Jitterbugs (1943) User Reviews (32)

Fun Laurel and Hardy film if you don't think about it too much

[kpetnews · 6/10 · 2 June 2006]

In their third film for 20th Century Fox, Laurel and Hardy finally found a sympathetic director in Malcolm St. Clair. Unfortunately, they may also have found the worst scriptwriter alive in Scott Darling. The script for this film (based on an earlier film, "Arizona to Broadway") is really terrible. The plot makes no sense at all, and motivations for various events are really confusing.

However, Laurel and Hardy seem to be in high spirits in this film. Stan occasionally seems to be sleepwalking through scenes (his scene with Lee Patrick is a prime example) but for the most part they put their all into second-rate material and make it funnier. For instance, the first reel involves Stan and Ollie's car broken down in the desert. Stan suggests to Ollie that he faint so that a truck will stop for them. However, the truck just runs right over Ollie, and the expression Babe gives the camera when he's discovered such a depressing facet of human nature is worth the whole price of the film. Another scene involves Ollie trying to explain to Stan how they're going to scam the scammers, with Stan clearly not getting it. Their timing is perfect during this scene, and it always gets a laugh out of me.

Vivian Blaine, the love interest, is fairly entertaining as a singer, and has some decent, cute little songs to perform. (Well, the shoe rationing bit is excepted.) She's not so great as an actress, but hey, nobody's perfect, especially when you're having to compete with scene-stealers like Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel. (Admittedly, though, Stan steals more scenes as Emily Cartwright than he does as Stan. He must have just wanted to do a different character pretty badly.) The upshot is, don't think about the plot. Your head will really hurt if you do. Enjoy the congeniality and the comedy and your time won't be wasted.

Its OK

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 5 July 2009]

Stan & Ollie are travelling musicians who run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and are helped out by a travelling salesman, Chester (Bob Bailey). He gives them one of his gas pills to put in their car and they decide to go into business combining their music act with selling these pills. When they try their luck in the next town, Chester meets Susan (Vivian Blaine) and she joins the gang. The plot then changes direction as we learn that Susan's aunt has had $10,000 dollars stolen by crooks. Chester, Susan, Stan & Ollie are determined to get the money back and the film follows their efforts to do this as Stan & Ollie pose as different characters at a hotel, while Susan takes a job as a singer at a club.

There are some funny scenes and Vivian Blaine sings 3 songs. Its all completely unbelievable nonsense but at the end of the film you feel that you have been entertained.

i enjoy it

[andynortonuk · 7/10 · 12 September 2002]

i watch this when i was on holiday in tennerife when this film was on. I kind of enjoyed it.It's not the best or worst comedy i have seen, but has got some good chuckles all the way through. There were some bits i din't understand. But then i am not a laurel and hardy fan! But it was good old traditional slpastick mayhem form the duo in this madcap comedy.

Delightful characterizations by L & H makes this film charming

[jgpalladino · 10 May 2002]

Although lacking in much of the standard L & H humor, this film has other merits going for it. Ollie's impersonation of Southern gentleman Colonel Watterson Bixby of Amadillo County, Texas offers him the felicitous opportunity to play a character close to his own Southern upbringing. Once again in drag, Stan's characterization of Bostonian dowager, Emily Cartwright, offers him the joyous occasion of reusing his Lord Paddinton upper-crust accent tempered with a slight nuance of local Boston color. The scenes in which they appear are a sheer delight chiefly because they carry it off with such finesse and aplomb. Fans may be disappointed at the lack of the usual slapstick, but Stan and Ollie are so splendid in the roles within roles that they more than easily compensate for it. This film as well as "The Bullfighters", with its more tried and true formula, make these two outings the best of their Twentieth Century Fox excursion.

Fun well written comedy.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 2 November 2006]

This is an enjoyable well written comedy that has some great comical moments in it.

