Pack Up Your Troubles

Plot synopsis:
In 1917, Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) are drafted into the American Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. Their ineptitude during basic training antagonizes the drill sergeant and they are assigned to kitchen duties. They misunderstand the cook's instructions and empty the garbage cans into the general's private dining room. The cook (George Marshall), who is thrown in the stockade with them, curses their "snitching" and threatens them with violence after they are released. They escape his wrath when they are shipped to the trenches in France.
Serving close to the front line, they befriend soldier Eddie Smith, who receives a Dear John letter from his wife. When Eddie is killed in action, the boys determine to rescue Eddie's daughter (Jacquie Lyn) from her brutal stepfather and deliver her to Eddie's parents. They distinguish themselves in combat by losing control of a tank and accidentally forcing a German platoon into the open.
After the Armistice, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City to retrieve the girl and look for Eddie's parents. Using the city telephone directory, the task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys blindly attempt to visit each Smith until they find the grandparents. After taking punches from an annoyed prizefighter and disrupting a society wedding, they resort to telephoning first.
While operating their lunch wagon, the boys are approached by an unpleasant civil servant (Charles Middleton) who demands Eddie's child so that she can be placed in an orphanage. The boys refuse, and the man says he will return with the police to have the boys arrested.
They try to secure a loan with their lunch wagon to finance their escape to another city, but the banker smirks that he'd have to be unconscious to make such a deal. While laughing, he topples a bust onto his own head and knocks himself out. Taking this as approval, the boys take what they need from the bank vault.
Tailed to their apartment by the police, the boys unsuccessfully try to hide Eddie's daughter in a dumbwaiter. The police bring the three of them to the banker for identification, and it is discovered that he is the Smith they had been seeking. Following a happy reunion, the banker drops the charges and invites them as his guests for dinner. The cook storms out of the kitchen to tell his boss that he will not adjust the service on a moment's notice, and recognizes Laurel and Hardy as the "snitches". The cook chases them with a kitchen knife.

