Air Raid Wardens (1943) User Reviews (21)

Doing Their Bit For Uncle Sam

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 November 2006]

One of Laurel and Hardy's last films was this one for MGM where they play a couple of 4Fs who still want to do their bit for the USA at war with the Axis. After getting turned down by all the armed services, Stan and Ollie return to their small town and their bicycle shop to volunteer as air raid wardens. Their bicycle shop in fact has been taken over by Donald Meek who is running a radio repair shop, but Meek allows them back in as partners.

MGM did give the boys an excellent supporting cast a lot better than what they usually had with Hal Roach. Problem is that they looked a bit old and tired and both were having health problems at the time. Still they got a few good slapstick licks in, especially with Edgar Kennedy and Howard Freeman who was a great foil for them.

My favorite moment in the film was when after one foul up too many they get canned as air raid wardens and Stan who usually cried at the drop of a hat, was almost in real tears about it. Both he and Ollie really do want to do something for the war effort even if they know they're a pair of bumblers.

Ollie in fact was the most restrained I've seen him. The Laurel and Hardy shtick is that Stan is a dummy and he knows it, Ollie is dumb, but has delusions of grandeur. Here Ollie also tones down the usual pomposity we expect from him.

Of course they redeem themselves when they stumble on to a real group of Nazi spies. Among that cast of all American small town types are a pair of known character actors who are in fact spies and saboteurs.

But you'll just have to see Air Raid Wardens to find out who.

Too serious for a Laurel & Hardy movie.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 15 March 2006]

This movie is too serious for the comical Laurel & Hardy that we are so accustomed to and love so much. The movie tries to give the movie depth with as a result that Laurel and Hardy are not given enough opportunities to show their silly antics. I consider this movie to be more of a WW II movie than a comedy.

This movie is a real piece of American WW II propaganda. The boys give everything to get enlisted, so they can do their part for Uncle Sam during the war, against the Japanese. And Laurel & Hardy chasing and fighting Nazi-spies? Come on! That just doesn't feel right. The movie really is too serious for Laurel & Hardy standards. The movie tries to create a movie with a real story and even attempt to give it all some depth. But that's not what Laurel & Hardy should be about. We want to see some silly naive harmless fun. Yes, of course the movie does have its comical and slapstick moments but the combination of it with the serious undertone of the movie just doesn't feel right.

It does provide a fairly good view of how the average American town coped with the ongoing war, so from an historical point of view this movie still is an interesting one to watch.

No must-see for the Laurel & Hardy lovers but also not a completely unwatchable movie. It really does have its moments and it never gets dull. Too bad that it's brought all way too serious and because of this Laurel & Hardy are also never really given the opportunity to shine, like the way they used to.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Hardly Vintage But Better Than Great Guns!

[westegg · 6/10 · 25 November 2006]

Yes, this is pretty anemic L & H, but as their '40s films go, I put it third behind THE BULLFIGHTERS and JITTERBUGS as their most tolerable (the fourth, THE BIG NOISE, has one of the best L & H fadeouts ever, but that's another entry).

Anyway, AIR WARDENS manages to eke out some effective comedic bits, especially some unexpectedly impressive pratfalls from an aging Laurel. The war time trappings can get tiresome, but at least there's neat payoff with one sight gag near the end. Edgar Kennedy is a big plus in this film, and though its flaws are many (why no background music?),it's hardly a catastrophe. That's a backhanded compliment, but I think accurate enough!

Pretty bad - but still one of the better post-Roach films

[philgieri · 24 December 2001]

In 1940, L&H quit Hal Roach after twelve years of partnership that yielded some of the finest comedies ever made. Their departure for 20th Century Fox was meant to be a step towards more creative control and freedom in the process of making films; alas, the opposite was the case. Their first two films under the new production company showed that L&H should, by Fox's definition, appear in front of the cameras and leave cutting, directing etc. to the professionals. Consequently, these two films were pale shadows of their great Roach-produced companions. Desperately, L&H sought a newer rainbow at MGM but were to be disappointed again. Even the best scenes in this film, "Air Raid Wardens", like two tit-for-tat sequences with their old colleague Edgar "Slowburn" Kennedy, lacked the spontaneous and improvised look of similar scenes´in, say, "Bacon Grabbers". Likewise, other slapstick moments in ARW like a poster-hanging bit have a rather mechanical look and are destroyed by poor editing. Yes, Stan's creative genius was sadly missing behind the camera.

