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The Flying Deuces

Play trailer Poster for The Flying Deuces Released Oct 20, 1939 1h 5m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
All the way from the Midwest, Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) find themselves in Paris. When Ollie falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter (Jean Parker), Stan encourages him to propose, which leads to a devastating rejection. After talking to a convincing officer (Reginald Gardiner), Ollie joins the French Foreign Legion to forget her, bringing Stan along. The two are shipped to Morocco, where they soon make a mess of things. When they go AWOL, it only makes matters worse.
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The Flying Deuces

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A comeback film for the lauded Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy comedy team. Rated: B- Aug 24, 2008 Full Review Phil Hall Film Threat Minor Laurel & Hardy knockabout, albeit with some pearly moments. Rated: 3/5 Nov 16, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 3, 2005 Full Review Eric Lurio Greenwich Village Gazette Rated: 3/5 Dec 21, 2004 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) It's not bad, but it ought to be better with those stars and that director. Rated: 3/5 Jul 19, 2004 Full Review Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal Rated: 4/5 Oct 10, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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StephenPaul C LOL, the funniest 01 hour: and 05 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/23/23 Full Review Audience Member The iconic duo Laurel and Hardy join the French Foreign Legion in The Flying Deuces. As much as I am a fan of Laurel and Hardy and their films, I wasn't that fond of The Flying Deuces. Even though I love their performances as always and thought the film was pretty funny, The Flying Deuces felt like a B-movie sadly due to the fact the sound and music were very annoying. Speaking of annoying, the editing was pretty odd at times. Regardless of the bad qualities that I have stated, Laurel and Hardy in The Flying Deuces is still an adequate motion picture simply because of Laurel and Hardy putting on a great performance as always with the addition of the film being pretty funny. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member The story is based on a joke popular in that era-Oliver joins the French Foreign Legion to forget a girl he had fallen in love with but couldn't have (because she is married). He and Stan join the Legion, do some bumbling, and then learn that being in the French Foreign Legion doesn't pay much, so they elect to leave. Unfortunately they find they cannot, and are tried for desertion and sentenced to death. They try to fly away in a stolen airplane, though neither actually know how to pilot said plane. There are good bits-where Stan plays a set of bedsprings like a harp, and where they make their escape from confinement. But many of the other gags are hardly funny. Laurel and Hardy may have been the original "fat and thin man" comedy duo, but Art Carney and Jackie Gleason did a far better job. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review matthew d Peak slapstick comedy from the great Laurel & Hardy. Director A. Edward Sutherland's black comedy The Flying Deuces (1939) is the greatest slapstick comedy ever made. Laurel & Hardy have never been funnier, nor as ambitious. Sutherland's direction is peerless visually as he matches the erratic energy of Laurel & Hardy's lovable idiots on a journey from Paris' Seine River to the boys getting volunteered into The French Foreign Legion. Sutherland uses tiny room sets and large bases for sets to simulate the place and time period with a playful use of camera tricks to keep you believing Laurel & Hardy are either digging an escape tunnel or flying a plane hectically. A. Edward Sutherland is quite creative as director of Laurel & Hardy's comedy classic The Flying Deuces. I should say that The Flying Deuces was introduced to me by my late grandfather, who loved film, comedy, comics, and Laurel & Hardy. I've loved this picture ever since I was a small boy and it holds up causing delirious laughter all these years later. The Flying Deuces is particularly funny because of all the morbid humor thrown alongside silly slapstick. Laurel & Hardy joke about death, marriage, reincarnation, murder, suicide, romance, enlistment, desertion, incarceration, execution, and prisonbreaking. Charley Rogers, Ralph Spence, Fred Schiller, and Harry Langdon's script writing is just too fun and clever. Their dark wit and charming phrasing makes the ever endearing Laurel & Hardy characters eternally funny. I must mention introducing the idea of reincarnating early on in The Flying Deuces leads to the funniest twist ending in any comedy to date. The Flying Deuces gets a laugh with every line. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are in top notch comedy form in The Flying Deuces. Their amiable and hostile relationship on screen is too funny in this peak comedy film of the dumb duo. Stan Laurel is so effortless as the dimwitted Laurel. He reacts to things with a cavalier attitude that's immediately endearing. Hardy is such a fun pairing as he's always angry, then suddenly coy with his tie twisting. I like how Hardy's always getting soaking wet, while Laurel keeps hitting into things. Hardy's indignant attitude towards the ever innocent and shy Laurel is constantly a source of laughter. Laurel & Hardy have to be my favorite comedy duo of all time. Mel Berns' make-up is nicely applied, making Jean Parker look exquisite as Georgette. She has nice chemistry with Reginald Gardiner's Francois from The French Foreign Legion, who casually suggests enlisting to the lads. I really like Charles Middleton's stuffy Commandant for The French Foreign Legion. Just the fact that Laurel & Hardy get drafted into the French Foreign Legion is funny enough on its own, but the strange fools mucking up strict military protocol is even better. In all, I highly recommend The Flying Deuces for Laurel & Hardy's idiotic antics and the writers' ingenious jokes. The Flying Deuces is a brisk 69 minutes, shot in gorgeous black and white, with innovative cinematography and entertaining comedy writing. What's not to like? The Flying Deuces is an iconic early comedy film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Funny, memories from the time we were in the cinema as children in the 50s Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review r 9 A few chuckles and it flies by, can't say I massively enjoyed it though. 'The Flying Deuces' features the talents of iconic duo Laurel and Hardy. Despite knowing of them for as long as I can remember, I can't say I've seen much - if anything - of them before this. I look forward to seeing more in the future, but hopefully they're a tad better than this. This is solid enough, as I said I did feel amused at a few moments. A more interesting plot would've peaked my interest more, as would less of the overly obvious comedy. Very meh, for me. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis All the way from the Midwest, Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) find themselves in Paris. When Ollie falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter (Jean Parker), Stan encourages him to propose, which leads to a devastating rejection. After talking to a convincing officer (Reginald Gardiner), Ollie joins the French Foreign Legion to forget her, bringing Stan along. The two are shipped to Morocco, where they soon make a mess of things. When they go AWOL, it only makes matters worse.
Director
A. Edward Sutherland
Producer
Boris Morros
Screenwriter
Ralph Spence, Charley Rogers, Fred Schiller, Harry Langdon
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
RKO Pictures
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 20, 1939, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 11, 2016
Runtime
1h 5m
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