The Big Noise (1944)

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

Director:

Malcolm St. Clair

Writer:

Scott Darling (screenplay)

Stars:

Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Doris Merrick

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

Although they are only janitors at a detective agency, the boys pass themselves off as sleuths and are engaged to guard an inventor delivering a new bomb. They outwit enemy agents after the bomb and wind up sinking a Japanese submarine.

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Plot Keywords:

bomb | inventor | eccentric | submarine | detective | 

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Taglines:

A PAIR OF SILLY SHERLOCKS! (original poster)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bomba

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When Laurel goes to turn off the light and accidentally sends Hardy's bed into its hiding space in the wall, Laurel's pipe and magnifying glass are on the table. Laurel panics and begins pushing buttons. When he hits the button that spins the table into the floor, you can see the pipe and magnifying glass go flying. When the table returns, you can see they are still not on the table. But when Hardy's bed comes back out of the wall and Hardy falls from the bed, as the camera follows him, the table can be seen and the pipe and magnifying glass are sitting there.

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Quotes

Stan: You know what?
Oliver: What?
Stan: I've got a clue. I think Mr. Hartley is just a bit cracked. Well, I ought to know.
Oliver: All inventors are like that - they're eccentric. They're not like you and me.

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Connections

Referenced in The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes (1985)

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Soundtracks

"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze"
(1868) (uncredited)
Music by Gaston Lyle
In the score when Stanley and Oliver parachute

User Reviews

The Big Noise (1944) ***

Another of the infamous "Fox Laurel & Hardy" latter comedies, and in the running for one of the most enjoyable of the bunch in my book. Here, the older but no less amusing duo are hired to guard a bomb christened "The Big Noise" by its zany inventor. Some old tried and true classic funny routines are trotted out and revamped, with generally satisfactory results. Stan and Ollie seem like their old selves again in this, thankfully getting more screen time together.

After enjoying this I just had to post a positive show of support and say that I think it's vastly underrated. This was echoed on the DVD's commentary track by author Randy Skretvedt, who actually apologized for trashing it once upon a time in his book entitled LAUREL AND HARDY: THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES, and now admits that during the '70s and '80s, this was a rough film to see in good quality or in its entirety, and so a lot of critics relied only on memory and reputation. THE BIG NOISE has been one of the most unjustly maligned movies in history (Michael Medved even had the gall to list it among the "Worst Films Ever Made" in his dispensable GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS book).

Luckily, the tide is presently turning for the better as moviegoers and Laurel and Hardy aficionados everywhere are finally giving the movie its due.