Tags: revenge

Review:
All some serious heavy dramatic stuff but yet the boys manages to make this movie a perfectly entertaining one with some good slapstick humor and comical situations.The movie at times is a sappy one that goes definitely over-the-top but yet for most part the story and its drama works effective.
Stan and Ollie taking care of the young daughter of Eddie and their quest for her grandparents is quite heartwarming.
Especially since the boys in this movie have an amazingly good chemistry Jackie Lyn Dufton, who plays the young girl.
The slapstick humor is especially top-class and the boys manage once more to get themselves into some silly and hilarious situations.The movie its supporting cast is also good.
Stanley's and Oliver's army buddy Eddie Smith gets killed in a war, so the boys have to find the grandparents of Eddie's daughter.So they go from door to door looking for every Smiths there are in the town.It's not an easy job for the boys to do, because there are many Smiths but only two boys.And it doesn't make the job any easier that they get blamed for a bank robbery.
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.
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.
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.
Stan & Ollie almost pull off the impossible: to make World War One trench warfare seem funny.James Finlayson plays the Boys' exasperated General.
I'm surprised this film came along so relatively early in Laurel & Hardy's career because, although it has a couple of stand-out moments, for the most part it falls below the usual high standard of their output with Hal Roach.
Unfortunately, the friend they make in the army isn't so lucky and leaves an orphaned little girl at home that the boys decide to return to her grandparents.Laurel & Hardy were still predominantly making shorts when this feature-length movie was made in 1932, and you get the impression that an awful lot of padding was involved to reach the hour mark.
At one point, there's a neat role reversal as Stan struggles to keep his eyes open while she recites her own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears – in fact, thinking about it, the entire film could be seen as a remodelling of typical fairy-tale plots.As a meaningless aside, have you ever wondered who does the really dull jobs in the glamorous world of movies?
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.
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'.
"Pack Up Your Troubles" is a much funnier and better made film for Laurel and Hardy.
The opening of the film is 1917 - the year America entered the First World War. Stan and Ollie are drafted into the army where they befriend a fellow private.
Stan and Ollie try to locate the child's grandparents and this is what dominates the majority of "Pack Up Your Troubles." The team are on top form and they have great material to work with.
So it's up to the boys to take care of the child as they try to locate her grandparents--whose name, unfortunately, is Smith!This film is a very uneven film, as it tries to give quite a bit of plot to the comedy duo and it tries to inject a little bit of pathos--something I absolutely HATE in comedies.
No, I would have preferred less plot and more stupid highjinks, but alas, some execs thought it would be nice for the boys to take care of a cute little girl following the segment on the war, and so a lot of the film is devoted to this.
The trench scenes are probably the funniest parts of the film with Ollie getting blamed for Stan " Cleaning out a coffee pot " and Stan wishing Ollie luck as he`s forced over the top After the war scenes we`re transported a few years into the future where the boys are trying to track down their old comrade Eddie Smith who has a daughter and I failed to get a joke because social mores have changed so much in the meantime .
The action takes place at a wedding of a man called Eddie Smith ( An entirely different Eddie Smith ) where Stan , Ollie and a young girl appear .
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.
One of the earliest examples was the Laurel & Hardy flick "Pack Up Your Troubles", wherein the boys get drafted into WWI.
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.
"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.
With the war ending November 11, 1918, civilians Stan and Ollie locate Eddie's daughter, take her away from the unhappy environment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES only begins to pick up at the point the boys decide to track down the father of a little girl in their care.
The best scenes involve their relationship with the cute tyke, who has a wonderful scene with STAN LAUREL where she puts him to sleep with her own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.Another highlight has the boys needing $2,000 and going to see a bank manager who has a good laugh when he sees that their restaurant business is nothing more than a traveling cart on wheels."I'd have to be unconscious to give you any money for that," he cries, and presto he knocks over a heavy vase that falls on his head.
The boys escape with the money and even wackier developments follow.Finally, the situation is straightened out when they accidentally run into the girl's grandparents who intend to see that L&H get the proper award for finding their lost grandchild, just in time for the happy ending.A bit too plot heavy, but there are many scenes that are good for the kind of laughs you expect from any Laurel and Hardy film.Worth seeing, but not one of their best..
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) *** (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy's second feature has them drafted to go and find in WW1.
Being this is a Laurel and Hardy film you can expect plenty of laughs even though the movie is somewhat uneven and really plays like three short subjects put together to make a feature.
There are laughs throughout the film but none of them are overly hysterical and in the end the film is somewhat weak but the good performance from the boys and the nice supporting cast makes it worth watching.
I think the start of the film is the weakest when the boys are going through basic training as we get the same type of gags that we're use to and that includes them not being able to march and having a prank pulled on them, which gets them into trouble with the General (James Finlayson).
The second half of the film contains the most laughs as Laurel and Hardy must try and find a "Smith" out of thousands in the phone book.
In the most memorable scene, the boys interrupt a wedding with the father of the bride, played by Billy Gilbert, going crazy thinking that his future son-in-law has a kid.
Some of the comedy doesn't work and that includes a rather long scene where the little girl starts telling Laurel the story of The Three Bears, which he falls asleep on..
One of the factors that keep you smiling are the lineup of familiar faces from other Laurel & Hardy films of the same vintage, most of them on good form; plus a hilarious uncredited cameo from co-director George Marshall as a crazed army cook..
Pack Up Your Troubles is quite a funny Laurel & Hardy movie with some sentiment thrown in concerning a little girl.
Anyway, when the little girl-Jacquie Lyn-was doing the story of "The Three Bears" with sleepy Stan's reactions in close-up, I remember a relative I was living with laughing heartily at that and while it was funny to me as well, I don't remember laughing as loudly.
I just watched it again this morning and I found myself laughing not only at that but most of the rest of the picture as Stan & Ollie join the army during World War I, make friends with a guy named Eddie Smith, and then try to find Eddie's parents after he dies in battle with his daughter I mentioned in tow.
Hilarious supporting turns from usual L & H players like James Finlayson and Billy Gilbert as well as Grady Sutton and George Marshall who co-directed with Ray McCarey.
P.S. On this videotape I mentioned earlier in the review, Stan's daughter Lois put some home movies before the feature showing her on her fourth birthday and fifth birthday parties, and then showed her playing with Jacquie either in a sandbox or riding in a toy plane (cute seeing them kiss a couple of times there), a gift from her Uncle Babe (Hardy).
This was the boys' second feature length movie after Pardon Us, and this time there is a more cohesive plot to hang the comedy scenes on.
L and H's rounding up of what looks like half the German front line (entirely unintentionally, I might add), Ollie's one-two pummelling by "Steamboat" Smith, Stan falling asleep when the little girl tells him a story, etc.
Billy Gilbert has a nice cameo scene here, as does Jimmy Fin as an army general whose home gets a bit whiffy thanks to Stan and Ollie!
along the way there is a really really heavy drama trip put on us by a woman that would abandon a cute 3 year old blond girl, very sad, if you are into the film it may make you cry a little like I did (and of course, I cried later).Anyway, this is Laurel and Hardy in their still young days, connecting still as the common people, and not as total child buffoons.
In this L&H feature film, Eddie Smith is a combat buddy of thee boys, living in a trench.
A little later, when they tell her they hope to unite her with her grandparents, she says she hopes they don't find them, because she likes them, especially, Stan, calling them uncles.
Turns out the Smiths used to live here, but the phone book is out of date...........With the Welfare Association looking for them, the boys figure they need to get out of town quickly, with the girl(So, how are they going to find her grandparents that way?).
Those top one per-centers of the era could probably afford a lot of those.The film ends on a successful note with Laurel and Hardy locating the appropriate Smith family before the welfare association of the era could force the boys to give up their young ward.
The first quarter of the movie has them doing all they can to avoid the draft (a very funny scene where they pretend that they both only have one arm), the next quarter is them proving their ineptitude, and finally the last half has them back in the states taking care of the young daughter of an army buddy and avoiding the police and child protection services who want to take her away from them and place her in an orphanage.A bit funnier than their previous film ("Pardon Us"), this actually seems to be several of their two reelers rolled into one to make a feature length comedy.
The last half has a few moderately funny moments when the boys are trying to hide themselves and the little girl from the police and growing crowd, but its pretty maudlin material to be totally enjoyable.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films.
Their friend Eddie Smith (Donald 'Don' Dillaway) gets a letter from his wife saying he's leaving him for another man, and he is unsure what is happening to his baby daughter (Jackie Lyn Dufton).
Out of uniform the boys start looking for Eddie's father, "Mr. Smith", to take the daughter to him, and they knock on a few Smiths doors, a black man, a boxer, and a wedding groom (Grady Sutton).
While the mean male relative reports the boys taking the baby, Stan and Ollie open their sandwich van, with a mean man telling them he wants to put the daughter in an orphanage, so they go to the bank to get a loan to move away, and the bank manager is Eddie's father, Mr. Smith.
They are caught though and taken to Mr. Smith, and when he sees Stan and Ollie in a photo with his son Eddie everything is explained, the daughter finds her true family, while the boys are chased by the stressed chef from earlier.