The Big Noise (1944)

Director:

Malcolm St. Clair

Writer:

Scott Darling (screenplay)

Release Date:

October 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance | War

Tagline:

The Laugh BANG Of A Lifetime !

Plot:

During World War II Stan and Ollie find themselves as improbable bodyguards to an eccentric inventor and his strategically important new bomb.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Inventor | Japanese | Janitor | Detective

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stan
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie
Doris Merrick	...	Evelyn
Arthur Space	...	Alva P. Hartley
Veda Ann Borg	...	Mayme Charlton
Robert Blake	...	Egbert Hartley (as Bobby Blake)
Frank Fenton	...	Charlton
James Bush	...	Hartman

Runtime:

74 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 #10085) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

According to Laurel and Hardy biographer Randy Skretvedt, the film's finale, in which Laurel drops a bomb on a Japanese spy submarine, got cheers from wartime audiences.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the duo are in the hi-tech bedroom, and Ollie rides the bed back out of the wall, the following sequences show that the rotating table is first clear, then has the pipe and magnifying glass back on it, then is clear again, and then has the chairs re-arranged.

Quotes:

Oliver: What a beautiful picture.
Alva P. Hartley: Yes, that cost a lot of money. It's a Vandyke.
Stanley: A what?
Alva P. Hartley: A Vandyke. You know what a Vandyke is.
Stanley: Oh, yeah. My uncle had one, but he had to have it shaved off.
Oliver: Shh!
Stanley: What?
Oliver: Vandyke was a painter, not a beard.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Savages (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze

The Big Noise

I don't know why this movie always gets such a bad rap. I think it is funnier than any of the other non Hal Roach films (this was a 20th Century Fox release.) It is considerably different than many of their other movies (no pies in the face, no cars sawed in two, and no vase smashing) because of ration issues during World War II. (Although it claims to have no destruction in it that's not entirely true because Ollie gets his pants ripped up in the hallway in one scene.) But you can definitely detect wartime feelings abounded during production. Indeed that's the story. Eccentric California Inventor has been driving the patent office in DC crazy with goofy prototypes. He finally may have struck a chord with a "blockbuster bomb that sounds like a popgun." DC is interested but they're not the only ones that are interested. Next door kniving neighbors who are mixed up with a cadre of gangsters are also eying the explosive to send to the Axis powers. In a telephone mix-up (purpetrated by the Inventors son, a very young Robert Blake) he is advised to guard the bomb with his life. The solution? Enter Laurel and Hardy. Two wannabe detectives working for a now vacant janitor office (all employees are on government business). With no options they accept the job to guard the bomb. The job is carried out in usual Laurel and Hardy fashion: first Ollie makes friends with a streetlight that has been freshly painted, then Stan wrecks havoc on an expensive painting, and the old codger father-in-law explains to Stan the dangers of his daughter who lives in the house. That's just the beginning... Some funny scenes to watch for- The light's out scene in the push button bedroom, the train scene, and the rigged poker game. Possibly the funniest moment in this movie comes when Stan is playing "Mairzy Doats" on the concertina accordion. One of the funniest scenes I've seen! This is a great movie, don't let others talk you out of seeing it.