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This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Most of the infamous, studio-controlled, 1940s output of Laurel and Hardy has been raked over the coals with some regularity and for very good reason. While some laughs can be found in some of those weaker films, "Nothing But Trouble" (even above "A Haunting We Will Go",in my humble opinion)seems to be almost completely devoid of laughs and for this Laurel and Hardy fan, amounts to the nadir of that depressing era for the team. This film actually becomes truly depressing as it slogs along. It is just awful, even as a curiosity.

In 1932, when jobs were as hard to find as a girdle on a welder (so the narration says), Laurel and Hardy went to Europe to find work. They return years later during World War II (when jobs were as easy to find as a girdle on a welder). They return to the same agency where they had previously been unable to find a job to find potential employers now in line where potential employers were. In a scene that could have been expanded for some funny bits with the society matrons desperate to have a chef and butler, they meet desperate Mary Boland who immediately takes them home and spoils them with the determination to keep him. "My last butler stayed with me for 3 years. He writes me every know and then from an island called Alcatraz", she says. They go to get groceries to prepare Oliver's "Steak a la Hardy" and meet up with a young teen-aged boy hiding his identity as an exiled king (David Leland) who has a desire to play football. After playing referees to the football team he joins up with for one game (interrupted briefly by mother, a credited Connie Gilchrist, on and off faster than the unbilled boys in the game), then try to steal steak (actually horse meat!) from a zoo lion. (Leo earning his keep, perhaps?) The steak is so tough it can't be cut by anything but perhaps an axe, ruining Boland's dinner. Then, the hiding king is discovered, and Boland dismisses Stan and Oliver, which lands them in a mission. The boy King is identified (and in danger of a plot on his life), but Laurel and Hardy are then hired as his butler and cook much to his delight for a huge party that ironically Ms. Boland and her husband (Henry O'Neill) attend. Laurel and Hardy are brought into the plot on the King's life and it's rather predictable what happens from there.While there are some amusing moments in this late Laurel and Hardy film, it is not really all that funny, yet much better than "Air Raid Wardens", "The Bullfighters" and "Utopia". (Not saying much---those three are duds!) I always enjoy Mary Boland, especially her unique voice; I can't help thinking of her line in "The Women" where she says to Paulette Goddard "Let's have a little drinkie, shall we"?, every time I see her. She's not quite a Billie Burke, nor is she Marie Dressler, Dame May Witty or Florence Bates either. Her society matrons are always fun; I could imagine her in a 40's version of "Gilligan's Island" as Mrs. Howell. (In fact, she did several films with similar themes, "Down to Their Last Yacht" and "Four Frightened People") I also enjoyed the performance of David Leland as the very charming boy King; I was shocked to discover he died only a few years after this.) But in a Laurel and Hardy film, they dominate the film. They were likable at any age, but its very sad to see them doing these types of gags while obviously having aged very much. They appear tired, yet determined, like all old troopers, to keep going. Don't expect much when watching this, but it's mercifully short (under 70 minutes), so it can be viewed as a barely passable time filler.

I first saw this Laurel and Hardy misfire some 10 years back. It stank then, and it still did now in a recent fresh viewing. Here, Stan and Ollie are looking for work as an unemployed butler and cook. They wind up being hired by a rich woman where Hardy cooks his famous "steak a la Oliver" (the name of that delicacy is the funniest thing about this) and nothing much happens in the bargain. The pair also get involved with a King who happens to be a young boy who is hell bent on breaking free of the confines of royalty by playing football with street kids and also tagging along with L&H (reminded me of the rich kid from Our Gang's "Honkey Donkey" short). There's also a plot to murder the boy (ha ha ha).This is mostly quite a painfully unfunny film save for one or two quickly forgettable moments, and the worst reason it rates low for me is because it's way too wholesome and sweetened, with Stan and Ollie's characters really speaking and acting nothing like their classic screen persona's as they try to be guardians to the young King. The worst case here is poor Stan Laurel who comes off normal and not at all like his typical dimwitted or childlike character throughout most of this movie. Also hurting this "comedy" is that too much time is spent on the boy instead of the comedians. Fans are always talking about how bad Laurel & Hardy's 1940's movies are, and having seen them all now I can disagree strongly in favor of the 6 Fox films, and maybe even MGM's AIR RAID WARDENS. But there's no doubt for me that NOTHING BUT TROUBLE is pretty bad, and it takes the crown as what I'd call "worst Laurel and Hardy film". I even thought UTOPIA (their final movie) had more laughs. *1/2 out of ****

The second and last of Laurel & Hardy's MGM wartime comedies,NOTHING BUT TROUBLE sadly suffers from the similar faults that plagued AIR RAID WARDENS a year earlier.There are elements of the plot which are perhaps unconsciously reworked from far superior Hal Roach efforts,such as PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (Stan and Ollie shielding a child) and A CHUMP AT OXFORD (swanky dinner parties),but this is often sabotaged by sluggish pacing and some overly excessive pathos which seems totally alien to the L & H style of humour.Like the previous AIR RAID WARDENS,Stan and Ollie again come out with some uncharacteristic,self-pitying dialogue accusing themselves of being 'failures',attiudes which would have never seen the light of day in their Roach films.The all-round comic genius of Stan Laurel was ignored as all their post-1940 features and prevented from improving a script which most certainly would have needed his personal embellishment.Stan himself looks pretty unhappy and dispirited in the film as a result,as does Babe Hardy.The production does not look as glossy as the previous AIR RAID WARDENS,but it's pleasing to see one or two characteristic L & H moments abound (Ollie even says 'Here's another nice mess...' to Stan at one point),but they are somewhat fleeting.Mary Boland,an actress who specialised in fluttery society matrons,actually provides the most amusement in the film's most assured performance,but Sam Taylor,a capable comedy writer/director,struggles with the uninspired, hackneyed material on offer,like stealing steak from a lion's cage and a rowdy football game.The aforementioned scene seems a partial reworking in material from THE FRESHMAN,a silent classic starring Harold Lloyd,a performer Taylor frequently collaborated with.It doesn't work especially well (with the ageing,unathletic L & H looking rather uncomfortable),as does the high-rise building climax which seems a borrowing from another Lloyd classic,SAFETY LAST,made somewhat obvious by background projection.A rather glum sub-plot of an evil royal uncle trying to kill off his young nephew king further reduces opportunities for fun,and this takes up far too much footage.The black comedy elements in L & H films worked very well when executed in an appropriate context;it doesn't work here because of the weak storyline and material.One last point;Eddie Dunn,an occasional foil for the comedians at Roach,appears as a cop in the flophouse sequence,but this is all too brief and only very slightly,like the whole film,recalls their glory days at Hal Roach Studios.