Customer Reviews

Nothing But Trouble [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In this 1944 MGM comedy directed by Sam Taylor, Laurel & Hardy are the chef and butler who foil a plot by enemy agents to poison the young exiled King Christopher (David Leland). On the one hand "Nothing But Trouble" spends time developing the boy-king's growing love for the joys of common democracy, such as playing football. Then we have the comic sequences in which Laurel & Hardy wreck a dinner party, try to take a steak away from a hungry lion, and end up on the ledge of a skyscraper. Clearly the boys are getting too old for this kind of stuff. Not as bad as "The Big Noise," but too close for comfort. Watching this one will only make you feel sad and not in a good way.

this is one of the last films that laurel and hardy did and it makes me sad to give my favorite comedic duo only 3 stars.the thing i hate with their movies,as well as abbott and costello's,are that theres not enough of them in it.we always have to suffer through other peoples bad acting and bad singing,all of which always hamper how good these films deserved to be.of course this doesn't overshadow the comedic genius of laurel and hardy.this film is worthy for at least 2 scenes that i can think of.one is they forget to buy a steak for the dinner that they are making for their rich employer and instead decide to try to steal one from a lion.the other would have to be laurel and hardy trying to cut the steak that hardy just cooked.funny stuff indeed but these two deserved so much better.

This movie is a bit shorter than I would've liked, and therefore doesn't get enough of a chance to develop beyond a lightweight trifle, but what is there is quite enjoyable. It's a little surprising at first to see how the boys have aged (though they were only in their fifties when this movie was made) and how therefore they're no longer able to be quite as physical and reckless as they were when younger, but there are still some quite good moments. Highlights include the football game, the dinner party at the house where Stan and Ollie are first working, retrieving the steak from the lion's cage to serve at dinner, and, in the scene towards the end (which had me in stitches) when they're hanging by the windowsill trying not to fall off of the building and Stan, overreacting as always, holding onto Ollie's legs for dear life, manages to make his friend's fall pants down. The subplot with the boy king is more than just a little stupid, but the scenes he has with the boys are quite touching, showing just how genuinely they cared about children and the less fortunate. It's not a masterpiece, but it is pretty fun for what it is.

Some may wonder why on Earth I give this movie "5 stars", but the answer is simple. -Of all the mid-40's movies this genius duo did at the end of their career, there's no question about it; this is the best. It's slow in places, but there are some very funny scenes (like the plank sequence), the story's interesting and the cast is good, especially Leland as the sympathetic boy-king. This MGM movie is way better than any of the ones they did for Fox. All we need now is for someone to clean up and restore all of their films; short and long talkies as well as the silents, and put them out on DVD. They deserve just as much thorough attention as any other old b/w stuff (horror classics, etc.) being released now. -But it should be done soon, before it's too late. (And no colorazion, please !.)

I'm sitting here, trying to think of something good to say about this film, and I just can't do it.

Laurel and Hardy simply don't fit into this movie at all. The scenes that they do have aren't the least bit funny, and the movie actually makes you kinda sad when you wonder how bad Stan must've felt about doing it.

It isn't the worst Laurel and Hardy movie, I reserve that spot for Utopia......but it's pretty darn close.

Near the end of their very disappointing sojourn with the big studios, the team survived another marginal film offering a distorted view of the original characters. However, this time around, Stan and Babe fight the crooks on behalf of a child King, well played by David Leland. It's probably their most sentimental movie but it is not cloying - the good scenes involving a sleight of hand removal of meat from a lion's cage and serving a meal to Mary Boland & company elevate this effort to above average for their later work.

Being a fan of L & H, I hate to put one of their films down. But this, despite having a good plot and a wonderfully emotional 'forced suicide' scene, is nothing more than a cash-in. The big producers obviously had not the slightest idea what had made Stan and Ollie so funny during the thirties and the biwigs refusing to let Stan Laurel include little in-jokes mean that this film is very thin on humour indeed. Looks like MGM decided to relie on the sheer presence of the famous duo to sell this film and as such rested on their l...sorry.

After a promising start, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's 1944 effort plunges into a sea of MGM mediocrity with a ludicrous plot involving the attempted murder of a boy king. However, Chef Ollie's "Steak a la Oliver" is worth a few laughs.

Despite the odd funny scene, this film leaves a sad feeling as L & H really dont look like they belong in this film. There are a few jokes that are worth seeing, but dont see this until you have watched all their Hal Roach films and are desperate to see more L & H material.

Lots of people knock the 1940s Laurel & Hardy movies, but I happen to think this is a very enjoyable little picture. I watched it again last night and chuckled throughout. L&H are a little older here, and the comedy isn't quite as raucus, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing for all tastes. I think the plot is sentimental, but heartwarming, and it keeps things interesting. All the comedy scenes are quite funny, and Mary Boland is hilarious. I certainly would recommend this movie for family viewing, and kids are sure to like it.