Pardon Us (1931)

6/10

hitchcockthelegend4 March 2008

Being the lads first full length feature it's not surprising that much of it feels like filler, certainly the jokes are not quick fire and the culminating outcome doesn't quite leave the viewer fully satisfied. However it should be noted that Laurel & Hardy's average output is still better than most other duos who would follow in their slipstream, and Pardon Us does have those moments that ooze comedy class. Witness both Stan & Ollie trying to control a machine gun with typical riotous results, enjoy Stanley's tooth problem that becomes a running gag, and of course enjoy Oliver's incredulous looks at the camera. It's solid if unspectacular, but certainly worth a watch now and then, 6/10.

Footnote: Other user comments allude to certain aspects being un PC for the modern age, who cares is what I say, this is after all Laurel & Hardy in the 30s, it worked then and really it still works now, harmless and enjoyable fun.

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6/10

Bronx Cheer in the Big House

bkoganbing4 August 2014

Laurel And Hardy made their first starring feature film for Hal Roach with Pardon Us. It's a prison picture, but this correctional facility will never be the same now that Stan and Ollie have served time there.

They were not very good as bootleggers selling some of their illegal stock to an undercover policeman and got sent to the big house. Where Stan makes an inexplicable friend in the toughest con in the joint Walter Long. Ollie is not so similarly fortunate, but Long tolerates him as long as he's with Stan.

Stan has an additional problem. A loose tooth has him make the noises of a Bronx Cheer at the most inopportune moment.

This film has a large black cast of extras because part of the plot involves the boys escaping and eluding their captors while in blackface pretending to be field hands. Unlike a lot of films the black people here are portrayed with dignity. The sequences show the singing talents of Ollie and Stan does a nice patter with a dance. Since the blackface is integral to the plot I've not heard any objections raised to it here.

It was a good beginning for Stan and Ollie in sound feature films.

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6/10

"They'll never recognise us in a hundred years!"

The_Movie_Cat5 February 2001

So says Ollie at the start of a sustained eleven-minute sequence where he and Stan paint their hands and faces to hide amongst a black community. On two occasions the paint gets washed off and has to be replaced; Stan with dirt from a puddle, Ollie with oil. Like the stereotypical black people that occupy the piece, it's one of those "would never be allowed nowadays" moments that marks Pardon Us out as an unusual curio. The boundaries between innocence and unintentional risk-taking occur throughout. Set largely in a prison, there's a later scene where Stan is threatened by a knife, and an inmate is shown to be a potential rapist when coming face to face with the warden's daughter. Although Stan's sharing a bed with Hardy and the same inmate promising that he and Stan will be "great pals" is played without any form of sexual connotation.

This sort of politically incorrect humour is not only common to Pardon Us, however. In the following year's Pack Up Your Troubles the duo would pretend to have only one arm in order to escape being drafted into the army. Stan would pour boiling hot water over three men, while the two would steal $2000 from a bank. The 1932 film would also tackle the theme of wife battery and feature another race joke, which takes us back to Pardon us. In a curious scene, Stan mistakes two prisoners one black, one Asian as the radio "blackface" double-act, Amos and Andy. It's impossible to condemn the film on such matters, and I wouldn't even try, as that sort of thing was commonplace for the time it was made. But it's notable, and slightly alarming, even so. Whoever would have thought such naive humour still had the ability to shock seventy years on?

Laurel and Hardy perhaps never had wide ambitions, though did some pretty groundbreaking stuff in terms of stunts and special effects. More intelligent than The Three Stooges, they nevertheless didn't aspire to the same terms of art and film as, say, Chaplin. But while they may not be as admired as Charlie, Keaton or even Lloyd, they are doubtless more loved. Even though most of the jokes are clearly set-up, their assured execution, by Laurel, particularly, means they never fall flat. It must be said that the interplay between the two stars isn't as good as it would be, and that as their first full-length talkie, the pace is notably slower than what was to follow. The age of the silent movie is still felt throughout, with a lone damsel in distress in a burning building, and some overstated body language from the bit players. The film opens with a caption, and incidental music is almost omnipresent both now redundant, and slightly distracting. Though while the rapport between the two would be stronger - only their 24th talkie, they would appear in another 52 together after this - Pardon Us is still a fine example of their work. Stan's gormless, inane smile, dopey eyes and sticky ears are a delight, while his mastery of physical comedy is exceptional. Those who wish to build an argument that Stan was the talented one will be served here by a Hardy who gets to be second fiddle all the way, and is encouraged to double-take to camera a few too many times.

