The Flying Deuces (1939) Reviews

• The Best of Ollie and Stan

  drednm2005-04-08

  My favorite Laurel and Hardy film. Many memorable bits in this charming and funny movie. Perhaps the best comedy duo ever, they breeze thru their routines and yet still have fun. Remarkable. Their stuff never seems old. Here they join the Foreign Legion after a failed suicide attempt over Ollie's broken heart. Fast paced film takes them from Paris to Algeria (I guess) where they get insulted over the pay--3 cents a day. My favorite bit it the incongruous song and dance to "Shine on Harvest Moon." It makes NO sense whatever but it's wonderful---a total surprise. Jean Parker (why did she not become a big star?), Reginald Gardner, James Finlayson, and Charles Middleton co-star. Hilarious sight gags and funny bits. Stan Laurel won a special Oscar in 1960; Oliver Hardy died in 1957 and remains one of the most underrated comics in film history. Also love this team in their talkie debut in Hollywood Revue of 1929.

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• post-Hal Roach feature is sufficiently light and silly

  Alberto-72004-12-10

  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.

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• Decent Laurel & Hardy Feature With Some Fine Moments

  Snow Leopard2004-10-13

  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.

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• Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy vehicle filled with tons of sight gags

  ma-cortes2009-06-24

  Olli is broken heart when aware which Georgett(Jean Parker), a beautiful girl, is already married to officer Francois(Reginald Gardner). Oliver is depressed and attempts to commit suicide in river Seine, taking Stan Laurel with him. But the newspapers publicize : ¡ famous men-eating shark escapes, ferocious fish battles keeper in Paris Aquarium, believed at large in Seine, boaters, swimmers, Beware! . Later they enlist the French Foreign Legion commanded by a stiff commandant(Charles Middleton). Of course, the comic pair cause wreak havoc wherever they go . Their botchers lead them charges of desertion and condemned to death penalty. They're imprisoned but receive a letter in the jail saying the following : ¨ Lift up floor board and you'll find a tunnel which leads to the outer wall use your own judgement, a pal ¨. Hilarity ensues when they try to escape and avoid a firing squad. Zany comedy seeing the misfit couple in all kinds of troubles involving French Legion. This entertaining Laurel and Hardy recital provides too much amusement in detailing the duo's exploits in Foreign Legion . Lots of physical comedy and hilarious dialogue including some musical interlude . Furthermore sympathetic introduction of fantastic elements as when Oliver Hardy's reincarnation as a horse . Comical and spectacular final flying is one of the film's highlights. Based on screenplay and sketches written by the comic Harry Langdon, among others. ¨Flying deuces¨ is well directed by Edward Sutherland. He was producer, director , actor and one the original Keystone Kops. He began in films as an actor for Mack Sennett , turning filmmaker and usually worked for W. C. Fields.

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• A rather excellent Laurel and Hardy on its own terms.

  HenryHextonEsq2002-12-26

  I have heard this picture is derivative of an earlier Laurel and Hardy short film. That notwithstanding, judged purely on its own terms, this is a splendid way to spend an hour or so. Within the Laurel and Hardy canon, this can be defined as a late Hal Roach film, an era in which originality was fading a little, but they were still entirely in their element and always enjoyable - unlike, perhaps, in their years at Fox. I should say that this film is indeed no masterpiece, and is put together in a slightly slapdash way at times; although the plot does stand up reasonably well - the shift to the Foreign Legion negotiated by a clearly unbelievable coincidence of Reg Gardiner turning up by the riverside. The film plays well as Laurel and Hardy's naivety is revealed and becomes the subject of wry, understated comedy: 'how long will it take 'till I have forgotten?' re. Hardy's infatuation with Georgette. In many ways, the opening part is the zenith, with Laurel and Hardy on enterprising, archetypal form; the attempted drowning part is really quite touching at times. There's a rippling, simple plot, and this section may have worked very nicely as a short - but then we'd have lost the sublime sequences of the second part. It may be ultimately be something of a rehash, but on its own terms, again, it works well; the aeroplane foolery and the ending are rather well done and amusing... But it is the lovely 'Shine on Harvest Moon' musical sequence, sung majestically by Hardy and soft-shoed winningly by Laurel (to be joined by Hardy at the end), that is the most memorable part. How heartrendingly joyous is this? The narrative pauses. Simply for a verse and chorus of an old song, and a modest dance, but it works astoundingly; Hardy's voice unutterably warm, Laurel a frail, tender clown with a strange dignity. The pair's pausing by the band and then the way they slip into this interlude, is charming, as is the manner of the band and onlookers' fond farewell as they abruptly take leave to resume their escape. All very poignant, thinking how close they were to the end of their film success. Also magical is Laurel's sequence on the harp; a direct tribute to Harpo Marx, and actually displaying a far greater brevity and perhaps a less forced charm with the instrument than Harpo did in certain films. Hardy's reactions are great, and the way Laurel finds and fine-tunes the instrument in the prison cell is neatly achieved. The look on Laurel's face as he plays is sublime; we get to the heart of his singular grace with his almost haunting expressionlessness suggestive almost of Buster Keaton. One can, as ever, see the influence Peter Sellers drew upon for his performance in "Being There", but this sequence stands alone in that it reveals Laurel as a consciously artistic soul, aside from the bounds of his usual comic persona. These are subtle, telling moments, aided by the tender and melodic nature of the song itself. Great stuff, well timed - these reflective moments in many ways make the film, mark it out from slightly more routine L&H features of the time. Support includes Reginald Gardiner, fairly competent as the 'French' military cad; Georgette (Jean Parker), the 'dame', as Stan refers to her; a very adequate stooge and coquette, ever brushing her tresses. And, to properly round things off, we have James Finlayson: the lovably crotchety Scottish foil for the boys, ever bursting at the seams in his indignation at them. "The Flying Deuces" is not a great film, but it has many genuinely wonderful moments; well worth a viewing for anyone, whether familiar with this double-act or not; everyone ought to be, as they are one of the most beautiful and abiding attractions ever to have graced the cinema.

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