It seems right from the off that this is Hardy's film, with Stan taking a back-seat. There is an obvious affection from Stan towards Babe as he brushes off some dust from Hardy's uniform before Babe goes over the top. This is followed by a warm handshake. Nice.
Fast forward over 20 years and Stan hasn't aged a bit, apart from a silly drawn-on beard. Another point is all those tins of beans. He just happened to have a twenty-years supply of beans and they were still edible after all that time?
Oh I cannot even try to be polite here. Mrs. Hardy is ignorant, rude and just plain HORRIBLE. Her attitude stinks. At least with Mae Busch you enjoyed watching her, but Minna Gombell is just plain unlikeable. Period.
She acts as though she is the more important person in the relationship but her double standards are clear from the beginning. She expects Babe's respect yet offers him none when he attempts to engage her in conversation. As L&H fan Anthony Balducci puts it, "It could be that, without Laurel around, [Babe] became helplessly domesticated."
As the scene develops, Mrs. Hardy's character momentarily shows some warmth towards her obviously devoted husband before recoiling with scrooge-esque behaviour and offering him a mere two dollars allowance, which he almost has to beg for. Not the kind of wife I would want, thank you. Her arrogance and spoilt-brat attitude is one of a feeling of complete importance, and to the detriment to anyone she comes in contact with. To try and see this from her point of view; sure, she feels disrespected by her husband because he forgot their anniversary and therefore she tries to 'punish' him for his forgetfulness. But surely, she is no better than him for the way she behaves - like a child. I think though, the viewer-fans of Laurel and Hardy will care more for Hardy's character and sympathize with him.
In previous films, even though Hardy usually played a downtrodden husband, chained to feriocious women, such as Mae Bush, Blanche Payson or the loveable Isabelle Keith, at least audiences loved those female characters. They were nasty in a likeable way. Here, Minna Gombell plays her character as nasty in a mean way which doesn't warm herself to the viewer's affections! She has the personality of Jekyll & Hyde how she quickly changes from one emotion to the next. Her mood swings continue later in the film when she arrives home in a mood. Her passion and forgiving nature has the warmth of an ice-cube. Hell, you notice later on she even makes her husband sleep in a separate bed? Wow. That is MEAN. She is just never satisfied or happy, is she? I mean, with her it's any little thing; like forgetting an anniversary.... or blowing up the apartment.
Another unlikable character in Billy Gilbert's portrayal of the neighbour across the hall, Mr. Gilbert. His introduction after 10 minutes has him returning home from a hunting trip, suitcases in hands. He is rude right from the get go, by ignoring the innocent Mr. Hardy, not even saying hello to his own wife, and then acting as though the world owes him a favour by demanding to know "who was that snake?" Charming man. It doesn't take much working out that "control freak" means something to him. What exactly has he got to be miserable about anyway - look at his beautiful wife, who is 24 years his junior. Disgraceful.
A more elegant and beautiful lady you could ever hope to see on-screen, step forward Patricia Ellis. The complete opposite of Mrs. Hardy - both in looks, personality and in temperament. She appears calm, polite, friendly, welcoming and hospitable - all the things lacking from Mrs. Hardy's character. But what is the deal with her being married to someone like (or as old as) Billy Gilbert? Something not quite right there, but hey... that's her beeswax, isn't it?