Furthermore, the whole patriotic atmosphere of the plot doesn't fit L&H's style one bit.

And still this excuse for a comedy, although far, far from features like "Way Out West" or "Sons Of The Desert", emerges as one of the better post-Roach films after all; firstly, in contrast to most of the other later films, the romantic subplot is pretty much in the background and Stan & Ollie remain the main attraction. Secondly, there are at least a few scenes which REMIND you of L&H's better days; there are no such scenes to be found in "A-Haunting We Will Go" or "Nothing But Trouble", for example.

So "Air Raid Wardens" is hardly a pain to sit through but is so vastly inferior to their Roach films that you regret once more that they left him for good in 1940.

Laurel and Hardy fights the Nazis

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 29 December 2020]

In the small town of Huxton, incompetent business owners Laurel (Stan Laurel) and Hardy (Oliver Hardy) intends to join the war effort. Only non of the military services are willing to accept them. They return home with no jobs and no store. They sign up to be air raid wardens. The boys try very hard but they are also very incompetent.

It's the first of two movies the boys made at MGM. The good news is that they are the stars of the movie. The bad news is that they're not doing their best work. The physical gags are basic and a little slow. The boys need to write some better gags. I still love them and that's why I like this movie. They are sweet and fun and that's what they make this film... even with the Nazis.

When this Flick hit the Big Screen . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 9 January 2019]

. . . it was said that England and America were as German as Apple Strudel. As Reich Eugenicists were proving that this was literally True in a biologic sense, England's Royal Family was hiding out in the House of Hanover. A&W, White Castle, and even "Steak" and Shake were popularizing a German delicacy know as the "Hamburg-er," though they also sold Vienna Sausages and Frankfurters at the ball parks. Germanic music wafted throughout America's churches and military bases, as Prussian norms were seen as germane to EVERY aspect of Daily Life in our USA Homeland. Therefore, it's a real hoot to see scads of American hypocrites tripping over each other while yelling "I am NOT a Berliner!" We still suffer this sort of mindless Rush to Judgment in our everyday life now. Each time there's a trending meme suggesting that a one-in-a-billion allegation of Euro-on-Rainbow crime MIGHT actually be true, the over-represented and excessively-compensated moguls of the latter clan set up Mega-Millions Snitch Funds in their desperate attempt to frame, railroad, and string up a random scapegoat patsy of Euro Persuasion. Then you never hear so much as a peep of apology from them and their traitorous Fellow Travelers when it inevitably soon turns out to be just one more of the pandemic green-on-green brutalities.

Laurel and Hardy on the Homefront

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 9 July 2021]

It's World War II, and Stan and Ollie want to join the Armed Forces to help fight the enemy. It's a wonder they haven't received their draft notices way before 1943, but then, that's Laurel and Hardy. They try the Navy, then the Army and then the Marines. They're turned down by all the services.

Just when they are starting to feel like losers, they see the ad for Homefront duty. Through a friend, Dan Madison (Stephen McNally) they get to be air raid wardens. Well, naturally they bungle that job In some preparedness tests. But even after they get ushered out of the Air Raid Warden service, the boys become heroes.

They uncover the Nazi plot to blow up the new magnesium plant about to open in their town. And they coral that sinister culprit, Eustace Middling, who is a spy. Donald Meek always gets some laughs when he plays these tough guys or bad guys, even when not in and Laurel and Hardy film.

This is not among the better films of the comedy duo, but it's has a few laughs. Both men are showing their age some - in their early 50s.

