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Truly Dreadful Film

Simply Perfect

Highly Overrated But Still Good

best movie i've ever seen.

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.

I'm giving this delightful picture a 10 out of 10 rating because I think its high time someone did. It enjoys an unfair reputation as Laurel and Hardy's worst ever movie ( 'Utopia' deserves that honour ) mainly because it recycles gags from earlier pictures. So what? They would not be the first comics to do this. Even Chaplin occasionally copied himself.Our heroes are office cleaners at a detective agency who take a call from one Alva P.Hartley, an eccentric inventor who claims to have invented a super bomb called 'The Big Noise', which is capable of blowing up a city. He feels it will be of great use in the war effort and, fearing that Nazis will try and steal it, wants a pair of detectives to guard the device. As the agency is understaffed, guess who applies for the job? Along with their other wartime pictures 'Great Guns' and 'Air Raid Wardens', this was intended as a morale booster for domestic audiences, as George Formby's were in the U.K. Classic comedy this certainly is not, but I have no doubt that 1944 audiences left theatres happier than when they entered.Stan and Ollie are their usual lovable bumbling selves, and there's a refreshing absence of gooey romantic subplots and musical numbers ( apart from Stan giving a quick burst of 'Maizy Doats' on the concertina ) of the sort which marred some of their other work. If you have not seen a Laurel and Hardy picture before, you should enjoy it more because you will have nothing to compare it with ( which is how I originally came to see it ).Highspots include Stan and Ollie enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner where the food is made out of pills, Stan ruining a priceless work of art with white paint, Stan trying to turn off the lights in a gadget-packed bedroom, and the finale aboard a remote controlled light plane in which our heroes find themselves used as target practice by their own side.The inclusion of this picture in Harry and Michael Medved's book 'The Fifty Worst Films Of All Time' is as bizarre as it is unwarranted. But then 'The Omen', 'Zabriskie Point', and 'The Ambushers' are also there ( all of which I like ) so its in good company. These days Michael is best known for reviewing films from a right-wing perspective ( he regarded 'Happy Feet' as liberal propaganda! ), and seems to have become something of a joke himself.Funniest moment - Stan and Ollie attempting to change into night clothes in a cramped train compartment, blissfully unaware that the bomb on their person is real. Hysterical!

Laurel & Hardy play two janitors at a detective agency who take the job of protecting an inventor with a new bomb themselves with predictable results in this late comedy.This film has been unfairly labeled as one of the worst films of all time. Nonsense. While it is certainly not one of their best films, it is not their worst either. In some ways, it should probably be one of the better late features because it presents the team in their traditional, well-honed personalities rather than forcing them into being cut rate Abbott & Costellos. Some of the gags happily hearken back to earlier shorts. Still, it doesn't quite work. Why? While growing up, "The Big Noise" played frequently on the local UHF channel -- more so than any of the other late, non-Roach features. As a child, I found the film enjoyable, though even at that tender age I found it inferior to the Roach material. Is it the lack of knockabout humor? No. Is it their age? No, I don't think that's the main problem either -- even though wrinkles do work against Stan's persona. Ollie's persona, on the other hand, isn't particularly hurt by his age. (The older I get, the more I find myself concentrating on Hardy. Although he often described himself as Stan's straight man, he was nothing of the kind. He is a talented comedian who remains a joy to watch.)It was only after a recent viewing have I been able to put my finger on the problem. The problem is the intended audience. In their heyday, Laurel & Hardy were mainstream comedians aimed at a widest possible audience. While children often take great pleasure in Laurel & Hardy films, and I'm sure most of the people reading this comment gained an appreciation for the team in their childhood, their films weren't specifically aimed at children. I think that changed at Fox and MGM. I believe these late films, "The Big Noise" in particular, were aimed primarily at children and were softened in the process.There is hardly a description of the team that does not use the word "child-like" to describe their antics, but Laurel & Hardy, while they were often naive and innocent, were not children. (Except maybe in "Brats" and "Wild Poses.") Certainly not in the other worldly sense that Harry Langdon's persona could be labeled child-like. They were adult men and as often as not found themselves in adult situations, whether it be drinking bootleg hooch or sneaking out on their wives. Granted, you would never find the sophisticated comedy of "The Thin Man" in a Laurel & Hardy film, but they weren't necessarily childish either. Laurel & Hardy benefited from keeping their foot in the adult world. Just as the Marx Brothers were funnier against the more serious backdrop of an opera. Laurel & Hardy were funnier in real world situations we could all find ourselves in.While World War II themed storyline of "The Big Noise" is certainly more serious than many of their classic shorts, the boys themselves are more child-like than they were at Roach. By aiming their comedy at children, they lost some but certainly not all of their wider appeal. That's the problem. That's why the film doesn't completely work for me. Still, a child like Laurel & Hardy is better than no Laurel & Hardy at all, so feel free to enjoy this film for its simple benefits regardless of what the critics say.

I bought this in the mid 1990's on VHS because it wasn't on DVD at the store. I was just hungry for more of the boys films and had not read the critic's yet. It turned out that I was very surprised at the level of comedy as I was not expecting much since the 40s and on I had mostly been disappointed. I recommend this film though. Much better than Utopia, Jitterbugs, and a couple of the other later ones. This film and Nothing But Trouble were probably their last good comedies, IMO. Not as good as their vintage days, but still good and funny. You can't always go by reviews(which includes mine!) This film has more character-driven comedy than some other Fox films. Maybe the studio let them do their own thing a little more, which was what made them so great such as was Keaton's greatness too but was stifled by over-control. If you have seen their old films but ignored this one and Nothing But Trouble give these a try. I think you will be surprised. Steve