Les sans-soucis

Despite being doughboys in General Pershing's army in France, the Allies still were able to win World War I with Laurel and Hardy in the ranks. But most of Pack Up Your Troubles is spent with the boys as veterans looking for the family of their late comrade Don Dillaway on behalf of his daughter little Jackie Lyn Dufton.

Best scene in the film is when Stan and Ollie are sent out on what their exasperated sergeant thinks and hopes will be a suicide mission. They're told to get a prisoner. Remember this is 1932 and the story of Sergeant York even without the movie being made was known to one and all. How do Stan and Ollie pull off a Sergeant York? Well it involves a prototype tank, the enemy trenches, and some barbed wire. You have to see it being done.

Laurel's scenes especially with the child have a nice ring of pathos to them. Most of the time he's simply an idiot, here he's a lovable idiot. Next best scene in the movie is the little girl reading Stan a bedtime story, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and Laurel falling asleep.

Pack Up Your Troubles has an unusually good cast of recognizable character players in roles that we all identify them with. Of course James Finlayson is there as their commanding general. But also there's Charles Middleton as a welfare inspector, Billy Gilbert whose daughter blows up a marriage to Grady Sutton when the boys think he's Dillaway's father and Mary Gordon as a delightful old Irish mother babysitting the little girl for Stan and Ollie. Third best scene is the police closing in on them and them trying to escape in a dumb waiter.

Only their third sound feature length film and a winner for Laurel And Hardy.

PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (Hal Roach/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932), directed by George Marshall and Raymond McCarey, marks the second starring feature film from comedy team, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and one of their finest efforts. Though categorized as a war comedy, the film in itself, divided into two parts, starts off with war related themed material while the second half concentrates more on the team's attempt in locating a little girl's grandparents while civilians after the Armitice.

Opening title: "April 1917 – when the scratch of a pen on Capitol Hill caused crowns to rattle." After a brief montage of newspapers going to press with large headlines reading WAR DECLARED, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are seen seated on a park bench reading the latest news. While Ollie declares that flat feet is all that's keeping him from enlisting, the two are soon approached by a tough recruiting sergeant (Tom Kennedy). Even while their attempts pretending to be unfit for active duty, Stan foils up their disqualification, finding them in the next scene at the U.S. Army Training Camp. "It didn't take Uncle Sam long to whip this raw material into real fighting machine." Causing their short-tempered drill sergeant (Frank Brownlee) to go out of his mind over their bumbling antics, Stan and Ollie create more trouble while on K.P. duty, taking foul odor garbage to the general's (James Finlayson) residence, ending up in the brig with a tough cook named Pierre (George Marshall) after naming him the one who told them to place the trash into the general's home in a sarcastic manner. Eddie Smith (Donald Dillaway), the boys' best pal, receives a letter written by his wife telling him she has left him for another man, resulting on Eddie to leave his little daughter (Jacquie Lyn) in the home of a bickering couple (Rychard Cramer and Adele Watson) for the time being. Eddie is killed in battle, while Stan and Ollie unwittingly becoming war heroes. With the war ending November 11, 1918, civilians Stan and Ollie locate Eddie's daughter, take her away from the unhappy environment. They make every effort finding her grandparents with the only clue that their last name is Smith, thus having them going through every Smith name in the New York City directory. More problems arise as they try getting a $12,000 loan from the bank on their lunch wagon, and face losing Eddie's child to a mean officer of the Welfare Association (Charles Middleton) with efforts on taking her to an orphanage.