Uneven, but still fun and worthwhile

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 19 November 2023]

Legends that they were, not all of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's pictures were equal, but it's generally hard to go wrong with anything they were involved in. Somewhat recalling contemporaries like The Three Stooges, Harold Lloyd, or Buster Keaton, the duo could be relied upon for a steady stream of gags, physical comedy, situational humor, witty repartee, and above all the terrific dynamics between them - if perhaps often a lighter, gentler variety thereof. With all this in mind, 1943's 'Air raid wardens' is a Laurel and Hardy flick that's harder to come by, and as we press "play" we can perhaps start to fathom why, for in a runtime of only a little over one hour it can't claim the strongest start. The racist language of World War II was understandable, but still inappropriate, and it comes off even worse eighty years later as it is employed repeatedly. Over the top animation to greet us in the opening minutes is as decidedly gauche as the accompanied boot-licking of the military. Even if we set all this aside the feature kicks off with a relatively flat tone, lacking the same level of energy as many of the icons' other works. None of this is to say that the film isn't funny, because that couldn't be further from the truth, but it does take a fair bit to start to pick up.

Thankfully, from about the one-quarter mark onward, the movie starts to carry itself with more of the sparkling vitality we know and love. The stunts and effects are simply a joy, and after a modest warm-up the playful combativeness between Laurel and Hardy leaps to life alongside the irreverent silliness. There are still some bits that unfortunately lag, but by and large 'Air raid wardens' does elicit hearty laughter once it gets going. Moreover, while the prominent pair and their antics naturally carry the preponderance of the length by themselves, the supporting cast is just as terrific, with Edgar Kennedy especially standing out as an unwitting victim of Stan and Ollie's well-meaning but ill-prepared activities. All along the way the least that can be said is that the title is as well made as any like-minded fare, including smart cinematography, fine sets and props, and so on. The troubles in this case come down to faults in the writing and direction - deficiencies or conflicts in tone and energy, particularly as and where plot is emphasized over shenanigans. Punching Nazis either literally or proverbially is always admirable and to be encouraged, but when it comes to a comedic slice of cinema, difficulties may well arise if the story is ever allowed to overtake the ridiculousness, and I believe that's what happens here.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that 'Air raid wardens' is much stronger and more enjoyable than not, which certainly speaks very well to the skill and intelligence of all involved. It's regrettable that the end result is uneven, but when all is said and done this is still another classic Laurel and Hardy picture; though not one of their very best, it's better than some of their others. Compared to the likes of 'Saps at sea,' 'Swiss miss,' or 'Pack up your troubles' I don't think this flick is one that wholly demands viewership, but whether you're a fan of the stars (most people, surely), of giving fascists what-for (all good people, definitely), or just looking for something fun to watch, overall it's still worth checking out. Don't go out of your way for it, but if you do have the chance to watch then I'm pleased to give this a fair recommendation.

Too Bad This Film Wasn't Produced on the Hal Roach Lot

[RJV · 3/10 · 26 October 2002]

Frustrated by their lack of artistic freedom at 20th Century Fox, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy hoped that MGM would provide them with more leeway. Superficially, their situation improved. Charlie Rogers and Jack Jevne, who had worked with Stan and Ollie during their glory days at Hal Roach, helped work on the script for the MGM production. The director, Edward Sedgwick, had a knack for slapstick and had worked with the Boys on the Roach film PICK A STAR. The scenario depicted Laurel and Hardy as sympathetic innocents instead of the obnoxious boneheads at Fox.

The result, AIR RAID WARDENS, is an improvement over their last Fox picture A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO, but not a significant one. As the title suggests, the Boys are air raid wardens on the home front during World War II. This situation has considerable comedic potential and indeed the film does generate some laughs, particularly a scene where the Boys unsuccessfully try to control a dog at a town meeting. But many promising gags are marred by sluggish pacing. The lack of background music, a hallmark in the Hal Roach films, further hampers the gags.

As in A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO, the villains, a group of Nazi spies, are too serious to effectively serve as antagonists for the slapsticky characters of Stan and Ollie. It is actually disturbing to view such sinister, humorless characters threaten the Boys. MGM should have followed the example of the Columbia short subjects department which pitted the Three Stooges against Keystone Cop-like Nazis in such wartime films like THEY STOOGE TO CONGA and HIGHER THAN A KITE.

