Thicker than Water (film)

Infobox Film
name = Thicker Than Water


caption = Theatrical poster for "Thicker Than Water" (1935)
director = James W. Horne
producer = Hal Roach
writer = Stan Laurel (story)
Frank Tashlin (uncredited)
starring = Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
music =
cinematography = Art Lloyd
editing = Ray Snyder
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = March 16, 1935
runtime = 20 min.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = "The Fixer Uppers"
followed_by = "Bonnie Scotland"
imdb_id = 0027089

"Thicker Than Water" was the last short to star Laurel and Hardy. Directed by James W.Horne, produced by Hal Roach, and released in 1935 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the short also features James Finlayson and Daphne Pollard in supporting roles.

Plot

Stan and Ollie are ordered to wash the dishes by Ollie's wife but Stan dries them and puts them back in the bowl. Ollie then tells him to put them somewhere dry and he places them on a gas ring where they heat up, so that when Ollie picks them up he drops them and they all smash. James Finlayson then calls to collect payment for some furniture. Stan, Ollie and Mrs Hardy embark on a lengthy "the money that you gave to him, to give to me to pay him" dialogue routine. At Stan's suggestion Ollie then withdraws the couple's savings from the bank to buy furniture and inadvertently pays virtually the whole amount at an auction for a grandfather clock which is soon crushed under a passing truck. Awaiting the wrath of Mrs Hardy back at home he tells Stan that "here is another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in".

Mrs Hardy then unintentionally causes serious injuries to Ollie when she hits him over the head with a frying pan, requiring him to be rushed to hospital for a blood transfusion. The doctor conscripts Stan to be the unwilling blood donor ("what do you think I am, a blood worm?"). During the transfusion, too much blood is pumped out of Stan and into Ollie, requiring some of the blood inside Ollie to be pumped into Stan. But too much blood gets pumped back into Stan, requiring another reversal, and so forth ... until the transfusion machine explodes. When Laurel and Hardy walk out of the hospital, they appear to have turned into each other: Ollie with his moustache shaved off and wearing Stan's too-small clothes, while Stan is in Ollie's too-large clothes and wearing a moustache which is supposed to resemble Ollie's but (perhaps unintentionally) looks more like Adolf Hitler's. The two comedians end up imitating each other, with Ollie performing Stan's famous befuddled "head scratch" and Stan admonishing Ollie that "here's another nice mess you've gotten me in to".

Cast

*Stan Laurel
*Oliver Hardy
*Daphne Pollard
*Jimmy Finlayson
*Harry Bowen
*Ed Brandenberg
*Allan Cavan
*Baldwin Cooke
*Bess Flowers
*Gladys Gale
*Grace Goodall
*Charlie Hall

pecial effects

Laurel or Hardy drag the next scene into the frame from off-camera. This effect was achieved with the optical-printing device known as a wipe.

External links

*imdb title|id=0027089|title=Thicker Than Water

See also

* 1935 in film
* Laurel and Hardy films