Twice Two

source: Twice Two

In this one, Stan marrie Ollie's sister, played by Ollie in drag, and Ollie marries Stand's sister, played by Stan in drag. There's a camaraderie in the way Stan and Ollie behave that says they are still friends; even when they lose their tempers and strike each other, they are still friends. Somehow when they do it as women, it seems far more vicious and permanent. Is this because the voices are provided by helium-voiced Carol Tevis and dowager-like May Wallace? Or do the Boys act differently when they are girls? One doesn't think of Laurel and Hardy as actors, but performers of gags. The truth is that comic acting is straight acting..... and more.

I found this L&H comedy short to be among their funnier ones. They boys also play their look-alike sisters, in drag, with their female voices dubbed. Mary Wallace dubbed for Ollie( as Mrs. Laurel), while Carol Trevis dubbed for Stan(as Mrs. Hardy). I found the dubbing quality to be good, with Stan's sister(Sandy) having a squeaky voice, while Ollie's sister(Fanny) had a strong lower voice. The 2 couples were married together on the same day, exactly one year ago. Hence, they plan a small celebration. Instead of going out to eat, Fanny says she will prepare a splendid meal at home, topped by a big bought cake. Well, you can well guess the fate of the cake. In fact, there are 2 cakes, one destroyed near the beginning, while the other is destroyed in the last scene, after Sandy and Fanny had been verbally fighting, and the Hardys were about to leave. They were supposed to also get some ice cream , but Stan spent his $0.15 on phone calls ,to tell the store didn't have that flavor. After his $0.15 was spent, the salesman emphasized that he didn't sell ice cream! .......Early on, the boys have a phone dual, as Stan sent something through his phone to make Ollie's phone jump off. So, Ollie sent something through his phone to make Stan's phone smoke. Stan then poured some water in his phone that squirted out Ollie's phone. Ollie put some ink in his phone that squirted himself in the face. Yes, very silly! ......Ollie had several run ins with doors. One left his pants ripped in front, which Stan tried to cover up. Then, he was hit by the swinging kitchen door, and retaliated by pushing it hard, knocking his wife to the other side of the kitchen. Then, when Stan used the knocker on the front door too vigorously, the window blind rolled up, and a picture near Ollie fell off the wall.......Of course, Stan dressed in drag for parts of a couple other films, usually as a maid. But. I'm not aware on any other film in which Ollie dressed in drag.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful. Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Twice Two' quite one of their very best, but it to me still very good. Admittedly, the story is pretty thin and is pretty standard and the beginning is a touch slow. The dubbing has also been criticised by a few for understandable reasons, it jars a bit. Despite that, 'Twice Two' is great fun while also having a definite degree of substance, never less than very amusing and the best moments, like with the ice cream and the phone calls, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. Seeing the two in drag is great fun and nowhere near as tiresome as it sounds, while Laurel and the ice cream is even funnier. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Twice Two' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable, especially Laurel as Hardy's wife. 'Twice Two' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. Concluding, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy reached their creative best with Twice Two where they their usual selves and female counterparts. It seems as though Stan and Ollie have married each other's sister and both think it was a great idea as it cements the relationship of the two. They might have to rethink the notion as a family dinner at the Laurels proves a disaster. The female Ollie falls into a cake during the preparation. There's also a great gag with simply Stan using Ollie's key to open the front door. I won't say more but I think it's a tribute to both of them, especially Stan the creative one that they could get so many laughs with a simple act all of us but shut-ins do nearly every day. Of course with the female personas half the credit should go to the actresses who provided the voices for the characters. May Wallace for Stan and Carol Tevis for Ollie perfectly match those familiar bodies in drag. Offspring from these unions would be called double cousins. Just think what those kids might be like.

The boys marry the sisters of their partner. So Ollie is Stan's wife (in drag of course) and vice versa. The women have the same personalities as their brothers (make sense?) and so they have some of the same issues as the boys. Since it is their first anniversary, the ladies decide to have a party rather than go out. Nothing goes right, including Hardy's sister getting a cake in the face. The funniest scene involves Stanley going to the corner to get some ice cream and some phone calls he has to make because the store doesn't have the flavors they are looking for (for obvious reasons, which I won't let on). The strength of this hilarious little episode is the intersection among the "four" characters. Wonderful stuff.