Even more distressing is the studio's misguided attempts to generate audience sympathy for Laurel and Hardy. When Stan and Ollie are at their lowest ebb, they wallow in humorless self-pity. In the classic Hal Roach films, no matter how badly things were, Laurel and Hardy never felt sorry for themselves and this was part of their popular appeal. In this film when the Boys say lines like "I guess we're not smart like other people." it isn't moving, just depressing.

Those who haven't seen the team's Hal Roach films will probably find AIR RAID WARDENS satisfying. But those who have enjoyed such classics like SONS OF THE DESERT and WAY OUT WEST will find this film a letdown.

Below Par Post-Roach L & H comedy

[BJJManchester · 4/10 · 30 October 2006]

Another unhappy post-1940's wartime comedy featuring arguably cinema's greatest laughter makers,Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy,although you'd hardly get that particular impression after watching AIR RAID WARDENS.After two unfortunate features at 20th CENTURY FOX,the boys went over to MGM,who distributed virtually all their Hal Roach efforts.They also made occasional guest appearances in all-star extravaganzas there(such as Hollywood REVUE OF 1929 and Hollywood PARTY).It seemed a rather better option as several members of the technical crew(Jack Jevne,Edward Sedgwick,Charles Rogers)had worked with the team before at Roach;Rogers especially was a reliable writer-director-actor and a trusted colleague of Stan Laurel.Most promising of all was the presence of Edgar Kennedy in the cast;it was his first role opposite the boys since NIGHT OWLS,released 13 years earlier.

So why is AIR RAID WARDENS little or no better than their other efforts at Fox? One reason is an overtly serious plot about Nazi saboteurs which,typical of wartime Hollywood,dissolves into much propaganda and takes up far too much running time,and mitigates against many opportunities for L & H humour.To be fair,there are scenes which promise to be typically funny in the L & H mould,but are affected by sub-standard direction and cutting.One of Stan's great strengths behind the camera was his immense contributions in supervising the direction and editing;it's plainly obvious big studio interference,as excessive here as it was at Fox,prevents most of these scenes from being nothing more than very mildly funny.Their two encounters with old foe Edgar Kennedy are a disappointment,particularly the second tit-for-tat battle which should have been far funnier,but is sabotaged by misjudged direction and pacing.Other misjudgements are poorly-handled sequences involving poster-hanging,Stan being forced by Ollie to sign his full name after already scrawling his usual 'X',the Nazi agent forcing Stan to shoot Ollie,and a morbidly out of character speech by Stan saying 'We're not as good as other people' after being sacked after their said confrontation with Kennedy,claiming they were drunk;his and Ollie's self-pitying attitudes are depressingly the total opposite of the eternal,naive optimists gloriously portrayed in the Roach films.Kennedy's role itself is all too brief;a larger concentration on him instead of the mostly bland supporting actors and grim storyline would have been a far better idea.The few brief points in the film's favour are a good production,fairly funny scenes involving a dog disrupting a meeting and a mock first aid encounter with pompous bank manager Norton,played by Howard Freeman,who in fact probably gives the most assured supporting performance in the film.Even so,these are still pretty hackneyed and mechanical comic incidents in which much lesser comedians than Laurel and Hardy could have done.Authentic L & H traits only last but a few seconds,the best of which are some familiar Hardy camera looks,which are in fact the only real amusing bits in the film.At Roach,these bits would have been considered mere punctuation during masterly comic sequences in such films as WAY OUT WEST,SONS OF THE DESERT and others;in AIR RAID WARDENS,they are the best bits of uninspired and banal material surrounding it.Inoffensive,but nowhere near the quality of even their average Roach films.

A Must See for all lovers of Stan and Babe!

[kingarthurup · 10/10 · 29 September 2008]

This movie is a tome to all that is World War II, Real Patriotism, and of course our guys Laurel and Hardy........ The boys are grand, and whereas others may think that it was too "Deep" or not enough slapstick, I believe it shows the depth of skill that Stan and Ollie have. I must confess, I was a bit taken aback when seeing this the first time by Stanly's speech to the board of the Air Raid Wardens.... ,... between Stan's speech and Ollie's amazingly silent expressions,... I literally wept! I was simply stunned by the boys dramatic acting abilities... I recall Ollie as a bad guy in some silents, before Stan, and of course Stan also, but never had a clue as to the extent of their talent.

