Review of Unaccustomed As We Are

When Oliver brings pal Stanley home for dinner, his bellowing wife (Mae Busch) has a fit and storms out to go back to mother. Cute neighbor Thelma Todd steps in to help and that brings on more ordeals thanks to the wife's return and the presence of Todd's husband (Edgar Kennedy). More subtle than farce, this theme was often repeated. Todd shows her flare for comedy, with gregarious Kennedy offering a few laughs as well, and Todd getting good revenge on her husband after misbehaving herself, and in hiding, hearing his own confession. Fortunately, Oliver's wife is allowed to be a bit more reasonable than normal, but the laughs are few. It is obvious why here Ms. Todd became a star, one of the truly adorable blonde bombshells of the 1930's whose life ended in tragedy. This is more experimental than ground breaking, but a must for Laurel and Hardy fans, with a nice script by future Oscar winning director Leo McCarey.