mark.waltz In 1932, when jobs were as hard to find as a girdle on a welder (so the narration says), Laurel and Hardy went to Europe to find work. They return years later during World War II (when jobs were as easy to find as a girdle on a welder). They return to the same agency where they had previously been unable to find a job to find potential employers now in line where potential employers were. In a scene that could have been expanded for some funny bits with the society matrons desperate to have a chef and butler, they meet desperate Mary Boland who immediately takes them home and spoils them with the determination to keep him. "My last butler stayed with me for 3 years. He writes me every know and then from an island called Alcatraz", she says. They go to get groceries to prepare Oliver's "Steak a la Hardy" and meet up with a young teen-aged boy hiding his identity as an exiled king (David Leland) who has a desire to play football. After playing referees to the football team he joins up with for one game (interrupted briefly by mother, a credited Connie Gilchrist, on and off faster than the unbilled boys in the game), then try to steal steak (actually horse meat!) from a zoo lion. (Leo earning his keep, perhaps?) The steak is so tough it can't be cut by anything but perhaps an axe, ruining Boland's dinner. Then, the hiding king is discovered, and Boland dismisses Stan and Oliver, which lands them in a mission. The boy King is identified (and in danger of a plot on his life), but Laurel and Hardy are then hired as his butler and cook much to his delight for a huge party that ironically Ms. Boland and her husband (Henry O'Neill) attend. Laurel and Hardy are brought into the plot on the King's life and it's rather predictable what happens from there.While there are some amusing moments in this late Laurel and Hardy film, it is not really all that funny, yet much better than "Air Raid Wardens", "The Bullfighters" and "Utopia". (Not saying much---those three are duds!) I always enjoy Mary Boland, especially her unique voice; I can't help thinking of her line in "The Women" where she says to Paulette Goddard "Let's have a little drinkie, shall we"?, every time I see her. She's not quite a Billie Burke, nor is she Marie Dressler, Dame May Witty or Florence Bates either. Her society matrons are always fun; I could imagine her in a 40's version of "Gilligan's Island" as Mrs. Howell. (In fact, she did several films with similar themes, "Down to Their Last Yacht" and "Four Frightened People") I also enjoyed the performance of David Leland as the very charming boy King; I was shocked to discover he died only a few years after this.) But in a Laurel and Hardy film, they dominate the film. They were likable at any age, but its very sad to see them doing these types of gags while obviously having aged very much. They appear tired, yet determined, like all old troopers, to keep going. Don't expect much when watching this, but it's mercifully short (under 70 minutes), so it can be viewed as a barely passable time filler.

StormSworder The 1940s saw the decline of what were once the greatest comedy pairing in history, as they were placed in the hands of people who obviously had no idea what had previously made them so funny. It is fair to say that Laurel and Hardy were getting too old for slapstick comedy, had to rely more on verbal humour. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless of course the verbal humour is rubbish. The duo were given a script and told to stick to it, were not allowed any input into it. That, I think, was a fatal flaw, as L & H had always been great comedy innovators. Indeed, they would turn up at conventions and have audiences in fits with improvised-on-the-spot material. This film involves the duo finding employment as servants for a boy who, it turns out, is royalty. Problems lie with the stodgy, slow-moving script, the hit-and-miss gags and the fact L & H are just not allowed to play the characters that made them famous. There's the occasional laugh, and this film never goes down to the level of today's lesser 'comedy' films by relying on gratuitous swearing, sexual innuendo and the like (compared to trash like 'Kevin & Perry go Large this film is a masterpiece) but really the script could have been written with anybody in mind.

Michael_Elliott Nothing But Trouble (1944) ** (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy meet a young boy and soon they discover that he's really a King. The duo must protect the boy from a few people trying to kill him. Once again, I had heard this was a pretty bad film but while it's miles from Hal Roach material, the film contains a few laughs and has a little charm to it. It's too bad Warner isn't including this in their upcoming set but my recording from TCM, which seemed to be remastered, will do just fine. The best moment takes place in a zoo where L&H must try and steal a streak away from a lion. Another nice moment is when Laurel is trying to ref a football game. Most of the gags are lazy and fall on their face but the film is a decent time killer.

Boba_Fett1138 Everyone knows that Laurel & Hardy did their best work together in the '20's and '30's but this one is also an enjoyable Laurel & Hardy movie, that differs from their early work but is entertaining and fun in different ways.It's not the sort of Laurel & Hardy movie with lots of slapstick in it, at least not the classic kind of. It's more the sort of comedy that relies on its writing and the comical situations and of course on the way Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy execute it all. They still haven't lost their touch in this movie and it provides the movie with a couple of great and fun moments. Nothing too classic or fancy, just some good old fashioned harmless clean entertainment that still serves its purpose very well.Of course the story isn't much special and at times its also distracting from Laurel & Hardy's antics and it felt it was even holding them down at points but at least the movie has a good enough story, which can't be said about many other Laurel & Hardy flicks from the '40's.The movie made me laugh more than the usual kind of comedy, for that reason alone already I must rate it higher than average.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/