Lastly, two points come to mind. One is a dentist calling Stan "Rosebud" was Orson Welles inspired? And Ollie here says "another nice mess", not the oft-quoted "fine".

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Plot and structure wise it is light but it produces plenty of memorable and hilarious scenes

bob the moo23 October 2005

Laurel and Hardy are shopping for ingredients for their next get rich scheme making and selling liquor during prohibition. Of course when Laurel sells a bottle of beer to a policeman, there is only ever going to be one outcome and the two finds themselves on the way to the big house. Locked up with a mean spirited collection of fellas, Stan and Oliver take their chance to escape and find themselves wanted men on the run.

Having just watched the very structured "Our Relations" it was noticeable when I stepped back into the much looser Pardon Us. The basic plot is no more than a nail on which to hang a series of comic scenarios and, as such, it works because it is pretty funny for the majority. The story is pretty weak but it does allow for a solid spoof of jail clichés as well as a pretty un-PC but funny scene where the boys try to pass themselves off as cotton pickers. Despite not having this flow to it, the film does have a couple of good stand out scenes that will please everyone with their typical silliness and mix of looks and double-takes.

Laurel and Hardy are both on form and are served to their strengths well. Finlayson is wonderful in a great classroom scene and he got the biggest laughs from me with a master class in slow burns and double takes. Long is enjoyably tough as The Tiger while Lucas is a good warden. The support cast are roundly good even if they are mainly there to carry the scenes rather than the comedy. The musical numbers are obvious but still good with Hardy getting a good chance to show off his baritone talents.

Overall a thinly plotted affair but one that delivers quite a few memorable and hilarious scenes, connected with generally amusing moments.

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7/10

not exactly perfect and too many lulls, but wow what fun!

planktonrules21 February 2006

This was Laurel and Hardy's first full-length movie, though it is admittedly a short full-length film. And, apart from a few somewhat slow moments (particularly in the very politically incorrect and portion where the team pose as Black sharecroppers) as well as a running gag that isn't funny (the tooth), it is great fun overall. Part of the reason it is so much fun is that their foil is Walter Long--one of the absolutely scariest looking bad guys in movie history! I loved him in this movie and he is just terrifying. Well, the boys being very stupid, find a way to get on Long's bad side and they know their days are numbered unless some miracle happens--and that's exactly what happens at the film's conclusion. I won't give away the details because I don't want to spoil the fun, but this is a wonderful little film--minus all the songs that seemed to be added as padding.

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6/10

Jailbirds

Prismark1023 December 2017

Laurel and Hardy's first feature film is a rather uneven affair with a disjointed story that sees Laurel and Hardy are sent to prison for selling home brew to a policeman during prohibition.

In hail they end up on the wrong side of their cellmate, The Tiger who is mean bad one. Stan's loose tooth which makes a raspberry noise constantly lands the duo in trouble.

They end up in solitary, then escape to a cotton plantation and once recaptured they inadvertently break up a prison riot.

The film is rather overlong and padded, like a couple of shorts cobbled together with some songs.

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7/10

First feature for Stan and Ollie, slightly padded but fun.

Prichards1234527 November 2015

Warning: Spoilers

The story goes that Hal Roach had to build his own prison set after negotiations with M.G.M. fell through to rent one of theirs, and finding the cost prohibitive for a short he ordered the movie expanded to feature length.

I don't know if this story has been confirmed, but if true it would explain the lack of continuity in certain scenes, and the musical numbers used to pad out the running time.

But for all that there's some wonderful stuff in here. Great gag of Stan and Ollie planning to sell bootleg hooch; the next cut has them being marched straight into prison. Wonderful check-in gags and the mugshot scene is hysterical "If they come out good can I have a copy?" says Stan.

But the best scene for me is the classroom set piece with Jimmy Finn. This had me convulsed with laughter. Asked to name a comet, which has previously been described as a star with a tail on it, Stan answers Rin Tin Tin! In the second half the standard slips slightly, and Stan and Ollie in black-face is not exactly PC these days. However it was not meant to be racist, and Ollie gets to sing "Lazy Moon", which is fine.

Pardon Us is perhaps lacking the cohesive plots of some of the boys' later films - compare this to Sons of The Desert, for example. But for the most part it's an enjoyable film, and worth seeing.

