October 16, 2014
Nothing But Trouble
– US, 1944
For a few minutes, Laurel and Hardy’s 1944 film Nothing But Trouble has potential, but
only for a few minutes. In these brief moments, we get the possibility of seeing
the comedy duo run amok in the kitchen. We hear of the long line of cooks and
butlers in their respective families (and we see the pictures to prove it) and
long for them to get the chance to prove to the world just how far the apple
truly falls from the tree. Instead, we get a half-baked concoction that is part
drama, part Prince and the Pauper, and
part intended comedy, yet perhaps its greatest accomplishment is the growing sense
of discomfort that the film can provoke as it progresses.
This unease is due in large part to the inclusion of two
rather fruitless plot devices. The more egregious of these involves a plot to
assassinate an exiled king who is little more than a child. This part of the
film is played straight, and I have yet to see a film succeed when asking an
audience to laugh one moment and take everything seriously the next. In other scenes,
the endangered king uses the threat of child abuse and starvation as a means
of hanging out with Stan and Oliver, and I couldn’t help wondering just who in
their right mind would find these scenes either funny or clever.
Also, working against the film are jokes that run counter to
present-day sensibilities. In one particularly cringe-inducing moment, Oliver
is explaining his experience cooking for Japanese soldiers, presumably as a prisoner
of war. When asked what the Japanese thought of his cooking, he replies that
they preferred a dish of their own – something called hara-kiri. Laughing yet? The
film fairs better in its depiction of spoiled rich folks during a period of very
low unemployment. In one scene, Stan and Oliver enter an employment agency and
are immediately set upon by people eager to hire them without so much as a
quick glance at their resumes. The woman that eventually hires them sneaks them
out a window and whisks them away in her car. Later, when the woman’s husband returns
home, she playfully insinuates that she has a surprise for him in the kitchen.
He looks in and cheerfully utters, “Servants!” He’s like a kid on Christmas
morning.
Had the film stuck with this plot device and just presented
a series of humorous escapades involving the duo’s attempts to make it in their
profession, it may have worked a great deal better than it does. However, by
1944, it seems clear that studio executives no longer had confidence in pure
slapstick, and so they piled on a series of unwise and unsuccessful attempts at
both youthful frivolity and film noir schemes. There’s even an unnecessarily
long scene involving the king’s attempts to play American football. One guess
who scores the winning touchdown. And when the film does indeed focus on Laurel
and Hardy, it gives them very little to work with and not a lot of screen time
for these scene to develop naturally. As a result, some of the film’s most promising
gags are over before you know it, and you’re left shaking your head at the
missed opportunities. In particular, a promising scene involving the duo’s attempts
to steal a steak from a lion at the zoo feels rushed, and a later scene in which
Laurel and Hardy attempt to cut the steak for their new employer starts off
promising but fizzles out long before the scene is actually over.
In the end, Nothing
But Trouble is nothing to write home about. It contains a few nice moments
and produces a few earnest chuckles. However, it is hard to look at the film
and not come to the conclusion that studios had simply run out of ideas for the
long-time team. In fact, for long stretches of film, Laurel and Hardy seem to
be playing supporting characters, and just who wants to see a Laurel and Hardy
film in which they play second-fiddle to much less appealing characters? (on
DVD)
2 and a half stars
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