Sugar Daddies (1927)

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Although they had appeared together in several films before this two-reeler was made, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were still a ways off from adopting the comic personas that made them famous. Here, the boys form a trio with James Finlayson, who lent them great support in later films. The picture… More Although they had appeared together in several films before this two-reeler was made, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were still a ways off from adopting the comic personas that made them famous. Here, the boys form a trio with James Finlayson, who lent them great support in later films. The picture opens with Finlayson playing millionaire Cyrus Brittle, who awakens with a hangover and no remembrance of the events from the night before. His butler (Hardy) informs him that apparently he has married some woman (Charlotte Mineau) who is waiting for him downstairs, along with her daughter (Edna Marian) and whacko brother (Noah Young). The new wife and in-laws are extortionists, plain and simple, so Brittle calls on his trusty attorney. Since the lawyer happens to be Stan Laurel, and he, Brittle and the butler all run away together, a melee is just about guaranteed. They hole up in a fancy seaside hotel, and news of their wild parties reach Brittle's unwelcome in-laws, who swoop in on their prey. The lawyer sees them in the lobby and he creates a disguise to evade them -- the butler appears with a queen-sized "wife," which is actually the lawyer sitting on Brittle's shoulders. The family, not one hundred percent fooled, follows this "couple," as does a policeman. All parties visit an amusement park, where the "wife" amazingly remains intact through a series of rides. Finally the disguised runaways are lost in the crowd, but the policeman sees a man in a bowler hat escorting a very tall lady. Convinced this is the trio, he lifts the woman's skirts. But it's a real woman, and she gives him a hearty sock in the eye. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi