Eh, sorry. Not a huge fan of this one. I do think it’s OK, but definitely a step down from the previous film.
My big issue is with the story itself. I don’t think it’s a good story at all. It has the same problem as the worse Abbott and Costello films in that Laurel and Hardy don’t feel that well integrated into it. Yes, they are friends with the romantic leads and try to help with selling the invention, but a good amount of time is also devoted to them trying to collect money to pay their rent and being scammed by gangsters claiming to sell insurance. The insurance angle does play somewhat of a role later in the story, but it’s a very loose connection and not worth the time devoted to the gangsters setting up the scam. I actually thought at first that the whole film would be about that.
On the plus side, Laurel and Hardy do feel like Laurel and Hardy through much of the film, though the lifted material from THICKER THAN WATER is really not changed at all from the original, the only “new” thing being Stan’s way to convince Ollie to take the money out. I’m also not particularly fond of the climax, either. Usually, I’m fine with these obviously cheap climaxes, but the fact that it doesn’t really build to much makes it feel unnecessary. The conflict has already been resolved, and it makes the decision to have these weird cuts of Stan getting hit in the head rather than just having him stuck on the bus with Ollie.
There still are funny scenes, though. Stan and Ollie getting ready for a fight, the scene where they’re stuck in a bedroom, Stan disguised as the inventor. There definitely was potential here, but it still doesn’t compare to much of the Roach films and the beginning of the movie is especially slow. The supporting cast is good enough, especially Margaret Dumont, but they just don’t have a whole lot to work with (Allan Lane as the villain has very little screen time, to the point where I’d forgotten about him when he returned for his final scene).
I can see why you like this film, metaldams. The romantic couple really isn’t all that intrusive and there still is fresh material that definitely fits Laurel and Hardy’s style. For me, though, it’s just such a jumbled mess that it’s hard for me to truly enjoy as much. JITTERBUGS, though not perfect, found a good way of mixing Laurel and Hardy with the plot so that things tied well together. Here, they’re the “supportive helpers” who just happen to have more screen time (again, much like Abbott and Costello, but they also were younger when making these kinds of films and sometimes their plots were a bit tighter). Some good laughs, but it was kind of hard to follow and just not as fun as some of the other stuff they’ve done.
6 out of 10