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7/10

Behind the Walls.

rmax30482317 April 2017

I wonder if some of the younger viewers will get the initial premise. A Constitutional amendment, whose number I don't want to bother looking up, made almost all forms of alcoholic beverages illegal during the 1920s until the amendment was repealed in 1933. It was a curious law. The targets seemed to be not so much booze as immigrants who drank for recreation (Irish) or as part of a meal (Italians). It was particularly bad for most of the breweries. They were run by Germans, who had just been demonized in World War I. (Think Schlitz, Blatz, Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser, Gablinger, etc.) When Laurel and Hardy are first seen, they're planning to buy enough ingredients to make 25 gallons of illegal beer. Presumably they get caught. That's why they're taken to jail.

It's their first talkie but some of the verbal gags are unexpectedly cute. So the dynamic duo are being booked. "What's your name?", the gruff desk sergeant demands of Laurel. "Stanley Laurel," is the obedient answer. "Say SIR when you speak to me!" "Sir Stanley Laurel." More are routine puns but still amusing. What's a comet? A star with a tail on it. Correct -- name one. "Rin-tin-tin." For you young uns, Rin-tin-tin was a famous dog in the early movies. Hardy seems to break the fourth wall more often than usual but not enough to turn the viewer off.

There are scenes that some might find irritating or offensive because they are echt-non-PC. Laurel and Hardy escape from prison, don blackface, and join a small community of black who pick cotton and live in tumbledown houses. But so what? A lot of blacks in the South DID pick cotton. They're presented as positively as any other group -- singing and enjoying themselves after a hard day's work -- and Laurel and Hardy are perfectly comfortable in their company. Hardy sings "Lazy Moon," totally forgettable, while the banjo and guitar back him up, and Laurel does a little dance. Later, when they're back behind the walls, a quintet of inmates sings the more successful "I Want To Go Back to Michigan," written by Irving Berlin in 1914. From a materialist point of view, disregarding ethics, this was 1931 and all of the actors in this movie -- stars and extras alike, black or white -- were collecting pay checks that might be otherwise hard to come by.

One of the more notable scenes: Laurel and Hardy in the waiting room, about to have the dentist pull one of Laurel's teeth. There's no slapstick at all. One by one, the waiting prisoners are ushered into the dentist's office and shortly afterwards we hear screams of pain and fear, the crashing of pots and pans, while Laurel quivers in fright. Maybe I responded the way I did because one of the phrases I most dread hearing is a dentist saying, "Now just open wide and turn this way a little." The direction is pretty crude -- lots of close ups of faces registering one or another intense emotion. But the story has continuity and leads to a properly kinetic climax with some imaginatively choreographed slapstick.

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10/10

Comedy On The Lam

Ron Oliver21 June 2003

In & out of prison, Stan & Ollie just can't seem to stay out of trouble.

"PARDON US" was the Boys' first starring feature film. Rather disjointed and poorly edited, it plays more like a few of their short subjects strung together. However, the Boys never falter and they deliver a film whose parts are greater than its whole.

The film was meant to be a spoof of MGM's popular THE BIG HOUSE (1930) and it helps to have seen that earlier movie to fully appreciate this one. Many of the standard conventions of the typical prison film are mocked here: the understanding' warden, the dangerous convict cell mate, the confinement in Solitary, the escape chased by bloodhounds, the prison riot.

A few comedy pieces in particular stand out: Stan's loose tooth; Ollie in the dentist's chair; the Boys trying to settle into the constricted confines of an upper bunk. James Finlayson, Stan & Ollie's old nemesis, makes the most of his one scene as the prison schoolteacher driven to despair by the Boys' good-natured idiocy.

Walter Long is lots of fun as the Tiger, the meanest convict in the prison (Boris Karloff played the part for the French language version). Movie mavens will spot an uncredited Charlie Hall as the dental assistant.

An added delight is Babe Hardy's rendition of Lazy Moon,' one of the decade's finest film songs. Ollie had a warm, evocative voice, full of feeling and emotion. Here, backed by the magnificent Hall Johnson Choir, his song reaches out of the screen and down the decades to touch the hearts of the audience.

