Future Film Ideas Spawned From This Short

Stan and Ollie's getaway at the end of the film

Alley way at 2914 West 8th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Oliver Hardy, Kay Deslys, Anita Garvin, Stan Laurel, and Tiny Sandford in Their Purple Moment (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Habeas Corpus (1928)

Oliver Hardy, Anita Garvin, and Stan Laurel in From Soup to Nuts (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Should Married Men Go Home? (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in You're Darn Tootin' (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in The Finishing Touch (1928)

Oliver Hardy, Jean Harlow, and Stan Laurel in Double Whoopee (1929)

Oliver Hardy, Mae Busch, Edgar Kennedy, Stan Laurel, and Thelma Todd in Unaccustomed As We Are (1929)

Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, and Stan Laurel in Leave 'em Laughing (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in We Faw Down (1928)

Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and Vivien Oakland in We Faw Down (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Vera White in We Faw Down (1928)

Bess Flowers, Stan Laurel, and Vivien Oakland in We Faw Down (1928)

Oliver Hardy and Vivien Oakland in We Faw Down (1928)

Oliver Hardy, Bess Flowers, Stan Laurel, and Vivien Oakland in We Faw Down (1928)

Stan Laurel

Oliver Hardy

Vivien Oakland

H.M. Walker

Stan &amp; Ollie attempt to fool their wives by sneaking out to a poker game, but instead get involved with two flirty ladies, one of whom is the girlfriend of a jealous boxer.

Leo McCarey

We Faw Down

If Ralph Kramden &amp; Ed Norton had been around in 1928

This is a fairly obscure Laurel &amp; Hardy comedy which deserves to be better known, for while it&apos;s no masterpiece it is quite funny and entertaining, as well as unusual in some respects. We Faw Down is one of the earliest explorations of Stan &amp; Ollie&apos;s relationships with their wives, and in 1933 it would serve as a blue-print for their best Battle of the Sexes feature, Sons of the Desert. It plays rather like a silent version of &quot;The Honeymooners.&quot; Imagine Ralph Kramden &amp; Ed Norton in this scenario: the boys tell their wives a fib in order to sneak out and play poker, but en route to the game they manage to get entangled with a boxer&apos;s flirty girlfriend; later, after narrowly escaping from the murderous boxer, they make matters worse for themselves by blatantly lying about the whole episode to their wives, who are now furious. The Gleason &amp; Carney parallel with Laurel &amp; Hardy has long been noticed, but it&apos;s especially apparent here, although in Laurel &amp; Hardy&apos;s world it appears that forgiveness and understanding are harder to come by than in the Kramdens&apos; apartment: at the end of this film, Mrs. Hardy is chasing the guys through an alley with a shotgun, firing at them. It&apos;s hard to imagine Alice Kramden doing that.

At any rate, what we have here is a Roaring Twenties sitcom, nicely photographed (by George Stevens, no less), smoothly directed (by Leo McCarey, no less), and beautifully well acted by the entire cast, Stan and Ollie in particular. At their best, Laurel &amp; Hardy are so natural we don&apos;t even think of them as actors, but what better definition is there of first-rate acting? As actors playing off each other, the guys are at the top of their game in this short. Watch the interplay of their facial expressions in the opening scene as they conspire to fool their wives -- they couldn&apos;t fool grade school kids, but it&apos;s fun to watch them attempt to be sly. And later, when the boys are semi-innocently ensnared by two good time gals, there is a delightful extended sequence in which Stan is playfully tormented by the boxer&apos;s girlfriend, to his mounting annoyance and Ollie&apos;s growing amusement.

This is where the film gets into unusual territory, at least for viewers accustomed to the later, more child-like Laurel &amp; Hardy. Although their characterizations are essentially in place in this early short, Stan and Ollie are distinctly more grown-up in their response to the sordid situation they get themselves into; they&apos;re simpletons to be sure, but grown-ups nonetheless. They&apos;re not entirely innocent, and they exchange wicked conspiratorial grins throughout. Even in the final sequence, when their story unravels and they stand revealed as liars, they can barely conceal their impish amusement over the whole thing -- and that&apos;s something you won&apos;t find later on, as they became more infantile and more fearful of their wives. They do pay for their misbehavior here, but at least they get some kicks along the way, and that&apos;s kind of a treat. You might say that We Faw Down presents Laurel &amp; Hardy at their naughtiest.