I have loved Stan and Ollie for years (I am actually a cousin of Rosina Lawrence..."mary roberts" in way out west) and I was in personal contact with John McCabe before his death... (I am from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and just a few miles from Mackinac Island where John resided).

I know of what I speak, and I say IF YOU ARE A STAN AND OLLIE FAN WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!

"We'll do anything that Uncle Sam wants us to do, won't we, Ollie?"

[The_Movie_Cat · 4/10 · 12 January 2002]

An unashamedly jingoistic Laurel and Hardy movie that sees them try to join the war effort. Watching loveable everymen Stan and Ollie put up signs saying "gone to fight the Japs" troubles me ideologically. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but seeing such crass propaganda as Ollie saying, "There's a job to be done right here at home" fills me with a sense of dread. And it's weird hearing English Stan talking about "Our Country" and uttering such trite platitudes as "We'll do anything that Uncle Sam wants us to do, won't we, Ollie?"

What's most unsettling is that Stan and Ollie look so old and ill you no longer laugh at their slapstick but fear for their safety. Direction by Edward Sedgwick is quite nice in terms of angles and camera motion, but completely at odds with the material. More to the point, sometimes poor shots and editing made the old Laurel and Hardy films funnier. With more professional standards they seem like an anachronism. The tiredness of the two leads (Stan in particular, who liked to be more involved in the creative level) comes through, and it all has a jaded, rehashed feel. I laughed just four times in the film's 64m duration, and while I cannot imagine any L & H vehicle plumbing the depths of a * movie, this is easily the weakest of their work that I've seen so far.

There's a lifeless atmosphere throughout, and Stan and Ollie's rapport is virtually non-existent for once. Some bits, like Stan sleeping in a gas mask amuses, but the chemistry is almost entirely absent. If they'd made the film half the length yet with the same material it might have meant a pacier, snappier, product. In fact, it took me a while to put my finger on it, but what the picture misses more than anything else is incidental music, something that was synonymous with Laurel and Hardy. Their violent fight with an awkward houseowner – including ramming a pipe down his throat and smashing his head into a fusebox – does recapture some old glories, but it's too little. Most unsettling scene is the one where Stan can't write his own name. Laurel & Hardy are always dumb, but here it's supposed to be funny that they have learning difficulties? The climactic final pay-off is particularly notable for being nowhere near good enough. The film doesn't so much end, but slump to a halt.

Intriguingly, when Air Raid Wardens was released with Nothing But Trouble on one tape in 1993, the blurb on the back told you the ending. How thoughtful.

Air Raid Wardens (1943) **

[JoeKarlosi · 5/10 · 15 January 2007]

I tend to repeat this in all my reviews of the final eight 1940s films featuring the legendary comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, but the six pictures they made for 20th Century-Fox were generally underrated; the real sour lemons of all the latter-day Stan and Ollie movies from their twilight years were actually the two which were made by MGM --- the insufferable NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (1944), and then this one - AIR RAID WARDENS (1943). Here, Laurel and Hardy want desperately to aid the U.S.A. by contributing to the war effort, but nobody will have them. No matter what they attempt to accomplish, they keep putting their feet in everything and turn up mostly disastrous results. At least Edgar Kennedy is present this time as a good foil for L&H, and there are some funny spots now and then, but you can tell that this picture has more of a wholesome whitewash to it and doesn't really "feel" like a Laurel and Hardy comedy. It's at least average Stan and Ollie, though; and that's more than can be said for the film which was to follow. ** out of ****

Not bad--just not very good either

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 24 November 2006]

If you watch this movie and have no idea who Laurel and Hardy were and were never a fan, then this movie is an okay time-passer. However, for people like me who love the comedy team and have seen most of their movies, it's a major disappointment. Like all the movies the made after A CHUMP AT OXFORD, the film really did not need to be made. Laurel and Hardy were now obviously old and lacked the spark of their earlier films. On top of that, these films were not made by the Hal Roach production company, so they lack the style and look that made the team great. In fact, now that I think about it, this film could have been made with Abbott and Costello or perhaps Red Skelton or some other comedians of the day and the film would have probably been better! Seeing a morbidly obese Ollie and a super-tired looking Stan just knocks the comedic wind out of the movie's sails!