"Oh, Fanny!" "What do you want?" With this overly dramatic simple line of dialog, we meet Mrs. Laurel and Mrs. Hardy, the frazzled wives of Laurel and Hardy who live together but can't stand each other. Years ago, Stanley married Ollie's sister, and vice versa. The fact that Laurel and Hardy not only play themselves but each other's wives is an automatically hysterical, and the fact that the women are obviously not palsy/walsy like the boys sets up the plot for a ton of verbal and visual gags. The slight plot premise is that it is both of their anniversaries (double ceremony, you know...) and the domineering Mrs. Laurel (complete with the voice of a mature Olivia de Havilland) insists that the two couples spend a quiet evening at home. The preparations for the dinner go awry when Fanny gets more than she bargained for with the cake, a hysterical sight gag involving a painting of British royalty. Then, there's Laurel's attempts to buy ice cream, Mrs. Hardy's request for horse's radish and Mrs. Laurel's reaction to a blow of pepper from the vindictive Mrs. Hardy. While there are other Laurel and Hardy shorts which are more famous (most obviously the Oscar Winning "The Music Box"), "Twice Two" is hysterically funny because it thrives on farce rather than the dark comedy of many of their earlier shorts. It is too bad that they never repeated the roles of the wives, although drag was definitely a sight gag that had been a part of their schtick for years, as well as the subtle gay undertones that may not have entered their minds at the time that they were making these films but was obviously there before the entrance of the production code. This makes a great double bill with "Brats" where they play themselves as adults and their bratty children.

There are certain clichés that almost every comedian has done some time. One of them is dressing as the opposite sex and in this film you get to see how well Laurel & Hardy manage to entertain as ladies. The best individual concept in this bit is the fact that the pair has married each others sisters, who both "unfortunately" look like their brothers. Mr Hardy is very "Ollie" when he even states about his wedding day "It was the happiest day of my life." The best in this film are the insults that the two "ladies" present to each other. Some people might not necessarily find the insults enjoyable, but they are definitely something you never hear in other Laurel & Hardy films. Not their best film, but despite the possible not-very-good-taste element, among the funniest "men as women" flicks ever.

"Twice Two" is an American 20-minute live action short film from 1933, so this one has its 85th anniversary this year and to show you how old it is let me say that even a decade after this one was released, World War II was still going on in full force. So it is a black-and-white movie of course and you should not be fooled by the color versions out there. It is already a sound film though, so not from the very early days of comedy duo Laurel & Hardy. The director is James Parrott, who worked with these two on many occasions. The main reason to see this one is that Laurel and Hardy also play their own sisters in drag in this one, who are at the same time each other's wives. The voice acting comes from female actors though. I personally would say that Hardy mastered the silent drag part better, but Laurel is fine too. This felt really strange watching them like that, especially in the second half where they are together having dinner and it results in pretty tumultous events, not only involving a huge cake. I guess you know what happens with this one. Overall, I must say though that I wasn't too entertained seeing this one here. It was more the bizarre elements that kept me watching rather than the story or characters, even if the "bizarre" obviously refers to the latter. All in all, nowhere near my fav Stan and Ollie works. Extraordinary yes. Good not so much, even if the 2 (4?) elevate the material here too. The story may be the problem. This one here gets a thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.

. . . TWICE TWO bravely explored the conundrum of Human Sexuality's ever-lengthening continuum in 1933. The People formerly known as Eskimos may have 78 native words for snow, but Masters & Johnson have unearthed at least twice that many for sexual orientation. It would be simple to say that "Four" is the best way to sum up TWICE TWO. However, if you hire 100 sexologists to audit the 20-minute running time of this live action short, they'll most likely give you 100 varying bottom lines. To put it another way, is a mister playing his sister married to his pal don't-ask-don't-tell? Though some might find it easy to dismiss this comedy team as a pair of transvestites, I don't think that hose always make the man. Rather than dwelling upon the ins and outs of cross-dressing, this piece may be more notable for the rare glimpse it provides of Oliver Hardy without his omnipresent Hitler mustache. (For some reason, the team felt that they could dispense with that distinctive trademark during the parts of TWICE TWO when Oliver was his sister Fanny.)