea is that it's supposed to be funny and not to be taken seriously. Nonetheless, there is an element of lawlessness in their films little remarked upon in commentaries.

During the course of the story, Thelma Todd refers to her husband first as "Ambrose", and then as "Leopold".

It is thought that this error might be due to changes in the script. Finally, in what seems to be an effort to straighten things up, she calls him "Leopold Ambrose".

The "girl talk" scene where Stan Laurel ( dressed as the maid ) was talking to Thelma Todd was said to have been largely improvised. Evidently there was a lot of improvisation in Laurel and Hardy films, something that went back to their beginnings in the silent era.

Thelma Todd looks like she's about to crack up at one point. Something that she evidently did every now and then while they were filming these comedies.

Thelma Todd's character disappears before the film ends. There's no explanation, she just isn't there any more. It could be related to the fact that her character is more or less related to order, while the scenes that follow deal in chaos.

Prior to Laurel and Hardy's escape in a wildebeast costume on a bicyclebuilt for two, a photo is seen in the film that shows "Col. Buckshot" Finlayson with a wildebeast, presumably the same one before it was skinned.

The scene where the "wildebeast" rides off on the bicycle was doubled by Jack Mole, a trick bicycle rider, and his brother.

They end up on unicycles after they ride into the tunnel and presumably have some sort of difficulty with the train.

Not only that, but the guy in the back half of the costume comes out first.

Betty Mae and Beverly Crane would later voiced the credits for two Roach talkies which could be considered preliminaries for the introduction of Thelma Todd's own series, LOVE BUSINESS with Our Gang ( in which her picture was used outside a theater ) and LOVE FEVER with The Boy Friends.

"The Boy Friends" would make cameo appearences in the first film in the new series, LET'S DO THINGS, which shows that the two series were related.

Watch UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE:

ANOTHER FINE MESS:
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_115_Another-Fine-Mess

"Another Nice Mess" - History Of That Line:
http://www.stanlaurelandoliverhardy.com/nicemess.htm

Betty Mae Crane:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186310/

Beverly Crane:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186311/

Betty Mae And Beverly Crane ( Talking Title Twins ):
http://www.lordheath.com/index.php?p=1_127_Betty-Mae-Beverly-Crane

Laurel And Hardy ( Official Site ):
http://www.laurel-and-hardy.com/

Saturday, February 2, 2013