If you are used to Hal Roach -directed Laurel and Hardy comedies, you will probably sense that this Fox-sponsored offering has a different 'feel' to it. To me, the duo often feel like they are actors trying to mimic their Roach characters. They're often lacking the same intense love-hate relationship seen in their Roach films. We miss hearing Stan's occasional mispronouncements, for example.......... Occasionally, they do feel like the Laurel and Hardy of old. For example, when Stan asks Ollie for the time, Ollie rotates his wrist to see his watch, forgetting that he has a drink in the same hand. Result: he spills the drink down his front. Later, Ollie decides he will get even with Stan. When he sees Stan with a drink in his hand, he asks for the time(What happened to his watch?). Sure enough, Stan spills his drink, but not on himself, rather on Ollie's face, as he is lying down. Then, there's the caper where Stan wants to get his pet crow: Penelope, out of sight, for the company inspection. So, he stuffs the crow down the back of Ollie's fatigues. Of course, Ollie squirms and jumps around as the general passes by. Hilarious! .......While in basic training, they somehow acquire business suits to hopefully increase their credibility when they go visiting Ginger: the base token female. They know she went out on a date with their friend Dan. They also know that his civilian doctor warned him that getting into romantic relationships could damage his heart So, they have come to try to cool any relationship between the 2, for Dan's sake. Thus, they tell her that he is dirt poor, and as various health issues. She happens to see a picture of Dan and Stan and Ollie in fatigues. She plays along with them for a while, then turns on them as meddling interlopers..........By the way, Dan's civilian doctor claims he has at least 108 allergies. So, why don't we ever see symptoms during his basic training? Must be either that his doctor is wrong, or that something about army life has suppressed his symptoms, as the army doctor suggested.........The occasional presence of Sheila Ryan, as Ginger, brightens things up, as she is cute and vivacious, at 20. I do miss the presence of at least one of the 3 most charismatic male supporting actors frequently present in Roach's talkies. They were all nemeses of the boys, hence could have filled the role of Stg. Hippo. I'm speaking of Jim Finlayson, Billy Gilbert, and Walter Long. There is no comparable supporting actor in this film.........In the Roach films, the pair occasionally had an animal costar. Here, they have Penelope, the crow. Mostly, she's a pain, But, in the war games, she becomes a hero, because, in looking for Stan, she leads the White army to where the Blue army is building their bridge across the river, to invade the territory of the White army. (Stan was captured by the Blue army, and assigned to work on the bridge). In the beginning, she steals Dan's draft notice letter out of Stan's hand and flies off with it. Later, she returns with it, and gives it to Dan, who exclaims "Delivered by air mail".......See it at YouTube.
Review of Great Guns
