''Slipping Wives'' is a 1927 American silent short

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

starring

Priscilla Dean Priscilla Dean (November 25, 1896 – December 27, 1987) was an American actress popular in silent film as well as in theatre, with a career spanning two decades. Career Dean made her film debut at the age of fourteen in one-reelers for Biograph ...

with

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

, and Oliver Hardy prior to their official billing as the duo

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

Plot

Priscilla is married to an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

named Leon. However Leon has not been showing much interest in his

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

, so she hatches a plot to win back his

affection Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" commonly linked to a feeling or type of love. It has led to multiple branches in philosophy and psychology that discuss emotion, disease, influence, and state of being. Often, " ...

s. Ollie plays the

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

. Stan arrives at the door to sell

paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

and has a fight with Ollie. Priscilla employs Stan to "make love to her" and ensure Leon becomes jealous. Ollie has to wash and dress Stan and make him look presentable enough to fool Leon at a dinner party that night. Priscilla admits to Leon what she has done and he pulls a

gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

to teach the 'home-wrecker' a lesson. Leon corners Stan and admits he is just

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

to make Priscilla think he's really jealous. Ollie does not realise this and he chases Stan out of the house with a

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

. Ollie returns looking shaken. A

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

follows him and says "You nearly blew my brains out". Leon and Priscilla

hug A hug is a form of Affection, endearment, found in virtually all Communities, human communities, in which two or more people put their arms around the neck, back, under the armpits or waists of one another and hold each other closely. If more th ...

. Stan had been enthralling the party guests with a pantomine version of Samson and Delilah, ending with Samson pulling down the temple "and killing three thousand Philadelphians".

Cast

as Wife * Oliver Hardy as Butler *

as Ferdinand Flamingo * Herbert Rawlinson as Husband *

Albert Conti Albert Maroica Blasius Franz Maria, ''Ritter'' Conti von Cedassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), commonly known as Albert Conti, was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American actor. He was a member of the noble Kaboga family. Biograph ...

as Hon. Winchester Squirtz

Partial remake

''Slipping Wives'' was later reworked into the team's penultimate short film '' The Fixer Uppers'', made in 1935.

References

External links

* * *Fritzi Krammer
''Slipping Wives'' (1927): A Silent Film Review
1927 films 1927 comedy films 1927 short films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films Articles containing video clips English-language comedy short films Films directed by Fred Guiol Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker Laurel and Hardy (film series) Pathé Exchange films Silent American comedy short films Surviving American silent films {{short-silent-comedy-film-stub