The Midnight Patrol (1933)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Lloyd French

Writers:

Release Date:

3 August 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Comedy

Plot:

Novice policemen Stanley and Oliver, eating lunch in their patrol car, nearly have their spare tire stolen by a thief and his sassy partner...

Plot Keywords:

Safecracker | Sauerkraut | Car Trouble | False Arrest | Homicide

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Officer Stanley Laurel
Oliver Hardy	...	Officer Oliver Hardy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louise Beavers	...	Maid (scenes deleted)
Harry Bernard	...	Jail visitor
Billy Bletcher	...	Radio dispatcher (voice)
Frank Brownlee	...	Police Chief Ramsbottom
Edgar Dearing	...	Policeman
Eddie Dunn	...	Sergeant
Charlie Hall	...	Tire thief's partner
Bob Kortman	...	Tire thief
James C. Morton	...	Policeman
Tiny Sandford	...	Policeman
Frank Terry	...	Safecracker (as Walter Plinge)

Runtime:

20 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

The cast list includes "Frank Terry (as Walter Plinge)". This draws on an old theatre tradition: When one actor has to play two separate parts, the credit for the second part is given to a fictitious actor named "Walter Plinge".

Goofs:

Continuity: Stan and Ollie argue about their last day off, but at the end of the film they claim it's their first day on the job.

Quotes:

Stanley: If you come back here again, I'll arrest you.
Tire thief: Who will?
Stanley: I... We will.
Tire thief's partner: Oh, is that so?

Same old Laurel and Hardy in a whole new setting

When I first started watching this short, I kept asking myself what type of police force is THAT stupid or short-sighted to give Laurel and Hardy jobs as cops?! Having the boys play policemen is a nice departure from the norm and it seems ironic that they played jailbirds in many more films! Regardless, the team behave much as you'd expect in this new role--they completely miss obvious crimes right in front of their faces but manage to apprehend the one person they meet who is actually minding his own business! Along the way, Stan and Ollie bumble and break stuff and act pretty much their usual selves. In a way, it's a real shame that aside from them being cops, this film is so very conventional and doesn't offer that many new ideas or gags. This isn't to say this is a bad film--just not anything extraordinarily different from the norm.