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7/10

Funny But Let Down By The Running Length

Theo Robertson18 December 2012

Warning: Spoilers

PARDON US is a very funny feature by Mr Laurel And Mr Hardy . It's one of these films you remember from childhood due to certain scenes such as Stan having a tooth complaint . He blows raspberrys which conversely brings him respect and wrath from victims . You'll remember these scenes when you see them again and are every bit as amusing as you recall from childhood . Indeed I always remember the scene featuring the song " Good morning to you , good morning to you , good morning dear teacher , good morning to you "

What time also does is make you forget the slightly more mundane moments where the plot deviates from the laugh out loud moments . With a running time of 67 minutes not even Stan and Ollie can continue momentum and make every single scene a lesson on comic brilliance . Here there's a subplot where the boys make their escape and get a job as cotton pickers . Needless to say in the 21st century some quarters can accuse the film of being politically incorrect as two white men paint themselves in black face but since it's Stan and Ollie the only two men in history who can share a bed without innuendo this can go without mention . The problem is that this section isn't all that amusing and seems included to pad out the running time

All in all it's a good feature with regulars James Finlayson and Walter Long being in top form in familiar roles as are the two stars . What stops the film from being a true classic is the length which is slightly padded out and would have benefited from a slightly shorter running time

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9/10

Their first full-length feature is one to remember!

Boba_Fett113815 February 2006

This was the first full-length movie from Laurel & Hardy, that last over 1 hour long. Their first effort is definitely one of their better ones.

Difference with most other Laurel & Hardy movies is that this one actually has a story and continuity in it. It's more than just one slapstick and comical moment after another and it's obvious that they definitely put lots of effort in the story. The movie is constantly funny although the movie could had done without those musical numbers in my opinion. It's extremely old fashioned and takes the pace right out of the movie.

Besides the two boys the movie also has some other memorable characters in it such as Wilfred Lucas as the jail warden, James Finlayson as the jail schoolteacher and Walter Long as fellow prisoner The Tiger. Especially Walter Long stands out in his role and he plays an extremely fun character who of course gives the two an hard time.

The movie is very fine constructed and build up to the memorable ending in which one big jail break is attempted. It's pretty violent stuff for Laurel & Hardy standards and I had never thought that I would ever see the two of them holding a gun. The ending is almost action movie like but it of course is also extremely hilarious at the same time.

There are quite some returning running gags in the movie that all help to make this movie a very memorable one. Also enough slapstick humor is present so fans of that will also be delighted with this movie.

9/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

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6/10

Not as dire as "The Bohemian Girl" (nothing could be) but still well below par

csrothwec17 May 2018

Further proof that the boys should never have progressed beyond the 30 minute/short format except when they had guaranteed gold on their hands ("Way Out West" and (above all!) "Sons of the Desert"). This offering just goes on and on and never really raises the kind of belly laughs you can get by the score just from watching a golden short like "The Music Box". The gags seem laboured (Stan's loose tooth ceases being funny after about the second occurrence) and even James Finlayson's double-takes seem out of place ("teacher"to a "class" of ultra hard-boiled convicts sitting sedately behind school desks and behaving like ten-year school children?! Some of the script writers had VERY strange notions of what prison life was/is like!) The pits, though, are reached when Stan and Ollie "hide out" among negroes on (where else?) a cotton plantation. You cannot really blame them/the script writers, the director etc etc for conforming SO utterly with the morality of most of the people of the time but you DO have to recall this was also the decade when Paul Robeson was appearing on screen and Orson Welles was casting all-black productions of 'Macbeth'! Some civil courage/backbone would have been welcome as opposed to stereotypical portrayals which would have delighted KKK members when the film was shown in cinemas they frequented and would not have been out of place in "Birth of a Nation"! Finally, the editing of the version I saw (claimed to be 'fully restored and remastered') was just a total mess, jumping from scene to scene without any transition/rational links and breaking the (in any case) minimal story line. No, overall, watching this was a sad and dispiriting experience (and one I shall certainly not repeat willingly.) WHAT a shame that the greatest comedy combination there has ever been wasted their time on such things.

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5/10

Mediocre L&H comedy

JoeytheBrit22 March 2010

This was Laurel & Hardy's first feature-length film, and it's clear they're not too comfortable with the format: too much padding, not enough laughs. They play a couple of would-be beer barons who find themselves in the slammer after trying to sell beer to a cop, and they look like veritable lambs to the slaughter as they fall foul of Walter Long, the evil-eyed Tiger. The best thing about this film – apart from the boys themselves, who rise effortlessly above their rather mediocre material – is the great array of weather-beaten punch-drunk faces of the character actors chosen to flesh out the parts of the other inmates. They all look like they spend most of their time loitering in dark alleyways waiting for some poor soul to come wandering past.