Casting Note: In this film Mrs. Laurel is played by Bess Flowers, later to become famous -- to movie buffs, that is -- as the Queen of the Hollywood Extras. She appeared in scores of movies throughout the entire Golden Age of the studio system, usually as an elegantly attired dress extra. (Just check out this woman&apos;s filmography, it&apos;s amazing!) We Faw Down provides Ms. Flowers with a rare opportunity to play comedy in a featured role, and gives viewers a rare chance to get a look at this attractive lady for more than a few seconds. It&apos;s nice to see that she could hold her own with two of the top comedians in the business.

If Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton had been around in 1928

This is a fairly obscure Laurel & Hardy comedy which deserves to be better known, for while it's no masterpiece it is quite funny and entertaining, as well as unusual in some respects. We Faw Down is one of the earliest explorations of Stan & Ollie's relationships with their wives, and in 1933 it would serve as a blue-print for their best Battle of the Sexes feature, Sons of the Desert. It plays rather like a silent version of "The Honeymooners." Imagine Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton in this scenario: the boys tell their wives a fib in order to sneak out and play poker, but en route to the game they manage to get entangled with a boxer's flirty girlfriend; later, after narrowly escaping from the murderous boxer, they make matters worse for themselves by blatantly lying about the whole episode to their wives, who are now furious. The Gleason & Carney parallel with Laurel & Hardy has long been noticed, but it's especially apparent here, although in Laurel & Hardy's world it appears that forgiveness and understanding are harder to come by than in the Kramdens' apartment: at the end of this film, Mrs. Hardy is chasing the guys through an alley with a shotgun, firing at them. It's hard to imagine Alice Kramden doing that.

At any rate, what we have here is a Roaring Twenties sitcom, nicely photographed (by George Stevens, no less), smoothly directed (by Leo McCarey, no less), and beautifully well acted by the entire cast, Stan and Ollie in particular. At their best, Laurel & Hardy are so natural we don't even think of them as actors, but what better definition is there of first-rate acting? As actors playing off each other, the guys are at the top of their game in this short. Watch the interplay of their facial expressions in the opening scene as they conspire to fool their wives -- they couldn't fool grade school kids, but it's fun to watch them attempt to be sly. And later, when the boys are semi-innocently ensnared by two good time gals, there is a delightful extended sequence in which Stan is playfully tormented by the boxer's girlfriend, to his mounting annoyance and Ollie's growing amusement.

This is where the film gets into unusual territory, at least for viewers accustomed to the later, more child-like Laurel & Hardy. Although their characterizations are essentially in place in this early short, Stan and Ollie are distinctly more grown-up in their response to the sordid situation they get themselves into; they're simpletons to be sure, but grown-ups nonetheless. They're not entirely innocent, and they exchange wicked conspiratorial grins throughout. Even in the final sequence, when their story unravels and they stand revealed as liars, they can barely conceal their impish amusement over the whole thing -- and that's something you won't find later on, as they became more infantile and more fearful of their wives. They do pay for their misbehavior here, but at least they get some kicks along the way, and that's kind of a treat. You might say that We Faw Down presents Laurel & Hardy at their naughtiest.

Casting Note: In this film Mrs. Laurel is played by Bess Flowers, later to become famous -- to movie buffs, that is -- as the Queen of the Hollywood Extras. She appeared in scores of movies throughout the entire Golden Age of the studio system, usually as an elegantly attired dress extra. (Just check out this woman's filmography, it's amazing!) We Faw Down provides Ms. Flowers with a rare opportunity to play comedy in a featured role, and gives viewers a rare chance to get a look at this attractive lady for more than a few seconds. It's nice to see that she could hold her own with two of the top comedians in the business.

Stan & Ollie attempt to fool their wives by sneaking out to a poker game, but instead get involved with two flirty ladies, one of whom is the girlfriend of a jealous boxer.

bappamtv

We Faw Down

🎭 Top Cast

🎬 Technical Specs

🏷️ Keywords

🎯 Categories

⭐ Featured Review

💡 Did You Know?

🎬 More Like This

📖 Synopsis