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This was Laurel and Hardy's first feature film away from producer extraordinaire Hal Roach. While this is in no way Laurel and Hardy's best work, it still contains enough gags and silliness to entertain fans and the younger set. Stan Laurel is as sharp as always as is Babe Hardy but the story is somewhat lacking and drags in spots. The premise is good though: Trying to forget a woman who turned him down, Ollie wants to drown himself and convinces Stan that he must do the same. The boys meet an officer of the Foreign Legion who convinces them that they should join the Legion to help forget. Of course you know these two misfits are not going to do well in the Legion with its strict military code and constant marching. This leads to many good moments when, for example, the boys are forced to wash and press "a mountain" of laundry(literally). I especially liked the stunt flying and the surprise ending which, for me, wrapped everything up neatly. The part I really didn't like is having Ollie act like a simpering idiot when in love. It is just plain embarrassing. In their older films, they would get into bad situations but were never the objects of ridicule. Thankfully, this sequence passes by quickly enough and we go on to some great gags.

Sadly, the boys would end up making only one good film after this one (Saps at Sea)before moving to MGM and Fox where they were stuck in a bunch of bad or very average films.

It's pretty hard to sustain the Laurel and Hardy brand of humor for a full-length picture, but "Flying Deuces" does so pretty well. Not all of it maintains the pace or the level of their best short features, but there some good scenes and some fine moments that reflect the comic duo near the peak of their form.

The story tries to squeeze as much as possible from Stan and Ollie joining the Foreign Legion in order to help Ollie forget his troubles. Though there is plenty of action and a variety of settings, the best scenes are still the ones with the two of them by themselves, when their timing and teamwork can take over. The rest of the cast, and some of the settings, are mostly there only to nudge the plot along from time to time.

Aside from a handful of slow stretches, most of it is good entertainment. There's more than enough to make it worth seeing for fans of Laurel and Hardy.

Ollie is in love but it turns out she is already married. He decides to kill himself and suggests that Stan should do the same. But they goof it up and meet a guy who tells them that the French Foreign Legion is the way to forget a crushing romance. Of course, off they go. We know from every military movie they were involved in that disaster is on its way. Naturally, the fact that people like Jimmy Finlayson were already in the Legion doesn't speak all that well for their choices. Soon they are getting a reputation as the worst soldiers in the battalion. They finally manage to get themselves listed as AWOL and as deserters. They risk facing a firing squad. The Flying Deuces thing is from the fact that they end up plane-napping a plane. We all know that while nothing goes right for them, some sort of miracle is going to keep them alive. It doesn't mean things are hunky-dory. There is a great rendition of "Shine on Harvest Moon," one of those great songs they occasionally did.

Funny Laurel and Hardy picture has the boys as two Americans vacationing in France. Ollie develops a boy-like crush on a pretty café waitress and intends to marry her but has his heart broken when she must turn him down, for she is already happily married. Poor Ollie at first decides to end it all and take his good pal Stan with him, until he gets a better suggestion to just join the Foreign Legion to try and forget his troubles. This, or course, leads to even more troubles! A good solid comedy from Laurel and Hardy, nearing the very end of their best period in the Hal Roach movies. This film has long been available as a public domain release on various labels with rather weak quality, but the best print out there as of this date is the DVD from KINO. It really boosts the enjoyment of this one. *** out of ****

THE FLYING DEUCES (RKO Radio, 1939), directed by A. Edward Sutherland, stars the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in their first feature film away from their home lot of the Hal Roach/MGM Studios. It also marked their return to the screen since BLOCKHEADS (1938), during which time Oliver Hardy had teamed up with another comic, Harry Langdon in ZENOBIA (United Artists, 1939). While it's interesting watching Hardy interact with another comedian other than Stanley (who never worked alone after being initially teamed with Hardy in the late 1920s), it clearly shows that Laurel and Hardy are the screen's most perfect pair. With this being their welcoming return, and more feature films ahead into the 1940s, THE FLYING DEUCES has the distinction of being a Hal Roach comedy without being a Hal Roach comedy. It also marked the team's return into the foreign legion, having already done so in their four-reel featurette, BEAU HUNKS (1931), a "Beau Geste" spoof. Aside from their usual antics, there's also James Finlayson, their frequent foil, doing his familiar double-take as a harassed jailer in the latter portion of the story, and Charles Middleton (of BEAU HUNKS) adding some more of his usual no-nonsense flavor as their commanding officer.

This time around, Stan and Ollie (as they are simply billed in the closing credits), are Americans from Iowa vacationing in Paris. On their last days before returning to their jobs at the fish market, it is learned that Oliver has fallen in love with Georgette (Jean Parker), a café hostess whom he hopes to marry. Refusing his proposal, Ollie decides to end it all by attaching himself to a huge rock, throwing himself into the Seine River (unknown to them to be infested by a shark), and taking Stanley with him. After some failed attempts, thanks to Stanley, Francois (Reginald Gardiner), a legionnaire who happens to be passing by, advises Ollie the best way to forget his troubles is to join the foreign legion, which they do. All goes well until Stan and Ollie learn from their stern commandant (Charles Middleton) that they'll be paid "three cents a day" for their chores, and that Georgette, who's seen around the base, happens to be the wife of Francois. Will Oliver try more suicide attempts? Will Stan and Ollie move up to the ranks in the foreign legion? Will they ever return to their old jobs in Iowa? Stick around and find out.

What's does all this have to do with the flying deuces? Although the title promises air travel, it really doesn't take off until much later where Stan and Ollie escape jail and a firing squad, leading to a merry chase around the base before seeking refuge inside an airplane that takes them to the air but not with the greatest of ease.

In true Laurel and Hardy tradition, slapstick and chase scenes are the focal point along with Oliver telling Stanley the familiar phrase, "Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." There's also a nice musical interlude where Oliver displays his fine vocalization to "Shine On, Harvest Moon" (by Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth) at the post courtyard while Stanley does his own style of dancing. There's also another musical moment where Stanley plays a harp on a prison bed spring to "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" in the best Harpo Marx tradition while waiting to be shot at sunrise with his pal for desertion.

In the wake of home video, movie rentals and cable television in the early 1980s, THE FLYING DEUCES, was easily accessible by numerous distributors. Some VHS copies contained shorter prints with missing bits from airplane climax, others with inferior picture, sound quality, or both, as well as colorized. Beware of similar problems that may be found on DVD. The best quality happened to be one by Hal Roach Home Video with excellent visuals, sound, and the original RKO Radio Pictures studio logo and closing cast credits restored. In recent years, American Movie Classics has presented the complete 68 minute print into its lineup of Laurel and Hardy festivals from 1994 to 1999; followed by Turner Classic Movies where THE FLYING DEUCES premiered January 5, 2006.

While not quite as spectacular or hilarious as some of their comedies for Hal Roach, yet better than the ones Stan and Ollie made during their declining years over at 20th Century-Fox (1941-1945), THE FLYING DEUCES is something to consider whether it be from the wild airplane ride, the cameo appearance by talking horse with a familiar sounding voice, or for the comedy team of Stan and Ollie. (***)