There's a lot of content that would be considered politically incorrect in these wonderfully enlightened times, and for once the film would probably be no worse off if it wasn't there. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but for the most part this one falls far short of the boy's usual high standard. The editing, in particular, is shockingly bad – even for 1931.

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Laurel's and Hardy's first full length

Petey-101 February 2000

In Laurel's and Hardy's first full length talking picture the boys go behind bars.And Stan's loose tooth gets the boys in trouble many times, when it starts making a funny noise every time he speaks.Pardon Us offers you many funny moments with Laurel and Hardy.

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6/10

Pardon Us

jboothmillard12 January 2010

Warning: Spoilers

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. Stan and Ollie have been put in prison for trying to sell beer to a policeman, and their situation is made worse when Stan can't stop blowing raspberries with his loose tooth. After some trouble removing their belongings, they finish bathing and dress in their new uniforms, and when the Prison Guard (Stanley 'Tiny' J. Sandford) tells Ollie to "fall in", that's just what he does, slipping on soap and falling in the bath water. They are put in the same cell as The Tiger (Walter Long), possibly the meanest criminal in the prison, who seems to like Stan's buzzing (tooth), but doesn't want to hear it too often or from anyone else. After a restless sleep with an uncomfortable and collapsing bed bunk, the next morning all prisoners attend a class with the Schoolteacher (James Finlayson) to learn some things. The class sees some confusing with the knocking to sit down and stand up, some unintentionally joking, and the teacher getting an ink covered screwed up bit of paper in the face, which gets the boys put in the hole. Next day, The Tiger, his gang and the boys manage to escape, and the boys wind up working at the side of the road with many black people harvesting crops, and they have blacked up too (politically incorrect today). After seeing some singing and dancing, the boys are eventually caught by the Warden (Wilfred Lucas) when his car stalls, they fix it, and Stan forgets his buzzing tooth problem. Back in prison, Stan does eventually get to go to the dentist and have the loose tooth pulled out, and he does, after the dentist mistakenly does Ollie. Just after announcing a hunger strike, the boys are lied to by a guard of the delicious food to expect at dinner, and they get the usual not so tasty stuff. The Tiger plans another escape, after he deals with the boys for squealing, so many guns are passed under the tables, and Stan manages to start a raid of many guns going off when he accidentally fires. During this raid with guns all over the place, the boys try to rescue the Warden's Daughter (June Marlowe) from a burning building, and they do eventually do it. Then The Tiger tries to catch them again, they avoid him and other inmates twice with accidentally firing a machine gun, and when the guards eventually get in, the end sees the boys allowed free, only to be chased away by the Warden for Stan buzzing again. Filled with wonderful slapstick and all classic comedy you could want from a black and white film, it is an enjoyable film. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were number 7 on The Comedians' Comedian, and "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" was number 60 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes. Good!

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6/10

Trying to stay out of trouble

TheLittleSongbird22 September 2018

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

Although a vast majority of Laurel and Hardy's previous efforts ranged from above average to very good ('45 Minutes from Hollywood' being the only misfire and mainly worth seeing as a curiosity piece and for historical interest, and even that wasn't a complete mess), 'Two Tars' for me was their first truly classic one with close to flawless execution. After all their efforts between that and this being decent to brilliant, their first full length feature 'Pardon Us' came up somewhat short, for me it was their weakest effort for quite some time up to this point and almost all their feature films that came after fared much better.

'Pardon Us' weakest points were the story and the pacing. The story is barely existent and feels cobbled together, like a series of sketches or a couple of shorts in one feature film which gave a disjointed feel. Although 'Pardon Us' was short, the content was not enough to sustain the length and it did feel more like a very padded short film rather than a feature film. There is a fair bit of padding and some of it comes over as over-stretched.

Most of the comedy material is fine, apart from some repetition here and there. Some of the editing is a touch on the sloppy side.

It is a nicely shot feature though and it is competently directed. There are a lot of amusing moments and the best parts are hilarious if not quite classic. The supporting cast do solidly enough.

Laurel and Hardy, as they rightly should be, are the stars. They show impeccable comic timing, especially Laurel though it was always great when their style had fully settled and their output evolved Hardy had more to do and able to show off his equal amount of talent more. Together, one can totally understand why they were such a legendary partnership. It was fully formed by this point and felt like a proper partnership, when before 'Two Tars' you mostly had them not having enough screen time together and Hardy having little to do. Not so on either count here.