The boys are a couple of total screw-ups who want to help with the war effort. But, they are too feeble for the military and so they volunteer as Civil Defense workers. In this role, again and again they blow it until they are forced to resign. This all is more pathetic and sad than funny. However, being a formulaic movie, you know that somehow they will redeem themselves at the end--which they do. How exactly this all occurs, you'll have to see for yourself, but I personally wouldn't bother watching this dull and listless film unless you are a maniac like me who is trying to see all of the team's films.

A final note: Donald Meek, one of my favorite supporting actors of the age, plays the most unusual and against type roles imaginable. See the film and you'll know what I mean!

Laurel & Hardy become Air Raid Wardens in their first film actually produced by M-G-M

[tavm · 8/10 · 26 April 2023]

Before this movie, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy's association with M-G-M was either as the distributor of their Hal Roach Studios product or as guest stars in the studio's revue-type films like The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Hollywood Party. So it was that this was their first time actually starring in a movie both distributed and produced by Metro. After not-so-great experiences in their first two 20th Century-Fox pictures, Stan & Babe were looking forward to being loaned to the backlot represented by Leo the Lion. It's there that they once again got to collaborate with writers Charles Rogers and Jack Jevne, director Edward Sedgwick, and fellow actor Edgar Kennedy. They also got to return to their white makeup they preferred but couldn't do at Fox. As a result, they're basically their "Stan & Ollie" characters not forced to do wisecracks like at 20th and got to do multiple visual gags at one's pleasure. Unfortunately, there's also some serious undertones since this one addresses the dangers during World War II of possible Nazi spies hiding in a small town and a civil defense official was consulted during filming and he didn't want his organization made fun of. Still, when the boys get dramatic, we feel for them as they're such sympathetic characters despite their bumbling. In his book "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies", Randy Skretvedt thought this one was "such a bland and unamusing movie" but while I disagree with him here, I do agree on one point he made about it: he thought showing Stan trying to write his own name was "like being asked to laugh at someone who's mentally retarded" so I didn't laugh during that scene. Especially hilarious to me was the boys tit for tat with Edgar Kennedy reminiscent of similar confrontations with James Finlayson and Charlie Hall. I also agree that the film could have used a music score during some scenes like Marvin Hatley or LeRoy Shield had done at Hal Roach Studios. Before I end this review, I noticed one of the supporting players was from some other pictures I commented on this site recently and sure enough, that player was Russell Hicks who I just watched in L & H's other movie Great Guns and in Abbott & Costello's Buck Privates Come Home. He was also in other A & C vehicles like Hold That Ghost, Ride 'Em Cowboy, and The Noose Hangs High. In summary, Air Raid Wardens was a good L & H flick from their post-Hal Roach period. So now I'm moving from Stan & Ollie's first starring feature at M-G-M in which they deal with Nazis to Bud & Lou's first film at the same studio in which they also deal with those bad guys in Rio Rita.

Take Cover! Not typical L&H comedy.

[maxcellus46 · 2/10 · 5 April 2006]

It's WWII and the boys are attempting to do their bit to help "Uncle Sam". That's an OK premise and could be very funny without being just yet another propaganda piece for the time. Yes, this film ends up being just that and a pretty bad one too. As already mentioned by others who have written about this comedic travesty, it's not at all a typical L&H film and certainly lacks all or at least most of the qualities that you'd find in one of their Roach shorts/features. Joining the army to fight the enemy and protect the country is not a basis for propaganda necessarily. L&H did just that in their 1932 "Pack Up Your Troubles" and did it with great aplomb and comedic effect. There are lots of laughs and gags and situations in that version of "fighitng for one's country" as compared to this dullard of a film. Many of the gags in the earlier one had been done in the silent days and were reworked for L&H but it still comes off. In "Air Raid Wardens", too many times does someone step in to prevent what is logically about to happen and thereby kills off the joke or gag. Not how to make a comedy. Remember 20th Century Fox specialized in musicals and light fluff and certainly not serious comedy so it's no wonder that this film just does not get there as far as laughs go. However, as usually is the case, L&H had contractual obligations so they virtually had to "perform" whatever mess was handed to them. Also being a mega studio as compared to their original "lot of fun", Raoch Studios, L&H were just two more employees and it shows here as to how they're treated. Totally miss-able film.

