Laurel and Hardy Central

TWICE TWO

Written and filmed November, 1932. Released by MGM, February, 1933. Produced by Hal Roach. Directed by James Parrott. Two reels.

Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Baldwin Cooke, Charlie Hall.

STORY: Laurel and Hardy play their usual characters as well as each other's wife. The two couples plan a lavish dinner party to celebrate their mutual anniversaries, but the wives prove just as inept as their husbands in dealing with things such as food and utensils.

Commentary

JB: A nifty idea marred by the female Stan's very annoying voice (though I love the female Ollie's Bea Arthuresque rasp) and a nearly complete lack of energy. Let's face it, when the best gag you have is somebody getting hit with a cake, you've got a dog on your hands. This film makes for great stills, but little else.

JL: I like Ollie's voice too, but I think it might have been a decent short if they'd just used their own voices. The dubbing itself is not only distracting, it ruins the timing of the whole film. Other than this film, I can detect no other instance in a L&H film in which their dialogue was "looped," a common practice by the mid-30s. The on-the-spot recording of their voices was important to their timing, and they had a hard time getting their usual momentum going in a film where the pace is determined as much by post-production effects as by their performances. My vote for the weakest of their shorts.