Pardon Us (1931)

Director:

James Parrott

Writer:

H.M. Walker (dialogue)

Release Date:

15 August 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Musical

Tagline:

The world has been waiting for THEIR FIRST FULL LENGTH TALKING PICTURE

Plot:

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman...

Plot Keywords:

Blackface | Machine Gun | Prison | Tommy Gun | Automobile

Cast

Stan Laurel	...	Stanley
Oliver Hardy	...	Oliver
June Marlowe	...	Warden's Daughter
Wilfred Lucas	...	Warden
James Finlayson	...	Schoolteacher
Walter Long	...	The Tiger
Tiny Sandford	...	Prison Guard (as Stanley J. Sanford)

Also Known As:

Gaol Birds
Jailbirds
The Rap (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

56 min | USA:65 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Spain:T | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios Inc.

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [James Parrott] [Marching next to Oliver Hardy after his recapture.]

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: The boom mike, the lighting and the cameras are reflected on the warden's car as Stan and Ollie are fixing it.

Quotes:

Insurgent Convict: Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you doing there? Keep off of my head!
Oliver: Pardon me, I'm a stranger here.

Movie Connections:

References Our Gang (1922)

Soundtrack:

Lazy Moon

Comedy On The Lam

In & out of prison, Stan & Ollie just can't seem to stay out of trouble.

"PARDON US" was the Boys' first starring feature film. Rather disjointed and poorly edited, it plays more like a few of their short subjects strung together. However, the Boys never falter and they deliver a film whose parts are greater than its whole.

The film was meant to be a spoof of MGM's popular THE BIG HOUSE (1930) and it helps to have seen that earlier movie to fully appreciate this one. Many of the standard conventions of the typical prison film are mocked here: the ‘understanding' warden, the dangerous convict cell mate, the confinement in Solitary, the escape chased by bloodhounds, the prison riot.

A few comedy pieces in particular stand out: Stan's loose tooth; Ollie in the dentist's chair; the Boys trying to settle into the constricted confines of an upper bunk. James Finlayson, Stan & Ollie's old nemesis, makes the most of his one scene as the prison schoolteacher driven to despair by the Boys' good-natured idiocy.

Walter Long is lots of fun as the Tiger, the meanest convict in the prison (Boris Karloff played the part for the French language version). Movie mavens will spot an uncredited Charlie Hall as the dental assistant.

An added delight is Babe Hardy's rendition of ‘Lazy Moon,' one of the decade's finest film songs. Ollie had a warm, evocative voice, full of feeling and emotion. Here, backed by the magnificent Hall Johnson Choir, his song reaches out of the screen and down the decades to touch the hearts of the audience.