Thicker than Water is a Laurel & Hardy sound short film released 16 March 1935.
Summary[]
Ollie's wife orders Stan and Ollie to wash the dishes. Stan dries them and puts them back in the bowl. Ollie then tells him to put them somewhere dry and he places them on a gas ring where they heat up, so that when Ollie picks them up he drops them and they all smash. The auction manager then calls to collect payment for some furniture. At Stan's suggestion, Ollie withdraws the couple's savings from the bank to buy furniture and inadvertently pays virtually the whole amount at the auction for a grandfather clock which is soon crushed under a passing truck. Awaiting the wrath of Mrs. Hardy back at home he tells Stan, "Here is another nice kettle of fish you've pickled me in."
Mrs. Hardy hits Ollie over the head with a frying pan, and he is rushed to hospital for a blood transfusion. The doctor conscripts Stan to be the unwilling blood donor, "What do you think I am, a blood worm?" During the transfusion, too much blood is pumped out of Stan and into Ollie, requiring some of the blood inside Ollie to be pumped into Stan. But too much blood gets pumped back into Stan, requiring another reversal, and so forth ... until the transfusion machine explodes. When Laurel and Hardy exit the hospital they appear to have morphed into each other. Ollie is minus his mustache and wearing Stan's hat and bow-tie, while Stan is wearing Ollie's hat, necktie and mustache. The two do spot-on imitations of each other's mannerisms. Ollie mimes Stan's famous befuddled head scratch while an exasperated Stan twiddles his tie in response and says, "Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" Ollie reacts by breaking into Stan's trademark cry for the comic fadeout. And after they said their goodbyes to the doctors as they leave the hospital, Oliver (as Stan) told Stan (as Oliver) "Wait a minute, I forgot something!" And it was pulling the end title screen.
Cast[]
- Stan Laurel as Stan
- Oliver Hardy as Ollie
- Daphne Pollard as Mrs. Daphne Hardy
- James Finlayson as Auction manager
- Harry Bowen as Auctioneer
- Ed Brandenburg as Bank teller
- Allan Cavan as Dr. F.D.Allen
- Baldwin Cooke as Hospital visitor
- Lester Dorr as Man at auction
- Bess Flowers as Nurse
- Gladys Gale as Auction bidder
- Grace Goodall as Nurse Goodall
- Charlie Hall as Bank teller
Gallery[]