While the final print is somewhat handicapped by some rough cuts resulting to flimsy material, it's a wonder whether the original concept of the movie was initially longer longer than the theatrical 68 minute time frame, probably explaining after repeated viewing why certain characters, especially those part of the Laurel and Hardy stock company of James Finlayson, Billy Gilbert or Charlie Hall, have only brief bits. There is no plot development nor how Laurel and Hardy got to become such good friends with Eddie Smith. One would assume there's an edited account of first their meeting resulting to their friendship during their Army training segment. His dying in battle leads to the purpose of the story with Stan and Ollie doing a good turn by taking the responsibility for his little girl while spending months trying to locate her grandparents. The tight editing, obviously, keeps in the necessary scenes for plot development purposes while leaving more room for comedy material. Memorable scenes include Jacquie reciting a bedtime story to Uncle Stanley, struggling to keep awake; Stan and Ollie's individual attempts locating the many Smiths in the telephone directory; arriving at 311 Chester Drive where Stan and Ollie disturb a wedding ceremony addressing the child to be Eddie's baby, Eddie being the hapless groom (Grady Sutton); Stan going to Poughkeepsie to acquire if the Smith Brothers of cough drop fame to be the relatives, among others. Fine casting goes to Mary Carr as the baby's nanny; Mary Gordon as Mrs. McTavish, the baby sitter during the second half of the story; and Charles Middleton going with honorable re-mention as the one with a face mean and scary enough to "haunt a house." Jacquie Lynn, who sometimes speaks like future child star, Shirley Temple, gets in her finest moments mimicking Stan and Ollie both in mannerisms and famous line quotes, adding much to the fun during their troubles.

While the title, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, was used again for a Ritz Brothers comedy for 20th Century-Fox (1939), this is where the similarity ends. Home video prints to the original Laurel and Hardy edition (black and white or colorized) often eliminate material involving unpleasantness between the bickering couple looking after little Jacquie. Restored prints have turned up on numerous cable channel networks over the years, from American Movie Classics (1996-97) to Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: April 1, 2003). Adding a touch of World War nostalgia with background music from that era, including the title song, "Where Do We Go From Here?" and so forth, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES is one of those films that seems to get better and funnier after repeated viewings, especially for devotees of this most famous of comedy teams of all time, Laurel and Hardy. (***)

Once again, Stan and Ollie find themselves being potentially done in for trying to do the right thing. Through a series of events, the boys find themselves in France in the service. They are totally incompetent as soldiers, of course, but they make the acquaintance of Eddie Smith, who helps them get by. Eddie gets a Dear John letter and gets the boys to promise that if anything happens to him, they will see that his baby gets taken to his father's home. Well, the sad thing happens and they are in his debt...a promising made. They are released from the Army as heroes for inadvertently rounding up a battalion of German soldiers. Once back in the states, they begin the arduous process of finding a man named Smith. This allows them to make some hilarious mistakes, including telling a bridegroom at his wedding that they have his child. A mistake, of course. This is a touching, loving effort. But, of course, these guys seldom catch a break.

Early Laurel & Hardy feature isn't among their best, but still provides entertaining viewing.

Story begins with America entering the First World War, and L&H conscripted into the army after being spotted loafing on a park bench. Action moves to training camp, then onto the trenches in France before returning to America. Here Laurel & Hardy find themselves responsible for a dead army buddy's little girl, whom they must return to her rightful guardian.

Film isn't as polished as later entries, and certainly can't compete with the likes of 'Sons of the Desert'. Even so, the continual odd-couple bickering between the two ensures plenty of laughs. The scene where they go to the Bank to get a loan on the strength of their mobile food business is out of the top draw - if there is a better comedy duo in movie history I've yet to see them.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. Didn't find 'Pack Up Your Troubles' quite one of their very best, but it to me still very good and some of the best material is among their funniest.

Admittedly, the story is pretty thin and is pretty standard and the beginning is a touch slow.

Despite that, 'Pack Up Your Troubles' is great fun while also having a definite degree of substance, never less than very amusing and the best moments, such as the ending, being classic hilarity. It is never too silly, there is a wackiness that never loses its energy and the sly wit is here, some of the material may not be new but how it's executed actually doesn't feel too familiar and it doesn't get repetitive. Yet there is also a surprising amount of pathos, that is actually genuinely moving and not over-sentimental. A lot happens yet it doesn't ever feel rushed or over-stuffed. The ending is a delight.

Laurel and Hardy are on top form here, both are well used, both have material worthy of them and they're equal rather than one being funnier than the other (before Laurel tended to be funnier and more interesting than Hardy, who tended to be underused). Their chemistry feels like a partnership here too, before 'Two Tars' you were yearning for more scenes with them together but in 'Pack Up Your Troubles' and on the most part from 'Two Tars' onwards we are far from robbed of that. Their comic timing is impeccable.

'Pack Up Your Troubles' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static. The supporting players are solid, but Laurel and Hardy steal the show as they ought to.

Concluding, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox