Our Relations
Our Relations
NR | 30 October 1936 (USA)
Our Relations Trailers

Two sailors get caught in a mountain of mix-ups when they meet their long-lost twins. Laurel and Hardy play themselves and their twins.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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AnhartLinkin

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

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PiraBit

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

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Brendon Jones

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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SnorrSm1989

Is there a more appropriate way to inaugurate a much-hankered weekend, than to slightly overindulge in a bag of chocolate as Laurel & Hardy, meanwhile, do their funny business in your very home, thanks to home video technology? As a child of ten or eleven years old, I would have barely cared to question the superiority of this pastime to almost anything else, at least as far as plain, uncomplicated coziness was concerned. My local video store had quite a few of the boys' titles for rent, and OUR RELATIONS may have been my favorite at the time. Part of the reason why just this film appealed so much to a youngster, was probably that it provides, literally, a non-stop feast of fast-paced, rather violent antics guaranteed to not make anyone sleepy; the mayhem is not hampered by the fact that we are here introduced to t-w-o sets of Laurel & Hardy's, as their quite identical twin brothers suddenly turn up in town. Whereas their next feature, WAY OUT WEST, would offer several sequences which, if compared to standard slapstick farce, come off as rather subtle, this tale of mistaken identity leans more towards the broad and blunt approach. Tender moments such as the boys doing an impromptu dance, as seen in the later film, are here absent.However, it must be stressed that Laurel and Hardy are not being deprived of opportunity to develop more spontaneous, less frantic routines in this film. In the very first scene, we are introduced to our familiar Stan and Ollie having a (relatively) quiet breakfast with their wives, establishing to us viewers that the boys here, for once, seem to be (relatively) happily married. As the wives leave the room, Ollie suddenly receives a telegram from his mother, reporting that his and Stan's respective twin brothers, Bert and Alf, have been hanged due to involvement in a mutiny. Before these sad (though inaccurate, as it turns out) news are unveiled, an hilarious quiet routine develops, as Ollie orders Stan to clean his glasses, so he can read the telegram properly...and, expectedly, such a supremely simple foundation for a joke turns into one of the highlights of the film, which depends not so much on the material in itself, but instead on how it is executed by these two very distinct characters. Almost any pair of comedians could have thought of and performed the jokes in this scene; but few others than Stan and Ollie could have dared to let the effect of these jokes depend so seamlessly on their individual on-screen personalities. The routine does not merely give the boys opportunity to do funny stuff; the funny stuff in this opening sequence is used as an opportunity to truly define these gentlemen to us viewers, with Stan scratching his head in mystification as Ollie turns increasingly impatient (yet perhaps less so than is to be expected; he must, after all, be quite accustomed to Stan's notable sense of logic by this time).The aforementioned routine, simple though it may seem, stands as one of my favorites with the boys. Even so, I'm surprised that it tends to disappear from my memory after each repeated viewing of the film. One explanation to this may be that the plot of this film is rather complex for a Laurel & Hardy-vehicle (or for a 73-minute-long comedy film in general), making a viewer more apt to recall the significant turning points in the story rather than stand-alone sequences. The two sets of Laurel and Hardys make the tale somewhat hard to follow at times, if one doesn't pay quite enough attention; especially so towards the end of the film, where even Stan and Ollie themselves, still unaware that their twin brothers are very much alive, mistake the other's brother for being his own pal. Wow, I get somewhat confused myself, just trying to write about this. However, it could be argued that a somewhat complicated plot was required for in order to do this kind of film; more simple, traditional Laurel & Hardy-predicaments would possibly not have justified, in the eyes of the public, the somewhat obvious device of serving the duo with a set of "doppelgangers." In any case, I find it quite fascinating how Laurel & Hardy, throughout their 13-year long stint as a team at Hal Roach's studio, made a point of often experimenting with their own concept; in an earlier film, the two-reeler BRATS, they were blessed with offspring completely identical to themselves, while in another short, TWICE TWO, they have taken the bold (?) step of marrying each other's strikingly similar, respective sisters! I guess it was just a matter of time before twin brothers had to be brought to the table, and the feature-length format does justice to the idea, whereas the plot of the aforementioned two-reelers would have come across as way too cartoonish for a journey of six reels.In sum, though I've come to regard the more gentle WAY OUT WEST as perhaps my favorite feature of the boys in recent years, OUR RELATIONS still holds up as one of their better longer adventures; accolades should also be paid to James Finlayson, playing his usual, unforgettable villainous type ("I wouldn't say YES and I wouldn't say NO!"), as well as Alan Hale as the waiter and Arthur Housman as the "drunkard" (just try watching the scene in the telephone booth without laughing!). Though research will tell us that this film was not so literally a "Stan Laurel Production" as indicated in the opening credits, it is clear that the boys still had a great degree of creative control at this point.

