I've always enjoyed this film very much! The first time I saw it was on the Global Television Network in Canada when I was 12 years old back in 1976. They showed Laurel and Hardy features on Thursday nights that summer, and I got to see quite a few of their Hal Roach features, though sadly, I managed to miss "Sons Of The Desert" and would not get to see that wonderful film until about 1983.
Anyway, "Saps At Sea" is a Laurel & Hardy film that I have come to appreciate more as the years go by. I think that it really nicely sums up the friendship that the characters Stan & Ollie had with one another. They always stuck together through thick and thin (no pun intended!), and that dynamic is definitely evident here.
Sadly, this film was to be the swan song for both Ben Turpin (who appears briefly in a hilarious cameo as a cross-eyed plumber); and Harry Bernard, who does a memorable turn as a Harbor Patrolman. Harry would succumb to lung cancer in November, 1940 at age 62; and Ben Turpin would die on July 1st of that same year from heart disease at age 70.
Rychard Cramer as the antagonist Nick Grainger manages to be both menacing and hilarious at the same time! I was surprised to find out that five years earlier, he had appeared in a short titled "Dizzy & Daffy" (obviously about the famous Dean Brothers!). Kind of funny, considering he dubbed Stan & Ollie as Dizzy & Dopey!
I definitely agree with other reviewers who have stated that one's first Laurel and Hardy experience probably shouldn't be one of their latter day 20th Century Fox/MGM films, though some of those aren't all that bad for passing the time. Definitely avoid Utopia/Atoll K/Robinson Crusoeland (Yes, this movie has three titles!). Just the fact that Stan Laurel was so obviously appallingly ill, alone should be enough incentive to avoid this as your first Laurel and Hardy encounter. It will likely be your last!
Sorry I'm getting so off topic here. "Saps At Sea," in my opinion, is in many ways, the last true Laurel and Hardy film, and is certainly a worthy introduction for would be L&H fans!! (Mine was "Blockheads," another fine film).
