One of the first films I reviewed for The Legionnaire was Stan & Ollie (2018).  This was back when I would only put out one post a week, and they would only be new releases.  That was early 2019, even though the release year given is 2018.  That sometimes happens with January premiers.  At any rate, the original intention of this blog had been solely to look at whatever is current in cinemas.  Then COVID happened.  Needing something to do, I chose to go to a daily schedule, and I am happy to say I have been pretty consistent with that mission to this point.  With such an approach, I had to expand my search to new and old.  I like to think I have addressed many classic titles, but the work of Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel, two of the most recognizable faces of nascent Hollywood, has heretofore been largely ignored despite my fifth treatment being Stan & Ollie.  It is a biopic of the famous comedic duo.  Today’s movie is the genuine article, Nothing but Trouble (1944).

Speaking of Nothing but Trouble, Oliver (Oliver Hardy) and Stanley (Stan Laurel) are like anyone else in 1932: having difficulty finding employment.  It is the Great Depression, and as other indigents, Oliver and Stanley are looking for a job.  When speaking to the hiring agent, Oliver’s desire to be a chef and Stanley’s to be a butler are laughed at, despite apparently coming from a long line of such laborers.  When the agent gets a call from somebody claiming to need a delivery person, there is a stampede of hopefuls wanting to fill the position.  After dusting themselves off from practically being run over, our heroes decide that they will take their services to Europe.  They are met with the same reception, particularly since nobody believes they are capable of the special dishes they have named for themselves.  It takes them twelve years to realize their mistake, though World War II might also influence their decision to return to the United States.  Not long after landing in New York, they are back in the employment office.  This time it is filled with older, wealthy people looking for servants.  Suddenly, there is a crush of people wanting to take Oliver and Stanley into their households when they hear the two men are servants.  Such is the jostling for Oliver and Stanley that they are forced to take refuge in another room.  In there they encounter Mrs. Hawkley (Mary Boland), an aged socialite who is expressing her frustration on the telephone over her inability to find help for a fancy dinner she plans to host.  In the middle of her conversation, she overhears the newcomers discussing their grim prospects in making their heritage proud.  For Mrs. Hawkley, they are a God send, though this Catholic wishes people would be more careful with such labels.  At any rate, she sneaks them out of the building and takes them to her stately home.  The people they are to serve a meal to are King Christopher (David Leland) and his retinue.  They are exiles from Europe because of the war, and they hope that the well off Hawkleys will ease their people’s plight.  These are lofty matters for the teenaged monarch, who has become Americanized.  Indeed, the argument could be made that he cares more about football than governing.  This is not at all to the liking of his caretaker and uncle, Prince Saul (Philip Merivale).  One day, Prince Saul comes up with the idea to let the young king go for a jaunt on town as a commoner.  Prince Saul sends his assistant, Ronetz (John Warburton), with King Christopher, but with a plot to assassinate the boy.  This is to happen as they stroll through the park, but King Christoper is distracted by a group of boys playing football.  When Ronetz returns to make his move, King Christopher is gone.  The king is found by Oliver and Stanley, who are on their way back from purchasing supplies for their dinner.  King Christopher gets their attention, convincing them to referee for their game so that he can finally get his chance to play.  He sticks with the two older men, not wanting to be subject so immediately to the rules of his office.  Because this is a comedy, his adventures involve helping Oliver and Stanley obtain a steak from a lion’s cage at the zoo, and giving Stanley pointers on table etiquette as he serves.  King Christopher passes himself off as being poor, saying that his uncle beats him and starves him.  As such, Oliver and Stanley try to hide the boy when Mrs. Hawkley spots the teenager, and all three are told to leave straight away.  They end up at an All Night Mission, which is a homeless shelter run by the Catholic Church.  This was news for this Catholic, so hooray for that fact.  The police find King Christopher at the establishment, having been reported as missing by Prince Saul.  Initially, Oliver and Stanley are arrested as kidnappers, but King Christopher’s intervention leads to their release.  Further, the boy wants their services.  Though Prince Saul objects, Ronetz suggests Oliver and Stanley be brought in and be used to cover their new plan to poison their monarch.  This is tried at a tea hosted by King Christopher, but the deadly tablet gets mixed up in the dishes.  Upon being informed of the fumble, Prince Saul confers with Ronetz about what to do, and King Christopher overhears their plotting.  The boy reports this to Oliver and Stanley in the kitchen, and they are joined there by Prince Saul with a gun.  They are about to jump to their deaths when Prince Saul inadvertently ingests the poison.  We close with the police celebrating their triumph singing the University of Notre Dame fight song.

The University of Notre Dame being sung at the end of Nothing but Trouble is the one you might be thinking of, and I would be remiss if I did not remind you that it is the fight song for a Catholic institution of higher learning.  A good friend of mine from Indiana does not like to talk about the school in such terms, but you would definitely know it is a Faith based school if you were on the campus.  I spent time there doing research for my dissertation, “The Costumed Catholic: Catholics, Whiteness, and the Movies, 1928-1973.”  My favorite stop is the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes along St. Mary’s Lake, which is particularly beautiful to visit at night.  None of this is mentioned in the song, but it is not crazy to discuss Our Lady of Lourdes in connection with a film like Nothing but Trouble.  Mary, the Mother of God, appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in the Southern French town of Lourdes in 1858.  St. Bernadette Soubirous was about the same age as King Christopher, and her station in life was not dissimilar to Oliver and Stanley.  More broadly, what is so often striking about the people God chooses to be His saints is that they are of the humblest extractions.  This extends to Jesus who, after all, was essentially born in a barn.  In the case of our film, Oliver and Stanley are at the right place at the right time to help a boy in need.  They could have overlooked the young monarch, who did not look the part, choosing to focus on their own troubles.  To be fair, they try to do exactly that, but Oliver and Stanley are open enough to be persuaded.  Ultimately, it can be said that being open to the plight of others is all that is needed to be a disciple of God.  This is how I choose to think of Oliver and Stanley.

In addition to Oliver and Stanley being likeable characters in Nothing but Trouble, I found their comedy to be genuinely entertaining.  There are some that turn their cinematic noses up at classic films, but this is a good example.  For what it is worth, it gets my recommendation.