This is not a comedy movie that relies on the slapstick antics from Laurel & Hardy but it rather relies on its written comedy moments. It might disappoint the most hardened fans but to everyone well this should be a movie that you can find much joy and fun in. Especially when the boys have to play different characters in the movie; Oliver is forced to play a southern gentleman named colonel Bixby and Stan has to play Aunt Emily. In those sequence it shows how great the boys actually could act. They play the different actors without much difficulties and in a convincing way.

The movie is mostly carried by its story. It's not the best story ever written but it works effective for a simple little comedy movie like this one. It's well written and features some great comedy moments and situations. The movie starts to fall apart before the ending but the good beginning and fun middle compensate for this.

Obvisouly not the greatest and best example of a Laurel & Hardy comedy but it's definitely better than most of their usual work from the '40's. Maybe if it had different actors than Laurel & Hardy in it, this movie would have a better reputation.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A shadow of their former glory, but still rather watchable

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 January 2008]

Following 1940's SAPS AT SEA, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy became free agents--selling their talents to studios such as Fox and RKO. While these and other studios were willing to pay them more than they'd been getting from Hal Roach Studio, the quality of all these post-Roach films took a significant hit. Unless you are a die-hard fan of the team, you really should watch their earlier stuff--it's just so much funnier and better.

While JITTERBUGS isn't a bad film, it's a mere shadow of their former style and glory--mostly because it has too much plot and too much singing. The beauty of the older Laurel and Hardy films was that they could take very simple plots and milk it for all it was worth just by allowing them to slowly do their thing. Here, however, the film is very plot-heavy and like all these later lesser films, the duo are more supporting actors instead of the whole show. Here, Vivian Blaine and Robert Bailey take away from the focus on Stan and Ollie--with Blaine singing (way too much) and Bailey as a smooth-talking grifter. In the older films, Stan and Ollie were THE focus--supporting characters were never intended to have much personality and were there merely for the use and abuse of the team. Here, the audience is simply distracted by these lesser talents--and I wanted much more Stan and Ollie!!

Now despite these distractions, the film works very well on occasion. First, when the boys are performing as a two-man band, this scene is very clever and the music very catchy--so, of course, this small scene is never repeated and apart from this tiny scene, there is not Jitterbugging at all--despite the title! Second, there are some funny moments--particularly when Stan dresses up like Ms. Blaine's aunt. While it may not sound all that funny, Stanley handles it well and you can't help but laugh--especially when he utters the line "I feel so gay"--you gotta see it to appreciate it!

So overall, it's a very, very mixed bag but an overall product that still has you wondering why the studio didn't just let Stan and Ollie "do their thing"? Why insert other characters or include lots of distracting singing and show tunes?! With the greatest movie duo in history, it was insulting to given them material that just wasn't up to snuff. And speaking of not being up to snuff, how about that floating gas scene where the wires were so obvious and visible?! Didn't Laurel and Hardy deserve better than just some cheap stunt than looked third-rate?

"We're practically wrapped in concrete now!"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 27 January 2013]

Sometimes even an out of their prime Laurel and Hardy flick can fill the bill, like it did this morning on the Fox Movie Channel. I haven't seen one of their features in a while so this was a welcome treat. Yet even though they're both top billed in the credits, you somehow get the feeling that they have a support role in this story about con men out-conning each other with the boys as willing partners. As the story progresses, a host of characters slip in and out of the action, and one of the puzzlers is how a couple of the original grifters named Corcoran (Robert Emmett Keane) and his wife Dorcas (Lee Patrick) simply drop out of the picture, even though Corcoran was a partner of the main villain Bennett (Douglas Fowley). Oh well, not to worry too much about figuring that out.

