Unaccustomed as We Are
About Unaccustomed as We Are
Ollie brings Stan home to dinner. Mrs. Hardy turns sour, offers nuts, and explodes when Ollie says he is off to South America. Neighbor Mrs. Kennedy helps cook, sets her dress on fire, and is hidden in a trunk. Her husband, a policeman, has them haul the trunk to his flat and then thrashes Ollie. His wife stops him with a vase.
Cast & crew
More about Unaccustomed as We Are
Lewis R. Foster directed. Hal Roach produced. Wikidata also lists Roach as a director. Leo McCarey wrote the story. H. M. Walker is the other writer. George Stevens is among the cinematographers, with John MacBurnie, Len Powers, and Jack Roach. Released May 4, 1929, as the first Laurel and Hardy sound comedy. Wikipedia times a silent version at 18 minutes and a sound version at 20 minutes 53 seconds. Wikidata says 21 minutes. Mae Busch and Thelma Todd play the wives in the billed cast with Edgar Kennedy. Roach issued both an all-talking print and a silent print with intertitles.
Themes
Background
May 1929, while many theaters still could not play a soundtrack.
In film history
First Laurel and Hardy comedy with recorded speech.
Making
Roach covered both the talkie market and the silent houses with two versions of the same short.
Look
George Stevens, John MacBurnie, Len Powers, and Jack Roach are the camera credits on Wikipedia.
Technique
Issued both as an all-talking short and as a silent short.
Music
A music-and-effects track with some dialogue. A silent issue uses intertitles instead.
Notes
- The title mocks the speech-making phrase, because the two had not been heard in a film before.
- Dialogue is the smallest part of the track. Music and effects take most of it.
- The silent issue exists for theaters that were not wired for sound.
Scenes
- Mrs. Hardy offers nuts and then hears Ollie is leaving for South America.
- Mrs. Kennedy's dress catches fire and she goes into a trunk.
- Mrs. Kennedy hits her husband with a vase.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Unaccustomed as We Are (1929).webm)
