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Customer Reviews of The Flying Deuces

Laurel & Hardy join the French Foreign Legion for fun
"The Flying Deuces" gets its name from the final sequence where Laurel & Hardy escape from a firing squad in an airplane. The boys get in this predicament because Ollie is jilted by his girl friend (Jean Parker) and wants to commit suicide. Despite Stan's more than willing help the attempt fails and the boys end up joining the French Foreign Legion instead. Needless to say, Stan and Ollie are not very good soldiers, hence the appointment with the firing squad. The comedy routines in the film are okay, but there is nothing special. The best moments are the more musical ones, especially a nice soft-shoe routine and Stan playing a prison bedspring like a harp. This 1939 seven-reeler was directed by Edward Sutehrland for RKO and co-stars Charles Middleton, james Finlayson, Reginald Gardiner, Jean Del Val and Clem Wilenchick. One of the writers receiving screenplay credit for "The Flying Deuces" was Harry Langdon, the great silent comic who was just a notch below the celebrated triumvirate of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd.

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Good mixture of pathos and humor
This is one of those films that you will enjoy seeing as a child, but will understand better as an adult.

The airplane and soldier gags are quite hilarious. But there are interesting moments of pathos. For some reason, I was always touched by the scene where Hardy tells Laurel that without him, "People will wonder what you are" and Laurel begins to cry. The finale with Ollie as a reincarnated horse also strikes a note of whimsy, as well as Stan's dancing to Ollie's cheerful rendition to "Shine On Harvest Moon."

The Three Stooges give us belly laughs, but Laurel and Hardy have a more human quality that makes us smile.

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Vintage Laurel and Hardy
"The Flying Deuces" (1939) was the only non-Hal Roach production in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy maintained a fair amount of creative control -- a quality largely absent from most of their 1941-45 output. After leaving Roach in 1940, the team's brilliance was tarnished by Fox and MGM's assembly-line approach to visual comedy. It's a shame that independent producer Boris Morros and RKO didn't retain Stan and Ollie's services after the success of "The Flying Deuces," which is a minor classic in their filmography. Though lacking the high production values of the best Roach features, this Foreign Legion escapade remains a fast-paced romp with plenty of memorable routines and some charming musical interludes. Because of its public-domain status, "The Flying Deuces" is the most accessible Laurel and Hardy feature. As a result, there are numerous video releases that utilize re-edited, badly duped prints. The recent Alpha Video DVD is far from pristine, yet it offers the complete 69-minute feature. For once, the print quality is better than average while the soundtrack is fully synchronized. When you consider the plethora of budget DVDs on the market, the Alpha disc is among the better offerings. Hopefully, a first-generation 35mm print of "The Flying Deuces" will emerge on DVD in this lifetime.