Jitterbugs (1943)

You won't be disappointed!

So much average

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

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

. . . JITTERBUGS appeared on the big screen, with Stan Laurel trying to supplant Betty Grable as a pin-up gal for the Allied troops during WWII in 1943. Stan's effort falls totally flat, as he seemingly cannot even raise his voice to simulate the "fair sex" (a feat easily accomplished later by Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams in the aforementioned flicks). Mr. Laurel and his frequent sidekick Oliver Hardy mostly are adrift here in a plot which makes less sense than their usual, and doesn't perk up until the last five minutes when the showboat Gen. Fremont drifts away from its New Orleans pier during rush hour on the Mississippi. JITTERBUGS' opening desert scene and its follow-up two-man band episode are okay, but the rest of this story quickly bogs down during the lengthy "New Orleans" sequence. Film rookie Vivian Blaine warbles rather well, but her shoulders are not broad enough to carry the entire flick.

Jitterbugs (1943) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy meets a nice con man and the three set out to con back $10,000 which was stolen from a local girl. This is a decent comedy from the duo that has some nice laugh but not enough to match their classic titles from the 1930s. One of the best moments include a scene where Laurel gets caught up in the con and is drinking with a married woman. Other highlights include Laurel in drag and another scene involving the gas pills. Not all of the gags work and some of the musical numbers are rather lame but overall this wasn't too bad.

Although lacking in much of the standard L & H humor, this film has other merits going for it. Ollie's impersonation of Southern gentleman Colonel Watterson Bixby of Amadillo County, Texas offers him the felicitous opportunity to play a character close to his own Southern upbringing. Once again in drag, Stan's characterization of Bostonian dowager, Emily Cartwright, offers him the joyous occasion of reusing his Lord Paddinton upper-crust accent tempered with a slight nuance of local Boston color. The scenes in which they appear are a sheer delight chiefly because they carry it off with such finesse and aplomb. Fans may be disappointed at the lack of the usual slapstick, but Stan and Ollie are so splendid in the roles within roles that they more than easily compensate for it. This film as well as "The Bullfighters", with its more tried and true formula, make these two outings the best of their Twentieth Century Fox excursion.

"Jitterbugs" (20th Century-Fox, 1943) features the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as themselves who meet up with an enterprising man (Robert Bailey) who has a formula that changes water into gasoline, and later all getting involved with swindlers. The movie is an update remake to an old Fox film, "Arizona to Broadway" (1933) with James Dunn and Joan Bennett, with this comedy given the Laurel and Hardy treatment. I have fond memories of this particular movie mainly because it is the film that introduced me to Stan and Ollie way back when I was a fourth grader in 1969. Since then, I've wanted to see their other movies. I would later be in for a treat when I got to watch the comedies Stan and Ollie did for Hal Roach in the 1930s. It's a pity they didn't get the freedom to be creative at 20th Century-Fox as they were for Roach. "Jitterbugs" co-stars Vivian Blaine, who sings like Fox's own Alice Faye in a deep and throaty manner, but has a personality all her own. A likable screen personality, she adds something to this comedy without being a dull romantic interest supporter. She sings "The Moon Kissed the Mississippi" and "I Gotta See for Myself" (good lively tune). Directed by Malcolm St.Clair, with Douglas Fowley, Lee Patrick and Noel Madison in support. Laurel disguised as "Aunt Emily" and Hardy's Southern gentleman interpretation as "Colonel Bixby" are one of the comedy highlights here. To date this is the only Laurel and Hardy/ 20th-Fox movie to air on American Movie Classics. It premiered on that cable station February 7, 1997. It's nice having it brought back once in a while since it's not, as of this writing, available on video cassette.(**)