In some respects it appears that Twentieth Century Fox was attempting to follow the Universal formula of Abbott and Costello's successful early films by supplying a host of musical numbers performed by the pretty Vivian Blaine. Her character is Miss Susan Cowan, who's aunt had been swindled using the old bait and switch envelope trick. Rounding out the main quartet, Robert Bailey portrays another grifter named Chester Wright, and when he's stricken by Miss Cowan's looks and charm, he's a goner. If there were only enough pretty women in the world, maybe there wouldn't be any bad guys.

You know, I've been thinking about that gas pill gimmick. Recall how Ollie was offering the bargain price of one dollar for the five gallon pills and two bucks for ten gallons - that would have worked out to twenty cents a gallon to manufacture gasoline out of water. Well I recall buying gas at twenty eight cents a gallon when I first started driving in 1967, so I just looked it up, and a gallon of gas in 1943 cost about ten cents. I wonder what they were thinking when they put the script together.

Anyway, as con man Chester puts it - "Money lost through larceny can often be recovered the same way". And so it goes, as Stan impersonates the dowager Aunt Emily Cartwright, and pulls off the envelope switcheroo against the bad guys. If you're attentive, you'll catch a quick line from Stanley stating "I feel so gay" when he first puts on women's clothing. It kind of makes me wonder what he'd say if he were around today.

Below-par but passable Wartime L & H comedy

[BJJManchester · 6/10 · 7 January 2012]

One of a declining number of features Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made in the 1940's after they departed the Hal Roach Studios at the beginning of the decade,JITTERBUGS has the reputation of maybe being the best of a disposable bunch made at 20th CENTURY FOX and M-G-M.This actually isn't saying that much,and the film has many flaws that plagued the other films in this period that brought an end to their film careers.But there are somewhat more positive aspects that touch it up a notch or two above the other misconceived and misjudged efforts of these later years despite still being affected by numerous disadvantages.

Travelling musicians Stan and Ollie steam up with a devious but likable conman (Robert Bailey) to help a young woman (Vivian Blaine) whose Aunt was fleeced out of $10,000 by various other shysters. Stan and Ollie don disguises as part of the plan,though they have to wary of their own safety along the way.

The main problem with JITTERBUGS is the excess of plot complications and sub-stories plus various transient characters that don't just add a sense of disarrangement but provide little chance for any characteristic L & H humour throughout it's running time.We only get a sense of this in the opening few minutes or so with scenes of the boys on a isolated desert highway,but even here (as was evident in virtually all of their later films),the dialogue and behaviour is not particularly appropriate for their long established naive,lovable characters.

Thereafter,with the appearance of conman Robert Bailey,his would-be girl Vivian Blaine and other types,Stan and Ollie often seem incidental to the plot and the numerous other characters that turn up.As has been mentioned before,it's main saving grace is to see the boys enact different characterisations.Ollie is enjoyable as a wealthy Texas landowner,Colonel Wattison Bixby,as a Southern states gentleman-type very close to his own upbringing,as is Stan as a fluttery and equally wealthy maiden Aunt,convincingly and amusingly in drag,employing the upper-class accent he used in A CHUMP AT OXFORD and flirtatious manner in ANOTHER FINE MESS.Ollie's scenes with Lee Patrick in his impersonation work surprisingly well,which features somewhat better supporting performances from such performers as Ms Patrick,Douglas Fowley,Noel Madison (who appeared in a similar Gangsterish role with the boys in OUR RELATIONS seven years earlier) and Robert Emmett Keane than was usually the case in these later films.

This was Mal St.Clair's first film with the boys and his direction is fast and slick,helping to paper over the cracks of a less-than efficient script by Scott Darling,which was also a showcase for the up and coming starlet Vivian Blaine.She is a somewhat lightweight but pleasing presence,and the film is also helped by decent production values and a respected cameraman (Lucien Andriot), giving the film a more attractive and polished look.

Though hardly vintage L & H,JITTERBUGS has enough good scenes to rate it alongside THE BULLFIGHTERS as the more tolerable of their post-Roach features,with both comedians looking generally more assured and confident with at least some decent material to work with than was the unfortunate case with most of their later work.JITTERBUGS is still flawed but enjoyable,with Laurel and Hardy's talent still managing to extract some laughs and overcome a plot and script that was far from perfect.

