An independently-produced effort while contractual disputes with Hal Roach were on-going,THE FLYING DEUCES is possibly the best non-Roach Laurel and Hardy vehicle,because at least Stan Laurel was allowed some say on the plot and script content.The original draft was apparently woefully unsuitable(as were virtually all their wartime Fox and MGM features),and the story itself is pretty thin(an obvious reworking of BEAU HUNKS)and the production rather cheap.What saves the picture from mediocrity are some familiar names in the supporting cast like Charles Middleton and (especially) James Finlayson from the Roach studios,with others like Richard Cramer,Arthur Housman,Eddie Borden and Sam Lufkin in much smaller parts.With such performers in support it does at least give it the feel of a Roach film,with the addition of their favourite cameraman Art Lloyd behind the scenes another plus factor.That said,the comic material itself is not of a particularly high standard,maybe because of the initial weakness of the original story and draft,and the amount of pancake makeup they both wear cannot disguise they were beginning to age somewhat after their Roach studios peak.
Despite funny gags and individual scenes,THE FLYING DEUCES is rather patchy,and one yearns for rather more of Middleton's stentorian tones(their simply isn't enough of him in the film)than Ollie's simpering over Jean Parker.Her on-screen husband Reginald Gardiner starts off in amiable conversation with the boys persuading them to join the Foreign Legion,but he turns decidedly unsympathetic and hostile once they've enlisted,especially when he finds out that Ollie is in love with his wife.Much comic potential is not explored because unlike BEAU HUNKS(which was not perfect but shorter and rather better),there are few jokes about their tribulations in the Legion itself;the best scenes are some charming,if slightly irrelevant, musical interludes,involving Ollie singing 'Shine On Harvest Moon' while Stan performs a nifty soft-shoe shuffle,Stan playing 'The World Is Waiting For Sunrise' on his prison cell bed mattress(Ollie taps his feet amusingly during this number!),and some funny business with their best ever foil James Finlayson.The rest frankly is something of a disappointment,but we can be thankful at least that Laurel and Hardy are still in character here,which was not the case in their films from 1941 onwards,because of big film studio interference and reluctance to give Stan Laurel artistic control.THE FLYING DEUCES is certainly no classic,but is still fairly enjoyable and a decent L & H film thanks to producer Boris Morros' decision to give Stan a degree of creative freedom.Now why didn't the producers at Fox or MGM do that?
