That's That!

UNAVAILABLE ON DVD

The following observations are from Our Gang historian Matthew Lydick with additional observations from ANM's collaborator Jesse Brisson. Screenshots by DLH. We open with the MGM lion, who first roars, and then meows. Fade to the opening title cards, which are awfully similar to the ones used in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. This has led to a theory that "That's That!" was perhaps a working title for TL-HMC. The music, I believe, is a stock tune used in the late silent and early sound Roach shorts. We then hear a snippet of "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean" from a marching band. Ham Kinsey, Stan Laurel's stunt double, is seen on the set of Way Out West reading Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Sammy Brooks can also be seen hanging out in the background of these shots. As he begins, we briefly see a man opening a door and stopping into a room. Was this shot from one of the Pitts/Todd/Kelly shorts? It looks vaguely familiar? As Ham reads, we occasionally cut to other clips. There's a close-up of Jimmy Finlayson on the set of Way Out West in what appears to be unused footage. Similar shots with Stanley Fields, with Stan and Babe are shown, and again with Finlayson are shown. This all looks like "waiting for my cue" footage. Kinsey finishes, and the band returns. We're treated to a shot of Tiny Sandford as the sheriff in Way Out West Hardcore fans will know that Sandford was originally cast in that film, but was quickly replaced by Stanley Fields. Fittingly, this shot of Sanford is fittingly replaced by a similar one with Fields. The aforementioned band is represented through an unused shot from Beau Hunks. This music is replaced by audio of L&H's street performance in Below Zero. I'm not sure if this is taken directly from the film, or if it was some sort of rehearsal track. Footage (possibly alternate?) of the Boys sitting on a dock from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case is shown. Included is what looks like an unused shot of water below the dock. Once the music stops, occasional horn sound effects can be heard. Ollie reads the newspaper info on Ebeneezer Laurel. A brief bit of Dance of the Cuckoo is heard as Stan begins reading the paper. Cut to a closeup of Stan mouthing the words on the paper. Played over this is what sounds like two audio tracks of someone speaking in faux Japanese. More Roach sound effects - a slide whistle and a "thump," and birds and geese singing - are heard as L&H exchange glances Stan speaks - "Three million dollars. Is that as much as a thousand?" Not included in this version of "That's That" is Ollie responding to Stan in Spanish, and Stan responding with a "gee whiz!" before the two leave the dock. A bit of "We're Out for Fun" is played. Inter-titles from Pardon Us are shown - "Mr. Hardy is a man of wonderful ideas. So is Mr. Laurel - as long as he doesn't try to think." Cut to the Boys standing outside of their apartments in Sons Of The Desert. The music has stopped. Ollie tells Stan to let his wife know about going to the convention. Cut to an establishing shot of Ebeneeer's Laurel's home. Smile When the Raindrops Fall plays. Cut to the Boys outside of the Culpepper home in From Soup To Nuts. We're Out for Fun returns to the soundtrack. A shot of the maid walking around inside is shown after Ollie knocks on the door. Stan takes a peek inside. Cut to a shot of a woman in a bathtub, from Stan's POV. As Stan motions to Ollie to have a look, a voice (Bert Jordan?) says, "Mr. Currier." Another shot of the woman in the tub appears before Ollie motions for Stan to step aside. Cut to what appears to be the Culpepper's maid walking in reverse, and then a shot of what might be a cop. Ants (Hurry) plays over the scene. Back to the YouTube footage, and back in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case the Boys are inside Ebeneezer's home. Ollie prepares to leave, Stan calls him back, and offers and umbrella. The footage appears to be taken directly from the film, but stock music from the late 20s Roach films occasionally underscores the scene. (Note: the longer cut not posted by UCLA opens with Ollie complimenting the "beautiful home" Ebeneezer had and goes through the entire exchange with Stan wanting everything for himself). After Ollie says he's going to half of everything that's coming to Stan, we cut to a shot of Mae Busch saying "oh, nuts" on the set of Sons Of The Desert. It could be an outtake of Mae reacting to a muffed line. An instrumental of the "Snake Charmer" song is played as we see a woman (who?) in bed. Back to the previous scene from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. Stan and Ollie appear to be approaching