 According to a 1960s interview with Billy Gilbert for the Blackhawk  Films catalog, the object Laurel and Hardy had to carry up the  stairs was changed from a washing machine (in the earlier silent  version, "Hats Off") to a piano because a piano, while heavy and  massive, is also delicate. Gilbert also said that several dummy  pianos were made up for the film, and a number of them were  completely destroyed. He used a German accent in the film to avoid  confusion with James Finlayson and Edgar Kennedy, who also played  comic villains in Laurel and Hardy movies.