On the whole, disappointing but worthwhile enough. 6/10 Bethany Cox

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6/10

pardon us

mossgrymk26 December 2020

First half is pretty good with a number of funny set pieces...Stan's struggle with a too skimpy blanket and the irascible but stupid prison school instructor being the two most memorable. But then the offensive and unfunny blackface stuff comes along and the movie never quite recovers. Give it a C plus. PS...Interesting title in light of this week's headlines from Pres. Trumpollini.

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10/10

No Pardons Necessary For This Masterpiece

Sunsphxsuns6 January 2022

Call me crazy ("Hey, crazy!") but I never enjoyed silent era films. I tried, oh I tried, but each time an actor's mouth moved there was nothing but an awkward silence. Then after what seemed too lengthy of a wait, a placard flashed on the TV screen, reflecting what the actor had just said moments before. I found this to be very distracting, plus it slowed down the natural comedic timing. This lapse between action and dialog, for me, was like watching an entire movie subtitled, and I couldn't square the two up.

That being said, I didn't watch any of the short and feature length "TV reruns" unless they were "talkies." As a kid who was fortunate enough to have a tiny black and white TV set in my bedroom, every Saturday morning before my parents or the Sun were up, I was thoroughly mesmerized by the vaudevillian, overtly physical humor of Buster Keaton, Our Gang (The Little Rascals), The Three Stooges, and of course, Laurel & Hardy.

The first Our Gang (The Little Rascals) talkie was "Small Talk" released in 1929. Buster Keaton's first talkie was "Free and Easy," released in 1930. The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly) most recognized talkie was The Woman Haters (1934). "Unaccustomed As We Are," released worldwide in 1929, was Laurel and Hardy's film debut with sound. It was an immediate hit with audiences.

Unlike many of their silent film era contemporaries who couldn't make the transition from silent to sound film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy effortlessly slipped into this new media. Both actors had the rare gift of "comedic timing," and the duo knew how to thoroughly exploit sight gags. Moreover, lovable Hardy routinely broke the "fourth wall" of film, and after each hilarious yet tragic gag, he would often look straight at the camera as if to say, "Can you believe what just happened to me?"

Pardon Us (1931) is Laurel & Hardy's first starring feature film and coincidentally is one of their funniest (on the L&H DVD set it runs a full 1:10 while televised versions cut it to 1:04). L&H we're masters at filling out meager plots with maximum improvisation. The idea of putting the boys in jail was brilliant!

Ollie sings for us (he had a beautiful and natural singing voice) and Stanley delivers some riotous, eccentric dancing, the kind that would make anyone laugh. It's that good!

This comedy is brilliantly choreographed by two of the arguably most iconic comedic teams in history, and they are supported by a wonderful set of familiar actors who would often appear in many future Laurel & Hardy shorts and feature length films.

No spoilers here as usual, but I will reveal that there is a brief cameo of Hal Roach (after all, it was Roach's studio) marching in front of Ollie after he is recaptured.

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7/10

Life in the Slammer

Hitchcoc12 January 2017

Stan and Ollie are sent to jail for making home brew which they decide to sell during the Depression (and, of course, Prohibition). Stan insults the Warden because he has a vibrating tooth which makes it sound like he is giving the guy the raspberries. They are put in prison with the worst of the worst, who respects them because Stan does his vibrating tooth thing (he is seen as courageous). When the boys get caught up in a jailbreak, they manage to escape and go on to hide in cotton fields in the South with a bunch of black people. Unfortunately, the Warden and his daughter come along, and now they are back in prison. What happens after this involves another effort to escape. This is a cute movie. Stan even sings in this one.

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9/10

A couple of beer barons, giving out free raspberries.