the woman. She ruffles up her bedcovers while stock audio of a woman screaming for help is heard. Cut to what appears to be a series of deleted shots. First one is of one of the Arabs from Beau Hunks. Next is Ollie from the third reel of Laughing Gravy then Stan getting ready to enter the Hardy apartment during scene where Ollie feigns illness. A shot of Fin standing by a wall inside of a home. I don’t know what this is from. It looks like the outfit he wore in Another Fine Mess sans top hat. Shown next is a shot of Mae Busch from what seems to be an unused alternate scene from “Sons of the Desert” where the Boys are confronted by their wives about attending the convention. There’s some unused footage of the hula girls from Sons Of The Desert and then shot of Stan and Ollie in Mr. Miggs’ office in Bonnie Scotland. A shot of a couple dancing (the woman dances rather seductively) is shown. The male dancer is Gordon Douglas. In the second shot of this you can barely make out Baldwin Cooke at fartest left. Stan and Ollie look at each other in separate shots from Reel 3 of Laughing Gravy the dancing couple returns, Finlayson appears on the “Way Out West” set, and the Boys make a rather awkward exit from a “Bonnie Scotland” shot. Again, all appear to be unused shots. An instrumental of the Sons Of The Desert theme song plays over this montage. Back to The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case; the Boys meet Detective Fred Kelsey, who asks Stan if he is really a Laurel. Rather than a portrait of General Grant, one of Stan’s Uncle in Bonnie Scotland is shown. A couple of other deleted shots are shown – one of Ollie in Any Old Port! and one of Kelsey in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. An odd organ piece is played over these brief clips. Back to The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case yet again. Ollie brings up the will to Kelsey, who mentions the murder of Ebeneezer. Some effective music is played after Kelsey reveals this information. After Kelsey says that “the criminal always returns to the scene of his crime,” we cut to Frank Austin leading the Boys into the guest room. One of the old late ‘20s tunes is heard on the soundtrack. A brief unused take of Charlie Hall in bed from Laughing Gravy is cut in at one point. Also shown is an unused shot of Jiggs the Chimpanzee (as Mr. Hardy) in Dirty Work. Cut to Ollie running out of frame in an alternate take from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. It sounds like someone dubbed their own yelling over this. Frank Austin peaks his head in through the door and his reveals his set of creepy teeth. This appears to be an alternate take, with the camera pulled away slightly. An unused shot of Charlie Hall getting out of bed in Laughing Gravy is shown, followed by Austin creepily leaving the Boys’ room in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. A shot of Stan peeking out of an attic window in SOns Of The Desert is shown. This appears to be from the unused ending. A radio is seen following onto the floor. I don’t know where this is from. Maybe more unused footage from Sons Of The Desert? Ollie is seen up in the attic from “Sons” in another deleted shot. More alternate takes from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. First is of Fred Kelsey sneaking about in the library. Then there is a shot of L&H reacting to Frank Austin. One other is from Noche de duended, and shows Alonzo Pedroza peeking through the curtains leading to the library. Stan and Ollie go to bed. Frank Austin stands around in the hallway. A couple of unused closeups of L&H in bed in Laughing Gravy follow. An unused shot of Babe London in her bedroom in Our Wife appears next. The sound of wind whistling is heard. Another unused shot of L&H in bed in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case has what sounds almost like a toilet flushing played over the soundtrack. The stock music returns and is followed by an unused shot of Finlayson preparing to leave his bedroom in Our Wife. More unused takes from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. Stan holds a candle in bed. A couple (Dorothy Granger is the girl) runs down the hallway of the mansion. Frightened Stan and Ollie sit up in bed. An alternate take of Finlayson entering Babe London’s bedroom in Our Wife follows. Xylophone music is played over an unused shot of Stan listening in on Ollie’s phone conversation through the door in Our Wife, and then over a deleted scene of Professor Lucien Littlefield reacting to Ollie the Chimp in Dirty Work. What sounds like Patsy Kelly screaming is played over the latter clip. An alternate take of Finlayson (or rather his stunt double David Sharpe) tripping down a flight of stairs in Our Wife