Jitterbugs | |
---|---|
Directed by | Malcolm St. Clair |
Written by | Scott Darling |
Produced by | Sol M. Wurtzel |
Starring | Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy Vivian Blaine Robert Bailey Douglas Fowley Noel Madison Lee Patrick Robert Emmett Keane |
Cinematography | Lucien N. Andriot |
Edited by | Norman Colbert |
Music by | Lew Pollack Leigh Harline |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 74 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Jitterbugs is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair. [1]
Stan and Ollie are musicians traveling across the U.S. as "The Original Zoot Suit Band". During their journey, they encounter Chester Wright who purports to possess a revolutionary pill capable of converting water into fuel. In reality, Chester is a swindler who substitutes water canisters with gasoline unnoticed by Stan and Ollie.
The trio devises a scheme to exploit Stan and Ollie's musical performance to attract a crowd, enabling Chester to peddle his fraudulent product. Despite initial success, their ruse unravels when a customer experiences a disastrous accident due to the pill's ineffectiveness. To evade retaliation, Chester masquerades as a police officer, feigning arrest of Stan and Ollie. Subsequently, Susan, a choir singer acquainted with the trio, seeks their assistance in reclaiming her mother's swindled funds. Adopting aliases, they infiltrate a hotel where the con men responsible for the scam are lodged. Ollie fabricates an ostentatious display of wealth, enticing the gang's leader, Corcoran.
Disguised as a woman, Stan unwittingly complicates their plans, while Ollie orchestrates a confrontation with Corcoran, coercing him into returning the stolen funds. The group concocts a new scheme involving Susan's employment at Bennett's club, aiming to retrieve the remaining funds. Amidst subterfuge and double-crosses, the trio manages to secure Bennett's funds, but their deception is uncovered, leading to their capture by the gang. Trapped aboard Bennett's vessel, they engineer a daring escape, culminating in the gang's apprehension by the authorities.
Chester redeems himself by demonstrating his genuine intentions to return the money to Susan's mother. Stan and Ollie bid farewell to Susan and Chester, opting for a hasty departure to evade the remaining gangsters. [2]
During the early 1940s, 20th Century Fox executives determined that low-budget "B” serve as the second feature on double bills. As such, these comedies were limited to a length of approximately 70 minutes ``irrespective of any artistic considerations.” [3]
Much of the film, scripted by Scott Darling and St. Clair, was improvised by Laurel and Hardy or reworked from earlier films they made with director Hal Roach, such as Arizona to Broadway (1933). [4]
Film critic Bosley Crowther in the New York Times provides a mixed review, describing the gag routines as largely recycled from the Laurel and Hardy repertoire. Crowther allows that the film is “funny…neither the worst nor the best of the boys' films. Why do they call it "Jitterbugs"? Say, who let that radical in?” [5]
The film is notable for its dance sequences and the interaction between the duo with Vivian Blaine and Lee Patrick. Blaine, who later starred in the Broadway production of Guys and Dolls , was among those who honored Laurel and Hardy during their December 1954 appearance on NBC's This Is Your Life .
Jitterbugs is considered to be the best Laurel and Hardy film made under 20th Century Fox . [6] [7] Film historian Ruth Anne Dwyer writes:
Jitterbugs demonstrates superior production values and a good cast. Stan Laurel is particularly funny during a segment in which he dresses as a spinster aunt, a part he appears to enjoy greatly. The film has a delightful conclusion on a cruise ship which slips its moorings. [8]
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, who was the founder of the namesake Hal Roach Studios.
Harley M. Walker was a member of the Hal Roach Studios production company from 1916 until his resignation in 1932. The title cards he wrote for Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase, Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy comedies "have entered legend, both for silent films, and as opening remarks for the earlier talkies." He was also an officer of the Roach Studio corporation.
Stan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films and cameo roles.
James Henderson Finlayson was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Balding, with a fake moustache, he had many trademark comic mannerisms—including his squinting, outraged double-take reactions, and his characteristic exclamation: "D'ooooooh!" He is the best remembered comic foil of Laurel and Hardy.
Pardon Us is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931.
The Big Noise is a 1944 comedy film starring the comedic duo Laurel and Hardy. It was produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair.
Crowther is a surname, derived from the old Welsh musical instrument the crwth. Notable people with the surname include:
The Finishing Touch is a 1928 short comedy silent film produced by Hal Roach, directed by Clyde Bruckman and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was released February 25, 1928 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Nothing But Trouble is a 1944 Laurel and Hardy feature film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Sam Taylor.
Men O' War is the third sound film starring Laurel and Hardy, released on June 29, 1929.
The Bullfighters is a feature film starring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, the sixth and final film the duo made under 20th Century Fox as well as the last released in the United States.
The Dancing Masters is a 1943 black and white American comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair, produced by 20th Century-Fox, and featuring Laurel and Hardy. A young Robert Mitchum has a small, uncredited role as a gangster posing as an insurance salesman.
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case is a Laurel and Hardy pre-Code comedy horror film released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Malcolm St. Clair was a Hollywood film director, writer, producer and actor.
Laughing Gravy is a 1931 short film comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was directed by James W. Horne, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Hog Wild is a 1930 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film, directed by James Parrott.
The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford is a 1915–1916 American silent film serial produced by the Wharton Studio in Ithaca, New York, and starring Burr McIntosh and Max Figman. The serial is based on the character J. Rufus Wallingford, originating from the series of stories by George Randolph Chester.
Greenwich Village is a 1944 American comedy-drama musical film from Twentieth Century Fox directed by Walter Lang. It stars Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche.
Hollywood Cavalcade is a 1939 American film featuring Alice Faye as a young performer making her way in the early days of Hollywood, from slapstick silent pictures through the transition from silent to sound.