Maybe Laurel and Hardy can't do with out each other's company, but their wives are getting tired of it. Watching this I was reminded how in Goodfellas the wives of the wiseguys as well as them always socialized within the group.So one night Stan and Linda Lorado come calling on the Hardys and Mrs. Hardy played by Gertrude Astor says pretend we're not at home. I can't say how the subterfuge was foiled, but it was Laurel in his own innocent way and this particular gag is a great example of how Ollie always thinks of himself as so much smarter than Stan but he really isn't.Well once inside the boys discover there's not enough ice cream so off they go to get some. On the way back they save a drowning Mae Busch and Stan nearly kills Ollie doing it. Another bit you have to see. Busch is no innocent, she insinuates herself with the boys looking to play a variety of the old badger game. The rest is indescribable and indescribably funny. As usual Laurel innocently comes out on top. But in this short Ollie does have the last word, though it might be a four letter one.A must for Stan and Ollie fans.

James W. Horne does what he does best as a director of Laurel and Hardy shorts with Come Clean, a spry comedic short, which is erect a story and short film on the opportunities that naturally arise from situational comedy. His directorial style, combined with H.M. Walker's writing, is often comprised of coming up with a ridiculous story and continuing to feed its inanity by seeing just how far one could take it. This results in a short that is more than just endless bouts of physical comedy with no real humor whatsoever, but a showcase of two charismatic comedy talents and a screen writing exercise that serves as a fulfilling laugh-riot.Come Clean may not live up to Horne's other Laurel and Hardy shorts, like Big Business and Thicker Than Water, but there is still an incomparable amount of energy and liveliness within the screenplay and the characters. The short begins by Mr. and Mrs. Hardy wishing they could have a restful, quiet evening in their apartment, but are interrupted, per usual, by the well-meaning but troublemaking Mr. and Mrs. Laurel. After trying to refuse entry, the Hardy's give up and decide to let them in, to which Laurel replies by hanging with his old pal Hardy and the wives are left to mingle in the frontroom. When Laurel and Hardy decide to venture out to get ice cream, they wind up preventing a woman from committing suicide off a bridge, to which she is ungrateful and begins making threats to both men if they dare leave her company. What results is a manic evening between the two men and the shrewish woman, as they try to get back to their wives for a dinner, while preventing the woman from screaming whenever she is unsatisfied with what's happening.This is the first Laurel and Hardy short I've encountered where little sense is made in regards to the short's narrative or its cause-and-effect relationship. Why would this woman try and commit suicide? Was it all just a ploy to get the attention of someone she could blackmail? Why are Laurel and Hardy's wives so bitter and shrewish themselves? Writer H.M. Walker doesn't concern himself with that information so much as he does try his best to quietly obscure details by making such a ridiculous and wild short film, one that operates with the one-thing-leads-to-another formula of early comedy filmmaking, without so much as clearing up why one thing leads to another.It's all in the name of comedy, and in that spirit, Come Clean is pretty funny, especially during the last ten minutes of its nineteen-minute runtime, where, per usual, all hell breaks loose and Laurel and Hardy are left to their own thoughtful wits, as lackluster as those often are. Come Clean provides for fun and enjoyment, which is precisely what most of these shorts have been giving me, so far.Starring: Stan Laurel and Olive Hardy. Directed by: James W. Horne.

The beginning of this film is an almost exact copy of SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME, as Ollie and his wife are trying to spend a quiet evening ALONE, but Stanley (and in this case with his wife) show up unannounced. Ollie and his wife hide and pretend they aren't home, but to no avail. Then, you soon notice that Ollie's wife is a pretty bossy and mean piece of work and she begins nagging him unmercifully. Stan wants ice cream, so he and Ollie leave to bring some back for everyone. On the way back, they catch a woman who appears to be trying to drown herself. Instead of being grateful, she is a major pest who follows them home and tries to make their lives miserable (a rather unbelievable turn of events, I know). And the last portion of the film consists of the boys trying in vain to stop this woman from revealing herself to the wives.As far as the film goes, it's funny stuff, but also pretty forced. It's awfully familiar and ordinary. Not a bad film, but also not particularly memorable.

Tiny problem with most Laurel & Hardy movies is that most of them have some weaker scene's and moments in them. "Come Clean" however is a wonderful exception to this and it's a movie that manages to stay consistent throughout its entire running time.All of the sequences are very well constructed and are highly amusing. Also some of the slapstick moments are not original but certainly entertaining. The movie also has some great comical spoken lines, which mainly involves Stan Laurel.Also Mae Busch shows her comical talent and her character gets the boys into some serious hilarious trouble. Mae Busch appeared also in several other comical Laurel & Hardy short's such as "Them Thar Hills", "Oliver the Eighth" and "Unaccustomed As We Are".One of the better Laurel & Hardy comical short's.9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/