Review of Air Raid Wardens

I tend to repeat this in all my reviews of the final eight 1940s films featuring the legendary comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, but the six pictures they made for 20th Century-Fox were generally underrated; the real sour lemons of all the latter-day Stan and Ollie movies from their twilight years were actually the two which were made by MGM --- the insufferable NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (1944), and then this one - AIR RAID WARDENS (1943). Here, Laurel and Hardy want desperately to aid the U.S.A. by contributing to the war effort, but nobody will have them. No matter what they attempt to accomplish, they keep putting their feet in everything and turn up mostly disastrous results. At least Edgar Kennedy is present this time as a good foil for L&H, and there are some funny spots now and then, but you can tell that this picture has more of a wholesome whitewash to it and doesn't really "feel" like a Laurel and Hardy comedy. It's at least average Stan and Ollie, though; and that's more than can be said for the film which was to follow. ** out of ****