RATING:6 out of 10.

Laurel and Hardy: Medicine Men

[lugonian · 5/10 · 24 November 2000]

"Jitterbugs" (20th Century-Fox, 1943) features the comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as themselves who meet up with an enterprising man (Robert Bailey) who has a formula that changes water into gasoline, and later all getting involved with swindlers. The movie is an update remake to an old Fox film, "Arizona to Broadway" (1933) with James Dunn and Joan Bennett, with this comedy given the Laurel and Hardy treatment. I have fond memories of this particular movie mainly because it is the film that introduced me to Stan and Ollie way back when I was a fourth grader in 1969. Since then, I've wanted to see their other movies. I would later be in for a treat when I got to watch the comedies Stan and Ollie did for Hal Roach in the 1930s. It's a pity they didn't get the freedom to be creative at 20th Century-Fox as they were for Roach. "Jitterbugs" co-stars Vivian Blaine, who sings like Fox's own Alice Faye in a deep and throaty manner, but has a personality all her own. A likable screen personality, she adds something to this comedy without being a dull romantic interest supporter. She sings "The Moon Kissed the Mississippi" and "I Gotta See for Myself" (good lively tune). Directed by Malcolm St.Clair, with Douglas Fowley, Lee Patrick and Noel Madison in support. Laurel disguised as "Aunt Emily" and Hardy's Southern gentleman interpretation as "Colonel Bixby" are one of the comedy highlights here. To date this is the only Laurel and Hardy/ 20th-Fox movie to air on American Movie Classics. It premiered on that cable station February 7, 1997. It's nice having it brought back once in a while since it's not, as of this writing, available on video cassette.(**)

Not classic L and H, but an appealing comedy with some genuine laughs

[mlraymond · 6/10 · 10 March 2011]

I first saw this movie years ago on the late show one night, and was charmed by it. The low key, gentle humor, and likable love interests make for an entertaining little movie.

Vivian Blaine is really cute as the night club singer who falls for nice guy con man Bob Bailey. He's not really a crook at heart, and soon is reformed by true love, combining forces with Stan and Ollie to get back the money fleeced from Vivian's aunt by a trio of crooks.

Stan Laurel is very funny and surprisingly convincing, as the wealthy dowager character he pretends to be. Tough gal Lee Patrick putting on a bogus Southern accent, and trying to seduce first Laurel and then Hardy is a hilarious sequence. Watching Oliver Hardy waltz gracefully with Lee Patrick is a sight worth seeing.

This is a nice, fun little movie if you're not expecting Laurel and Hardy in their prime. They're still funny and endearing characters.

Better than most 20th century fox L and H

[beauzee · 4/10 · 18 May 2019]

Not funny but the boys seem to enjoy this mess , as it has a lot of inventiveness . Cinematography pretty good, comedy cutting not bad. Vivian Blaine has some nice bits w the affable con man , and surprisingly okay tunes . Good scene w Stan in drag and Ollie as THE southern gentleman . Should have been done in color.

"That's Fine and Dandy"

[ygwerin1 · 8/10 · 11 July 2021]

Just watching this film on the Talking Pictures TV channel, I don't know this movie. I am a huge Stan and Ollie fan, and have seen far too few of their movies and simply couldn't resist viewing it.

Frankly I am ashamed of the atrocious rating for this movie here on IMDb, I can only assume it's culled from the abysmal reviews.

To my mind Laurel and Hardy still outshine a large percentage, of the tat that passes for 'comedy' these days. Their movies are still funnier than a great amount, of 'comedy' dross that the film industry still try and palm us off with. As a Brit I have to say that the absolute worst culprits, are the American film companies.

Fox wanted 'commercial $ makers and their 21st century compatriots, are still up to the same fiscal shenanigans.

