Great Guns

1941 - 20th Century Fox
Directed By Monty Banks


SYNOPSIS

When their sickly boss Dan (Dick Nelson,) gets drafted, Stan and Ollie (Stan Laurel + Oliver Hardy) follow him into the Army to protect him. While Dan fits right in, gets healthy, and finds love.... Stan and Ollie get in heaps of trouble. The two are assigned to an important spy mission during war games exercises in order to redeem themselves.

MY THOUGHTS


This was the first time Laurel + Hardy worked directly for a major studio (20th Century Fox.) Purists say their Fox films are far inferior to their previous films, but I found Great Guns to have some truly brilliantly funny moments. Perhaps this one was an aberration, like Buster Keaton's The Cameraman. That was made after Keaton signed up with MGM, lost complete control of his work, and his films (as a whole) went downhill in quality. I will have to check out more L+H films from this era.

I noticed far less slapstick in this film than in Laurel + Hardy's earlier works. I'm not sure if this was an effort to tone it down by Fox... or because the duo were both about 50 years old (and looked it too. I'm not sure why the military would accept people that old!)

There's plenty of little bits of hilarity, like Laurel cutting the grass with small scissors, or trying to shave despite a troublesome light bulb. These combined with bigger and broader moments, like when the pair try to get Dan's girlfriend to stop seeing him, create a very lively first half of the film. Great Guns has the standard love story attached (that bogged down many of the Marx Brothers' lesser efforts) but it doesn't interfere with the rest of the film.

THE highlight of the film is during the General's inspection, Stan's pet crow (who refuses to leave him) lands on his helmet. Panicking to get rid of the black bird, he shoves him down the backside of Ollie's pants. I found myself literally choking because I was laughing so hard. The pacing of the scene and the performances make the scene work.


Apart from the driving scene above, the second half of the film drags... especially during the war games. The overuse of guns firing, tanks rolling through, planes flying, etc. are clearly a recruitment tool for the Army as the U.S. was gearing up to eventually enter World War II. (Pearl Harbor happened 2 months after this film was released.) The fast paced editing, made war look exciting and maybe even fun. Apart from some amusing bits the last half hour lacks the zaniness and humor of the film's beginning.

Great Guns is far from the best Laurel + Hardy film, but it is far better than its reputation.