The Big Noise (1944)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Two cleaners (Stan & Ollie) pretend to be private detectives and turn up for duty at the house of an inventor (Arthur Space). They must protect a new bomb that he has invented from being stolen before he takes it to Washington. Next door are a gang who are planning to steal the jewels of Aunt Sophie (Esther Howard) who lives with the inventor, Grandpa and a young brat. Once they learn that the inventor has made a new bomb, they change their plan to steal this instead of the jewels. The arrival of Evelyn (Doris Merrick) allows them an invite into the inventor's house, but when this is cancelled, 2 of the gang break in to find the bomb themselves.......Stan & Ollie look old in this film but it still has a few funny moments, eg, the meal scene and the scene where Stan is playing the accordion where we focus on Ollie's annoyance as he keeps playing wrong notes. This is, however, balanced out with unfunny segments, the most notable being when they are undressing on the train and a 3rd person joins them in their bunk. It's tedious and too long and not at all funny. In fact, there are no funny moments once the action shifts away from the house, and overall, the film is a disappointment.

First, a summary of what this wartime Laurel and Hardy film is about, and then some background information and my impressions of the movie.Stan and Ollie are janitors at a detective agency and are working late at night when a crackpot scientist calls them--asking for a couple of detectives to guard his new top secret bomb (I wasn't sure at first if he was referring to a weapon or the movie itself). Ollie announces that he and Stan are detectives and will be right over. Unknown to them, the neighbors who live next to the crackpot are crooks and two of them plan on stealing the bomb to sell to an enemy power.Once at the home of the professor, he entertains the boys by showing off his amazing space-saving room as well as feeding them a meal of food in pill form. Neither of these key moments in the film are funny, though it's obvious they were intended as laugh riots. I think showing a documentary on skin diseases would have been funnier! Later, after the crooks try to steal the formula, Stan and Ollie take off on a cross country chase. During this time, they board a train and they blatantly rip off one of their earlier films, BERTH MARKS. While I wasn't a huge fan of BERTH MARKS (it's not one of their better shorts), Stan and Ollie manage to redo it and take out all the humor and originality. Supposedly, Stan tried to get the director to change the scene and do it quite differently (on a plane), but Fox simply wanted to churn this out regardless of whether or not it was funny or a quality product. Stan and Ollie's lack of enthusiasm is quite evident in their delivery.Ultimately, the boys blunder onto a radio controlled plane and the movie ends with a scene that really seems to come from out of nowhere, as they parachute from the plane and drop this secret bomb on a Japanese sub. So, literally and metaphorically, the film ends with the team dropping a huge bomb.From 1941 to 1950 was the absolute low-point for the team of Laurel and Hardy. Following SAPS AT SEA (1940), the team no longer was under contract with Hal Roach Studios and became free agents--mostly selling their services to 20th Century Fox, but also to MGM and a French production company. None of these products remotely resembled the finely crafted films the boys made in the 1920s and 30s, but a few (such as JITTERBUGS) managed to be almost passable entertainment. A few, such as DANCING MASTERS, ATOLL K and THE BIG NOISE managed to mostly make fans of the team cringe--as Laurel and Hardy looked old and rather sickly, plus the films simply weren't funny. Most of this was because the companies had no interest in input from Stan--who often contributed ideas to the Roach films but was completely ignored by the other studios. Of all the bad films made by Laurel and Hardy, however, THE BIG NOISE must rank as the very worst--mostly because it doesn't offer a single laugh...not even one! This isn't to say the film is unwatchable--it is watchable--sort of like a train wreck. The main reason I saw it was because I have seen almost every available Laurel and Hardy film as well as almost all of their existing shorts before they teamed up--so I would eventually like to say I've seen every one of their films. I think I have at most 3 or 4 to go.There is one other reason I wanted to see THE BIG NOISE and that's because it managed to be listed in "The 50 Worst Films of All Time" book by Harry Medved. I have probably seen about 30 to 40 of these bad films and just like my quest for Laurel and Hardy films, I'd like to one day see them all. Now, having seen it, I can honestly say it is the worst Laurel and Hardy film but it isn't bad enough to make the list in the book--there are probably a few hundred movies worse than THE BIG NOISE--though this isn't much of a consolation!! My advice is that if you are obsessive-compulsive about Laurel and Hardy films or you also want to see the supposed 50 worst films ever made, then by all means watch it. Otherwise, with so many wonderful films to their credit, please see some other Laurel and Hardy film instead--any would be preferable to this unfunny pile of bilge.By the way, I have noticed in reviews for the later Laurel and Hardy films that most of the reviews were amazingly positive--so positive I either wonder if they never saw the earlier films (which deserve high praise) or if the positive reviews were really a vote to say "I love the team no matter what". Well, I love the team, but can't see how a sane person could like this mess of a film. It just isn't funny.

As recently suggested by others, THE BIG NOISE has suffered in reputation for years, usually sight unseen. As a lifelong L & H fan, I finally saw it for the first time via the new Fox set (a very well done package), and it is more than acceptable a part of L&H's legacy. Of course it can't match their heyday, but among the Fox films it is much more Stan & Ollie's show than the initial Fox entries. The whimsical fadeout is by far one of the most delightful moments of their entire career, which is something.Give this film some slack, and you'll have a good enough time with it. I'm glad Fox has made this one available.

For years, I avoided seeing Stan and Ollie in THE BIG NOISE, after reading in book after book that the film was the worst they ever made, and without value. However, finally, begrudgingly, I saw it--not once, but twice--and with pleasure!!! Not only is it by far not the worst of their post-Hal Roach films (The two MGMs are far duller, and the first few Fox entries are buried under tiresome plots.), but it certainly compares favorably with their lesser Roach features (like SWISS MISS)and shorts (Are there any fans of BE BIG and THE LAUREL AND HARDY MURDER CASE out there?). Yeah, the Boys reprise quite a few old routines in this film (Screenwriter Scott Darling apparently mining their filmography mercilessly.), but then that wasn't uncommon at Roach either. I rather liked the wacky inventions like the compressed full course meal and the automated room. The supporting cast is bright with welcome players like Esther Howard, Phil van Zandt, and Arthur Space. I'll admit that the high-flying "patriotic" ending leaves this 21st Century film-goer cold. But any film that has so much leisurely L&H byplay (stuff like hat switching, stubborn door locks, and so many Hardy camera looks of exasperation)is simply no bomb, by any reasonable measure. I'll go so far as to say that--against conventional wisdom--it just might be my favorite of the (admittedly sorry)later Laurel and Hardys.