There is nothing new in either the film nor TV industries, profit motives before quality every time.

But with Laurel and Hardy their comedic quality will always shine through, and frankly continues to transcend time itself.

Routine L & H entry

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 11 July 2021]

Con man Chester Wright (Bob Bailey) rescues stranded musicians Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) in the desert when their car breaks down. After using the boys in a few con acts, the men escape together in a trailer -- where they discover Susan Cowan (Vivian Blaine), whose purse Chester stole. When Chester discovers that Susan's mother has been swindled by professionals, he and the boys set out to pursue the con men to New Orleans, where they also turn Susan into a singing star.

Not as funny as the other L & H entries, yet still fun and entertaining. Stan Laurel dressed as Ollie's mother was a hoot - there are plenty of songs sung by the leading lady between the hi-jinks and humorous situation. Not as sharp as other L & H entries but it's still fun.

Light-Hearted Laurel & Hardy; No gem, but not a dog either.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 16 December 2012]

This is the Laurel and Hardy film they say will give you gas, whether you want the five gallon size or the ten gallon. The boys are the proud two members of a two man band; Together, they can do as much as Glenn Miller, the Dorseys or Gene Krupa. In the middle of the desert, they run out of gas, but inventor Douglas Fowley comes by with the invention they need, and asks for their assistance at a carnival in a nearby town. But when the townsfolk run them out of town, Laurel & Hardy are joined by sexy Vivian Blaine who accidentally left her purse in Fowley's possession. The boys assist Blaine in uncovering a scam which took her mother's property, and outwit the gangsters, albeit quite accidentally.

This is a film that depends less on gags and more on the big hearts that the boys share for the lovely Blaine. One hysterical sequence has Hardy posing as a Southern colonel who flirts with spider-woman Lee Patrick in order to expose her part in the scam while Laurel hides under her day bed. The rest of the comedy bits focus on Laurel posing in drag as Blaine's aunt. He doesn't alter his voice as he did in previous drag sequences in films, although I prefer the high-pitched squeak dubbed for his role as Oliver's wife in the classic short "Twice Two". The lack of slapstick helps make the fact that the boys are looking their age less painful.

As for Vivian Blaine, people expecting her "Miss Adelaide" characterization from "Guys and Dolls" will be surprised to find her quite different. She altered her voice for that role and the MGM musical "Skirts Ahoy!", so how she sounds here is as she did in life and the majority of her film and stage work. She gets to sing and dance a bit, so that is an added plus. Of the leading ladies in Laurel and Hardy's last film work, Blaine is probably the best known, although this marks her first major role. The supporting villains are appropriately slimy, although the lack of a real ending marks the lower rating than I would have given the film otherwise.

Past their peak, but still very watchable

[keenanchris · 5 November 2000]

This is an enjoyable film for L&H fans, despite it not being as funny as their earlier features. However, that is to be expected in anybody's career.

Far better that they made it than just retiring in 1940. Don't expect their best, but give it a viewing

Entertaining L&H musical comedy drama

[weezeralfalfa · 7/10 · 7 December 2018]