follows. Loud crashing sound effect are heard as Charlie Hall looks up at the ceiling in yet another alternate take from Laughing Gravy. Downstairs in the Laurel mansion, Detective Kelsey tells his men to keep their eyes open. I don’t think this is in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, but I could be wrong. More alternate takes – Stan and Ollie in bed in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, Babe London heading downstairs after locking Finlayson in her room in Our Wife, Ollie looking up from a window in Laughing Gravy A shot of an animated ostrich is shown. This was part of a deleted first reel from Any Old Port!. Mechanical sounding noises are heard over this shot. Even more alternate takes. Kelsey chews on his cigar in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. Stan and Ollie bump heads in Laughing Gravy There’s a shot of June Lang in Bonnie Scotland. Back to the alternate takes – Ollie peeks into the hallway in The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case,” Stan jumps into bed with Ollie (also from The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case), Ollie reacts with disgust in County Hospital, Finlayson rushes out of his room in Our Wife while saying “D’oooooh!” The topless woman appears before we go back to Our Wife and Fin running back into his room. “Hollywood Kate” plays as we get another “L-H Murder Case” alternate shot of Kelsey. A dazed-looking Phyllis Barry sits on a floor (possibly from “The Infernal Triangle”?), Austin peaks out again and Pedroza peaks in again. An extended shot of Charles Dorety knocking on the Boys’ door in “Laughing Gravy” is shown next. Old stock music returns. More unused reactions from Kelsey and Hall, and one from Ollie in “Sons of the Desert.” Unused shots of Bobby Burns in the library and Kelsey watching him in “Murder Case” follow. A sinister-looking man is seen. He appears to be from whatever short the dazed woman was from. Stan an Ollie creep around the Ebeneezer Laurel mansion in another unused shot. A shot of a bell ringing is shown. May be an unused shot from “Any Old Port.” A shot of Alonzo Pedrosa as the detective in “Noches de Duendes” follows. The bell continues ringing. Fred Kelsey answers a telephone, and then says “goddammit” before hanging up and returning to his previous position. Two more alternate shots from “Murder Case” are shown. First Ollie wrestles with the lamp, and then the Boys are chased downstairs by the bat. A blooper from “Manhattan Monkey Business” appears next, with Charley Chase, Jean De Briac, and Marcelle Corday. Chase says, “Aw, shut up! Goddammit, look what I am!” De Briac and Corday start to crack up. The alternate take with the bat from “Murder Case” resumes. Stock audio of Babe screaming follows. Another unused Charlie shot from “Laughing Gravy” is shown. .” A voice says, “You got me” over a shot of a cop. The cop looks like Leo Sulky? It’s presumably from the same clip used in the “missing” footage mentioned higher up. Next is an unused shot of Stan running out of the closet in “Any Old Port, which is followed by audio of Russ Powell making weird noises. Powell’s audio continues over an unused shot of Hardy resting in “Sons of the Desert” and a clip of the skeleton dance from “Our Gang Follies of 1936.” Gun shots and alarms (possibly audio from “Pardon Us”) is heard over an alternate take of Hardy beating up on Dell Henderson in “Murder Case.” A voice that could possibly be Mr. Roach’s says “what the hell are you trying to do?” The Boys wrestle each other into the water, as seen at the end of “Murder Case.” The film ends with a blooper from The Boy Friends short “Bigger and Better.” Edgar Kennedy and Dave Sharpe sit in an office. Kennedy says, “Well, cut the damn thing.” A title card reading “La fin” closes the short.

REVIEW CONTINUED...

Facts • This was a compilation of footage, out-takes and bloopers assembled and cut together by Hal Roach's editor Bert Jordan and presented to Stan Laurel for his 47th birthday in 1937. The original film then presided with Stan's daughter Lois for the remainder of her life. Recently, the UCLA used funding and generous donations to restore the film, though not all of it was made available for public viewing. What the experts say • "The obscurity of this short film will no doubt lend some justification to the interest in those fans who haven't yet seen it who very much want to. And when they have seen it they will wonder what all the fuss was about." ~ Lord Heath.

	Stan Laurel Himself
	Ham Kinsey Himself

UNIDENTIFIED CAST

Acknowledgements: Tommie Hicks (help) Matthew Lydick (complete review, published 10 May 2018) Jesse Brisson (additional help, inserted into review) This page was last updated on: 10 May 2018