The Dancing Masters (1943)

Director:

Malcolm St. Clair

Writers:

Scott Darling (screenplay)
George Bricker (story)

Release Date:

19 November 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Two bumbling dance teachers help an awkward inventor sell his new invention and facilitate his romance with a beautiful socialite.

Plot Keywords:

Inventor | Ballet | Dance Teacher | Double Decker Bus | Secretary

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Trudy Marshall	...	Trudy Harlan
Robert Bailey	...	Grant Lawrence
Matt Briggs	...	Wentworth Harlan
Margaret Dumont	...	Louise Harlan
Allan Lane	...	George Worthing

Also Known As:

A Matter of Money (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #9480) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The revolving bar set at Matt Briggs' house was left over from the W.C. Fields temperance scene from 1942's Tales of Manhattan (1942). As the sequence was eventually cut, Fox was able to utilize the standing set for this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the runaway bus scene, the double-decker goes past the same buildings twice.

Quotes:

Stan Laurel: [taking a book out of the bookcase] "Boswell's Life of Johnson." Gee, I bet that's interesting.
Oliver Hardy: Yeah, I remember that Jess Willard knocked him out. It sure was a hot day!
Stan Laurel: Gee, I'll have to read that.

Movie Connections:

References County Hospital (1932)

Soundtrack:

Amaryllis

Very little dancing,or humour

Another unfortunate chapter in Laurel & Hardy's post-Hal Roach efforts,this is a desultory,poorly-constructed comedy which tries to compensate by reworking much material from the boys' Roach days.Such films as COUNTY HOSPITAL(1932),THICKER THAN WATER(1935) and THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY(1927) have revamped sequences in this film.THE DANCING MASTERS plot however,makes little sense and the scenes from the above earlier,better films seem to have been lazily added as an afterthought,almost as though screenwriter Scott Darling realises he has no funny ideas.This is probably correct,but sadly the reworkings don't work as they are pointless.Darling's own material is woefully hackneyed.The scenes where Ollie tries to cause an accident on Stan are at least of some interest,as these scenes reworked from THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY are lost.The supporting cast has some interesting names;Robert Mitchum in one of his earliest film roles;A former Roach Mrs.Hardy,Daphne Pollard,has a bit part;former Keystone Kop and Charlie Chaplin foil Hank Mann,in his only Laurel & Hardy film;and Margaret Dumont,The Marx Brothers perrenial leading lady.But they,like Stan & Ollie,can only do so much out of a banal screenplay.The best moments come from Stan's 'rhetorical strangle' and a locked safe;beyond that,there's little else.