Storyline

Oliver is heartbroken when he finds that Georgette, the inkeeper's daughter he's fallen in love with, is already married to dashing Foreign Legion officer Francois. To forget her, he joins the Legion, taking Stanley with him. Their bumbling eventually gets them charged with desertion and sentenced to a firing squad. They manage to escape in a stolen airplane, but crash after a wild ride.—Paul Penna

Plot Keywords

reincarnation, trial, unrequited love, arc de triomphe paris, notre dame cathedral, paris france, slapstick, desertion, screwball comedy, marriage proposal, remake, buddy, accidental death, airplane accident, american abroad, attempted suicide, death penalty, eiffel tower paris, 1930s, sneeze

Short Review

Peak slapstick comedy from the great Laurel & Hardy.Director A. Edward Sutherland's black comedy The Flying Deuces (1939) is the greatest slapstick comedy ever made. Laurel & Hardy have never been funnier, nor as ambitious. Sutherland's direction is peerless visually as he matches the erratic energy of Laurel & Hardy's lovable idiots on a journey from Paris' Seine River to the boys getting volunteered into The French Foreign Legion. Sutherland uses tiny room sets and large bases for sets to simulate the place and time period with a playful use of camera tricks to keep you believing Laurel & Hardy are either digging an escape tunnel or flying a plane hectically. A. Edward Sutherland is quite creative as director of Laurel & Hardy's comedy classic The Flying Deuces.I should say that The Flying Deuces was introduced to me by my late grandfather, who loved film, comedy, comics, and Laurel & Hardy. I've loved this picture ever since I was a small boy and it holds up causing delirious laughter all these years later.The Flying Deuces is particularly funny because of all the morbid humor thrown alongside silly slapstick. Laurel & Hardy joke about death, marriage, reincarnation, murder, suicide, romance, enlistment, desertion, incarceration, execution, and prisonbreaking. Charley Rogers, Ralph Spence, Fred Schiller, and Harry Langdon's script writing is just too fun and clever. Their dark wit and charming phrasing makes the ever endearing Laurel & Hardy characters eternally funny. I must mention introducing the idea of reincarnating early on in The Flying Deuces leads to the funniest twist ending in any comedy to date. The Flying Deuces gets a laugh with every line.Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are in top notch comedy form in The Flying Deuces. Their amiable and hostile relationship on screen is too funny in this peak comedy film of the dumb duo. Stan Laurel is so effortless as the dimwitted Laurel. He reacts to things with a cavalier attitude that's immediately endearing. Hardy is such a fun pairing as he's always angry, then suddenly coy with his tie twisting. I like how Hardy's always getting soaking wet, while Laurel keeps hitting into things. Hardy's indignant attitude towards the ever innocent and shy Laurel is constantly a source of laughter. Laurel & Hardy have to be my favorite comedy duo of all time.Mel Berns' make-up is nicely applied, making Jean Parker look exquisite as Georgette. She has nice chemistry with Reginald Gardiner's Francois from The French Foreign Legion, who casually suggests enlisting to the lads. I really like Charles Middleton's stuffy Commandant for The French Foreign Legion. Just the fact that Laurel & Hardy get drafted into the French Foreign Legion is funny enough on its own, but the strange fools mucking up strict military protocol is even better.In all, I highly recommend The Flying Deuces for Laurel & Hardy's idiotic antics and the writers' ingenious jokes. The Flying Deuces is a brisk 69 minutes, shot in gorgeous black and white, with innovative cinematography and entertaining comedy writing. What's not to like? The Flying Deuces is an iconic early comedy film.

Trailer

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