Sad comedy of a team past their prime

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 31 January 2010]

Laurel and Hardy are small-town business owners who keep going through one business right after another. Then, World War II comes along, and they close their newly opened bicycle shop to enlist. Rejected at every turn, they return to their shop to find a new business moving in, run by newcomer to town Donald Meek. The group decides to share the shop, then the boys volunteer to put up posters for the upcoming meeting for local defense. After destroying the local society matron's dress by splattering her with glue, they wreck the meeting with the help of a stray dog that follows them inside. (Perhaps an unsold relic from their unsuccessful pet shop?) As Air Raid Wardens, they wreck slow-burning Edgar Kennedy's house and are let go after being branded as drunks. But as luck has it, the boys discover a local plot against the town's yet to be open war factory, and save the day.

The comedy teams of the 30's and 40's all seem to have one thing in common: They worked about five years later (or more) than they should have. Most aging comics doing pratfalls cause groans rather than laughs. (Look at the evidence of Lucille Ball in her last TV show.) As lovable as most of these teams are, they shatter their dignity by going on too long doing the same types of gags they did when they were much, much younger. Laurel and Hardy were funny in their heyday because they always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and their gags were based upon circumstances beyond their control rather than stupidity. Without Hal Roach's outstanding team to create what are now true classics ("Sons of the Desert", "Way Out West", "Swiss Miss", to name a few, not to mention their wonderful shorts), they depended on MGM and 20th Century Fox to give them material that the studios seemed to think that the public would find funny. Like the Little Rascal's transition from Roach Studios to MGM, they seemed to loose heart in their work.

"Air Raid Wardens" was probably their worst post-Roach effort (save "Uptopia", made independently several years later). It is obvious from the start who the villain is (even before the screenwriters reveal it), and it is obvious that the boys will save the day.

TRUE SPOILER BELOW: What really upset me after watching this 69 minute movie is that while it does have a conclusion, it is so unsatisfyingly jarring that it just wraps up quicker than their 10-20 minute shorts did without any real recognition of the boy's sudden heroics after so much incompetence. Obviously made for the matinée kiddie crowd, it drags in a few spots, even though there are some funny bits which are few and far between. Laurel and Hardy would go on for a few more years, and then Hardy went to do some wonderful character work on his own. But their prime was past, and the result is truly sad.

Laurel and Hardy...War on the Home-Front

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 27 April 2016]

This Propaganda Piece finds Stan and Ollie doing Their Bit for Hollywood Wartime Hooey. Made during the Team's Final Years it is not one the Fan Base finds Amusing and it is mostly Dismissed or Panned, sighting Declining Health and an Uncooperative Studio.

There are a Few Moments of Levity and Slapstick, "Do we get helmets and everything?", says an elated Stan, but the Boys don't fit very well into the Plot and sometimes the Script is Downright Depressing. L&H being Framed for Drunkenness, Stan Writing His Name, and an Odd Piece of Self-Pity that comes off as Extremely Sad.

The Few Gags that Work make it Worth a Watch but don't Expect a Sharp Outing from Laurel and Hardy. It's one of those Rah-Rah Wartime Efforts that Exploit the Comedians and really does Result in a Flaccid Effort from All Involved.

Note...Viewed Today this is easily one of L&H lesser efforts, but in context (1943), the New York Times Review reports that the audience in the Theatre was having a good time with the Movie. If that is true, this War Effort was not a total waste for Stan and Ollie.

a nice try but a huge artistic fail

[beauzee · 3/10 · 5 November 2014]

well known story is that this one showed some hope, early on > Stan must have been thrilled to work with a company of which we presume he always had a good rapport > the co. distributed the independent Roach co. movies! the script was funny. but, alas, government guys stepped in to check the writing for political correctness long before Bill Mayer was born. that's probably a little harsh: it was important to assure that real air raid wardens are appropriated represented.

there are ZERO - count 'em - ZERO laughs here. ed Kennedy showed up for a sequence with Stan and Ollie at their repair shop and...nothing. badly directed segment leaving one wondering if *anything* will work for the fans.

in its' favor, we can get a feeling of Patriotism, as if Laurel and Hardy tried to do the right thing for the Country at the time, and even if the picture is lousy, it's worth viewing beginning to end. also, we have a solid story. it made sense to suspend the surreal and just tell a simple story of a couple of small town guys, really bumblers, who manage to become heros, on the *homefront*!