weezeralfalfa17 November 2018

Warning: Spoilers

I don't care what the detractors say, this is one of my favorite L&H feature-length films, , as well as their first such film. Not bad for a picture that originally was conceived as just another comedy short. Part of the reason I like it so much is the occasional presence of 2 charismatic supporting actors. One is Walter Long, cast as 'The Tiger': leader of attempts to break out of prison and stage a prison riot. He certainly had a distinctive 'tough guy' face and demeanor. However, he wasn't always as tough in his behavior. Of course, Walter played tough guys in several other L&H shorts and features. .......The second charismatic supporting actor is Jimmy Finlayson, also frequently seen in other L&H comedy shorts and features. Here he plays the prison schoolmaster, and is hysterically funny, with his signature squinty-eye double takes. Stan gives imaginative answers to some of his questions. For example, Jim asks what a blizzard is. Stan answers "The insides of a buzzard". Jim asks what a comet is. Stan says "a star with a tail on it". Jim : "Can you give an example?" Stan says "Rin Tin Tin"! ........Periodically, Stan gets in big trouble for making a raspberry-like sound, supposedly with a loose tooth. At one point, a prison guard takes him to the dentist(Otto Fries) to cure the problem. But, initially, the dentist gets confused, when Ollie sits in the dentist's chair to demonstrate how simple it will be, to the fearful Stan. Yes, the dentist asks no questions, and pulls Ollie's tooth. Stan then gets his turn, but the raspberries continue, as most dramatically illustrated when responding to the pardon the boys received for(accidentally) aiding in foiling the prison riot. The warden went ballistic, as he did when that happened at their first meeting..........Incidentally, the boys were sent to prison for illegally selling home brew.(This was still the Prohibition Era). Stan tried to sell some to a policemen, whom he thought was a streetcar conductor! After the warden's pardon speech, stupid Stan invited him to try some of their brew!..........Things get very hectic when Stan doesn't understand why a Thompson submachine gun was passed to him under the dining table. He pulls it out, and, pointing at Ollie, asks "What is this for?" Ollie's shocked response resulted in it being fired in the air, causing the inmates to run for their lives. This also alerted the authorities that a prison riot was imminent. Later, when The Tiger-led rioters wanted to get through a prison gate, first Stan, and then Ollie, fired the gun into the floor or walls, causing the rioters to retreat from the gate. Eventually, when they ran out of bullets, the state militia was at the gate, to save them and quell the riot...........Although some reviews don't like the inclusion of musical numbers, as interruptions of the action, as a fan of musical comedies, I saw this as a welcomed break in the harshness of the prison scene...........While picking cotton, the Etude Ethiopian Chorus sang several spirituals that are not included in the 'Soundtracks' section at this site. This was followed by a rendition of "Lazy Moon", by a blackfaced Ollie, backed up by the Hall Johnson choir. Stan did a bit of dancing to it. ........Later, after the boys were back in prison, the Avalon Boys, while in the exercise yard, sang Irving Berlin's "Wish I Was in Michigan Again", a keeper song for me. Judy Garland sang it in the musical "Easter Parade". Again, this song is not listed under 'Soundtracks' at this site, apparently, because neither Stan nor Ollie was involved. Incidentally, the boys were wearing rather light blackface, so that they fit in with the other cotton pickers, and hopefully avoided notice by the overseer(I noticed that Stan was putting whole branches in his bag, whereas Ollie only put in the bolls.) Unfortunately, they were called upon to try to fix the warden's car, which stopped near them. While Ollie was under the car, looking for a problem, a dog came along and licked some of the blackface off. He redistributed some from other areas, and Stan got some more from inside the hood. However, their cover was blown when Stan's tooth made a raspberry. Incidentally, the warden's daughter(Played by June Marlowe) discovered the problem with the car. It was out of gas!........See it in B&W or the colorized version,(I saw the latter) at YouTube.

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7/10

A fine classic, if less robust in its humor & marked with faults

I_Ailurophile19 August 2023

Like many of their contemporaries, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy could be relied upon time and again for a steady stream of gags, physical comedy, situational humor, and some witty dialogue. While their brand of frivolity was often lighter and gentler than that of, say, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, or The Three Stooges, in the very least viewers can be assured of consistent amusement, if not big smiles or hearty laughs. This particular picture tends toward the more passively enjoyable side of the duo's oeuvre, eliciting big reactions less frequently by comparison to others, but it's hard to go with Laurel and Hardy at large, and 'Pardon us' remains a splendid classic of the early sound era.

The pacing generally, and comedic timing specifically, feel a bit too relaxed here, reducing the entertainment to some extent. This is in addition to a considerable range in quality between bits; some are fine fun while others pass by indifferently. Moreover, rough spots in the editing can surely be attributed to the fact of different versions having been made or distributed, but nevertheless the breaks are often all too apparent. And as one further consideration, this is a title that makes use of blackface; at least here it's a question not of taking the place of black actors but instead one of having fun at the expense of the characters in question, but the inclusion is unfortunate all the same, and ill-considered. Still, even with all this having been said, the chemistry between the stars remains intact even in their weakest moments, and whether individually or as a set they carry high energy and mirth about them to carry the proceedings.