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Neil Doyle

It's a good half-hour before this LAUREL & HARDY feature goes into gear because it's a little more plot heavy than usual. "Here's another nice mess you got me into," wails Ollie when their plans to go on the town on shore leave are thwarted by a crooked mate who steals their money (JAMES FINLAYSON). The merry mix-up starts when the boy's twin brothers decide to go to the same beer garden they just exited.Waiter ALAN HALE has a good line waiting for them when the twin brothers arrive at his beer garden. "I know what you boys will have," he tells them sarcastically. IRIS ADRIAN, as one of the girls the sailor boys picked up, confuses the other twins for the guys that stood them up. And so it goes. Alan Hale returns the diamond ring the sailors left for security, but to the wrong hands.The wives, who know nothing about the boys having a twin brother, walk off in a huff when the misunderstandings keep piling up. The twin theme really gets a workout with a lot of gags and ALAN HALE is especially good as the exasperated waiter at the beer garden.If you're a Laurel and Hardy fan, this one is highly recommended for some good chuckles.

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Michael_Elliott

Our Relations (1936) *** (out of 4) All hell breaks loose in a case of mistaken identity when Laurel and Hardy's twins show up. This isn't nearly their best film but there are plenty of laughs throughout the short running time. The segments inside the bar are the highlights but I think the film would have been even better had L&H played the twins differently.Oliver the Eighth (1934) *** (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy short has Hardy answering an ad in the paper by a woman looking for a husband. What he doesn't know is that she's a psychotic who will murder anyone named Oliver. Again, not too many laughs here but the thing remains entertaining anyways. The gag with the hand under the covers is certainly the highlight.

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maxcellus46

At this point in the history of Hal Roach Studios, Mr. Roach wanted to progress beyond the "two reeler" concepts and begin to compete with MGM and the other large studios by making feature films exclusively. His main concept was to produce what he termed "streamlined" comedies which would run just about an hour or a little more. The purpose being that he could produce feature length films on a shoestring budget and therefore be more competitive with the large studios. Not a bad idea, in concept. With "Our Relations" Stan Laurel wanted to show that if Roach would allow them to spend more money on production, that he and Ollie could make "A" grade comedies instead of just the quicky type two-reelers. Stan produced this film and the next one to follow, "Way Out West", and it shows what he had been after for a very long time. "Our Relations" is a breezy, fast paced comedy that shows L&H not only capable of the 'ol slapstick bits but also most capable of handling situational comedy as the type Cary Grant and other similar stars were performing at this time. There's lots of original gags and lines in this film demonstrating the apt writing of one of the old masters by this time, Felix Adler, who also wrote for numerous Three Stooges shorts. In a way I'm saddened by this film because it was one of the very few times in L&H's careers that production values were not a concern and they obviously had absolute creative control over their performances. It's a shame that Hal Roach didn't appreciate them enough to keep them on past 1940 and continue with their logical progress toward even greater things. Had he done that, there would have been much more to enjoy from them and maybe they might have even given Abbott & Costello a real run for their money. Whatever the case, if you enjoy L&H, don't miss this one!

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