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It is World War I and, shortly before he is killed
in action, Laurel & Hardy promise their best pal that they'll look after his
little girl, and restore her to his wealthy parents. Back in America after
the war, they try to keep their promise, but since they know only that his name
was Smith, finding the girl's grandparents isn't an easy job, and orphanage
officials are constantly on their heels to seize the child.
Made in 1931, but held back until late 1932 for its release, this second Laurel
& Hardy starring feature was better constructed than the first (Pardon Us)
but far less amusing. Most comedy teams, from
Wallace Beery and Raymond
Hatton to
Abbott & Costello and Martin & Lewis, have found the Army comedy a
fairly safe vehicle with which to establish themselves early in their career.
And had Laurel & Hardy stuck to the service-life knockabout—far less overworked
in 1932 than it would be a decade later—the formula might well have worked for
them too.
Certainly the funniest sequences appear at the
beginning of the film, with George Marshall (the director) proving an apt
comedian as a tough Army cook, and
James Finlayson going through his usual paces
as a short-tempered officer into whose quarters Laurel & Hardy empty all the
garbage pails! But with the introduction of the little girl, plot and
sentiment interfere far too often, and the film veers more in the direction of
Jackie Coogan's My Boy than towards showcase sequences for Laurel & Hardy
humor. As the mean official from the orphanage,
Charles Middleton had some
fine moments, but most of the strong supporting cast of character comedians was
badly wasted. |
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The boys are pressured into enlisting in the Army during
World War I and, after they fail miserably at marching, their
exasperated drill sergeant assigns them to KP duty. One day, they
are told by a sarcastic cook, Pierre, to take the garbage to the
general, so they unload the cans in the general's parlor while he
breakfasts in the next room. The furious general yells at the
confused soldiers and, in the ensuing commotion, all three are covered
with garbage.
While Stan and Ollie languish in jail, their buddy, Eddie Smith,
is visited by his beautiful baby daughter, but the woman with her brings Eddie
the news that his wife Nan has left him. Eddie wants to send the
motherless baby to his parents but cannot, for they quarreled when Eddie
married. At Stan and Ollie's cell, the boys are menaced by Pierre, who
vows revenge for their having implicated him in the garbage fiasco.
Later, Stan, Ollie and Eddie are at the front, and when Eddie
gets captured by the Germans, Stan and Ollie are sent to rescue him.
Although the boys do not succeed in finding Eddie, they do capture a platoon of
Germans. Eddie never returns from the battlefield, and his baby is left in
the care of work-worn Annie and her cruel husband Jack. The baby is about
to receive a beating from Jack when Stan and Ollie arrive to claim her, and the
boys escape with her.
They do not know where her grandparents live and, because there
are many Smiths in town, Stan and Ollie's search proves to be a long one.
They mistakenly wind up at one house where a wedding is taking place with a
groom named Eddie Smith. It is not until after the wedding is called off
and the groom has almost been killed by his father that the boys' faux pas is
discovered.
After this escapade, Stan and Ollie use the telephone to contact
all the Smiths in town, and then buy a lunch wagon to generate income while the
search continues. The still disgruntled Jack alerts a welfare official
about the boys taking the baby, and vows to have her put in an orphanage that
night. In a panic, Stan and Ollie go to a bank to refinance the wagon and
get enough money to leave the state. After misunderstanding a bank
official, who knocks himself out while laughing at their request, they walk out
with a wad of cash. They are then chased by the welfare official and the
police, and are taken to the bank president's home to be identified. While
searching the boys' pockets for the money, the police find a photo of them with
Eddie. It turns out that the bank president is Alfred E. Smith, Eddie's
father, and so Stan and Ollie are freed when they hand over the baby to the
delighted Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Mr. Smith invites them to dinner, but his
chef, who is none other than Pierre, becomes enraged by the inconvenience and
argues with him. When Pierre recognizes Stan and Ollie, he chases them out
of the house. |
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