The writing is swell in the broad strokes, despite imperfections, and likewise James Parrott's direction. The sets look fantastic, and while stunts and practical effects are relatively deemphasized in 'Pardon us' they still come off well, with the climax being a major highlight in this and all other regards. Sound effects instead take greater precedence in this case, and are inarguably a minor joy. When all is said and done this may not stand as tall as some of Laurel and Hardy's other works, though in fairness, this was their first full-length feature. In any event, it's a good time more than not, and can claim a strong finish in the last stretch. I don't think it's something one needs to go out of their way to see, and the faults should be noted, but if you do have the chance to check out 'Pardon us' it's a decent watch and another small gem in the stars' crown.

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8/10

Pardon Us is a mostly fine feature debut for Laurel & Hardy

tavm27 January 2012

Just rewatched Pardon Us, Laurel & Hardy's first feature film having been a success in two-reel shorts for years. It wasn't originally supposed to have been. See, producer Hal Roach had wanted to use the prison set of his distributor M-G-M's The Big House for his L & H parody but got upset when he was informed he would have to loan them to Leo the Lion's studio in return. So he had the expensive set duplicated at his Culver City lot with the decision to pad the film to recoup costs. Anyway, while the added scenes do seem extraneous, I got plenty of laughs anyway so it's all good. Like that scene with James Finlayson as a professor trying to teach his students and getting lots of nonsense answers when asking for certain facts. That sequence is all the sweeter as it plays the Our Gang theme of "Good Old Days" by Leroy Shield since it's reminiscent of a similar one in one of their shorts. Oh, and the version I'm reviewing is the longer preview print running 65 minutes that I taped off of AMC back in the '90s. Since Black History Month is in several days, I'd like to also note that the singers at the plantation scenes are that of Etude Ethiopian Chorus as directed by Freita Shaw. Oliver Hardy himself has a marvelous singing voice as evident when he warbles "Lazy Moon" with them. By the way, the blackface on both him and Stan doesn't cross the line to offensive since they don't look or act like the stereotype caricatures one associates with the makeup when it's put on. Really, all I'll say now is if you're a die hard Laurel & Hardy fan, I highly recommend this extant version of Pardon Us.

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5/10

not one of their finest moments

mortenwebstar216 March 2006

Stan & Ollie's "Pardon Us" is not one of their most memorable films, and not one of their funniest. Stan and Ollie are send to jail for selling beer, they later escape but are recaptured. The plot seems pretty thick compared to comedy films of that day, and there seems to be less attention paid among the scriptwriters on jokes and funny moments. The running gag through the movie is Stan's loose tooth, which makes him sound like he insults everyone. It's not very funny, and gets extremely repetitive and thus predictable. And if you look past that joke, then there isn't much left to laugh about about.

And that is pretty much the problem. Not once during the movie did I laugh. Just a halfway grin on occasion. So it remains just a little film, that you watch, and then forget. There are of course a few half funny moments, Stan trying to get comfortable to sleep in his and Ollie's bed at the prison. The scene at the dentist, the scene at the prison school (with Finlayson, who makes his usual - but still great - mimics) and the ending of the film are all OK moments, but not that much more. There's an extremely huge amount of singing in the movie. Singing at the prison, and while Stan and Ollie escapes, they hide as black workers on a cotton farm, leading to classic "negro-spirituals" and similar. It's not bad at all, but it drags on a bit too much.

So all in all, too much regular movie'ish plot, and too little solid comedy. It's not a bad film at all, but far from being a Stan 6 Ollie classic.

A few years later, the boys would make "Sons Of The Desert", a master example on a classic Stan & Ollie movie. And it success "Pardon Us" in every way possible.

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Laurel and Hardy's First Full-Length Feature

CHARLIE-8928 October 2000

PARDON US, filmed in 1930 then edited down and released in 1931, is Laurel and Hardy's first feature-length comedy. In it, they are set to jail after Stan sells some illegal brew to a policeman ("Well, I couldn't help it-I thought he was a streetcar conductor!"). The whole film is pretty funny. There isn't much story, but a series of funny things that happen to the boys in jail. The finale has Stan and Ollie foiling a jailbreak. Highlights of the film include a great "welcoming" scene with extremely tolerant warden Wilfred Lucas, Laurel and Hardy posing as African American sharecroppers (with Stan shoving entire plants of cotton into his bag while Hardy daintily picks each piece of cotton with care), and a hilarious schoolroom scene with teacher James Finlayson! Not up to the standard of SONS OF THE DESERT or WAY OUT WEST, but still very funny. Try and get the complete 65-minute version that was on video in the early 1980s.

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