Where Are Stan and Ollie?

[Grendel1950 · 3/10 · 23 June 2019]

The great silent and early sound comedians were all "personality" comedians. No on could devise gags for Keaton and Lloyd as well as the comedians themselves because they knew their characters and knew what was believable for them. Likewise, no one could devise gags for Laurel and Hardy as well as Stan Laurel. Unfortunately, MGM thought their best writers and directors could produce winning films for anybody, regardless of their characters. Here's the problem with this picture; the characters of Stan and Ollie aren't needed. Jack Haley and Tom Ewell could have starred in this movie with equal succcess because there are so few Laurel and Hardy moments in it. Even the "tit for tat" gag with Edgar Kennedy is slow and tiring, without the zest and fun of similar battles with Finlayson and Charlie Hall. In the end. this is an MGM picture with Laurel and Hardy, and not what fans of "Sons of the Desert" and "Blockheads" look forward to.

Wartime bumbling

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 2 January 2019]

Am very fond of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. They were very funny and amiable performers with memorable personalities that really shone when the material was good, which it mostly was. It is very easy to understand their appeal and why they are so fondly remembered. Also really love them together as a partnership, which is deservedly legendary from when it had fully formed in the late-20s.

'Air Raid Wardens' agreed really isn't one of their best efforts. For me actually, it is one of their lesser ones and doesn't do any kind of justice to the duo. It is not terrible overall, but it is bad Laurel and Hardy. After liking to loving many of their previous films, with a fair share of classics, their post-Hal Roach period saw quite a big decline and all their weaker films (the worst of which quite bad) were made during this period. It has to be said though that for me and other people this is one of the better and more watchable films of theirs from this period. Not much of an endorsement though.

There are pluses. It actually looks very professional and nicely made. The crude editing that was there in some of the later Hal Roach period is not here in 'Air Raid Wardens', it was clearly shot with care and love and the production design is nicely done.

Lesser Laurel and Hardy still have moments and 'Air Raid Wardens' does have them. The Edgar Kennedy sequences and Laurel with a gas mask come off best and are amusing in a mild sort of way. The houseowner fight is the closest the film comes to evoking the older outings. Laurel and Hardy do their best and their chemistry does shine in places (not enough), some of the physical comedy is nimble. They are also used much better than other post-Hal Roach period outings of theirs, actually feeling like leads.

Not consistently enough though. Laurel and Hardy are used better than in other post-Hal Roach period outings of theirs, but their personalities, what made them famous and what was so appealing about them are not there enough either, they are rather bland and too nice here. As well out of character and tired, with much of their classic chemistry lost. There are no standouts in the rest of the cast other than Edgar Kennedy and against type Donald Meek (which he handles well). Laurel and Hardy don't gel very well in the wartime setting either, or at least in the films with it made during the post-Hal Roach period where Laurel and Hardy's humour was far less innocent than before. Here, it did feel like the subject was treated far too seriously and it felt somewhat heavy-handed.

In terms of the story, that is severely wanting in 'Air Raid Wardens'. Will admit straight off the bat that the story was never a strong suit in Laurel and Hardy, tending actually to be the asset that came off least. Even for Laurel and Hardy however it is very threadbare with a rather dull first part, while also feeling like an over-stretched short film and a series of not particularly well-executed sequences (on the whole) strung together. The atmosphere is lifeless throughout and the ending felt tacky. One of 'Air Raid Wardens' biggest problems is that other than a few moments, it's just not very funny. The script is trite with some dumb one-liners and some of the humour is overplayed.

Summarising, watchable but disappointing. 5/10 Bethany Cox