Generally, I enjoyed this Fox-sponsored L&H film, even though it's plot is overly convoluted. Those who want pure traditional style L&H will be disappointed, because of the emphasis on music and situational drama and comedy..........We begin with the boys stuck on a lonely desert sideroad, out of gas. They are fortunate that Chester happens along. He says he can solve their problem with his Little Wonder Gasoline Pills, with which he hopes to make a fortune, because of the war rationing of gasoline. He drops a pill in some water, pours it into their gas tank, and they are ready to go. He suggests they collaborate at a nearby carnival. They will play their big band music , then pitch his wonder pill. It works, as many buy. But, then, one customer says it caused a bad reaction in his vehicle, and they have to run for their lives. Before they left, Chester jitterbugged with a girl: Susan(Vivian Blaine) he fancied. Strangely, he was familiar with the jilting of her Aunt Emily, of $10,000. by a ring of gangsters. Thus, the 4 made a team to try to recover this money, as he happened to know that the ringleaders were in the vicinity.(Mighty strange coincidence!). Hence, they go to a nearby hotel where they meet several of the gang. Ollie impersonates a Texas tycoon(not typhoon, Stan), to help ferret out the crooks. One of them is Henry Corcoran. He has a wife, played by Lee Patric. She mistakes Stan for the Col., and entices him into her room, interested in the money the Col. put in the hotel safe. Later, Ollie comes calling, as the real Col. Bixby. She dumps Stan and romances Ollie. Eventually, Corcoran arrives, and the boys capture the 2, locking them in their closet. There follows a complicated series of switching of envelopes containing either the money or paper clippings, and complicated negotiations, including Vivian participating in shows, and her aunt putting up some money for the show. Stan masquerades as Vivian's aunt. Chester switches envelopes again, and disappears with the one containing the money. Thus, both the gangsters and Vivian plus the boys appear to have been hoodwinked by Chester. But, at the end of the film, there is a nice surprise, which I won't reveal. ........The 'gasoline pills' have some unexpected effects on the 2 men who imbibe water with them, in a sight gag.........Vivian, of course, was in the process of becoming a star or costar in a series of musical comedies. This outing gave her more exposure, although it would have been nice to see her in color. Essentially, she was taking over the role of the retiring Alice Faye. Here, she sings several new compositions on stage, on 2 occasions. ......Near the end, Stan(Emily) and Ollie join a group of jitterbuggers, to try to hide from several members of the gang. They are spotted, but Ollie sends them sprawling when he pushes Stan at them. Nonetheless, even though things work out for Vivian and Chester, the boys have to jump in the river to escape the wrath of the gangsters, to end the film. See this at YouTube.

Past their best

[marktayloruk · 7/10 · 11 July 2021]

They weren't as good as they'd been but still better than any other double act. This film was too plot heavy but held my attention for at least an hour and made me laugh. What more could one want from a comedy? They should definitely have been put into an MGM musical.

Laurel & Hardy (Final Decade)...Still Charming While Running On Empty...Underrated

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 28 May 2022]

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Lived Out Their Final Decade as a Super-Popular Comedy Team, Free Agents, but Paid the Price.

That of Hollywood Indifference After Racking Up the Mileage in the 20's & 30's Bringing Joyful Entertainment to Millions of Fans.

This War-Time Effort Finds Our Duo Hooking Up with a Con-Man (Bob Bailey) and a Pretty (Vivian Blaine).

Their Scam (although L&H think it's on the level) is a Pill that Turns Ordinary Water into Gasoline. This Makes for a Number of Slapstick "Gas" Gags.

Stan and Ollie Look Old and Tired (they were) but Manage to Deliver an Entertaining Outing. One of Their Best of the 40's.

Vivian Blaine is Handed 3 Musical Numbers that are Flat-Out Dull and Boring.

Bob Bailey is Best Known for His Radio Character "Johnny Dollar". He Does Fine.

The Production Quality is Not Bad and the Film in Retrospect is Much Better than its Reputation.

No Need to Compare it to Their Prime.

Because the 1940's wasn't Their Prime, it was Their Final Bow.

Stan Does HIs "Drag" Routine, and the Opening Act with the Their "Zoot-Suit Band" is a Highlight.

Plenty of Fun and the Lovable Duo Reflects Much of What Made Them Special, even though the Spotlight has Dimmed Somewhat.

Underrated and Given Little Slack (it's a cruel world out there.

The Movie, for the Love of Stan and Ollie, is Certainly...Worth a Watch.

Jitterbugs (1943)

[fntstcplnt · 6/10 · 1 March 2020]

Directed by Malcolm St. Clair. Starring Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Bob Bailey, Vivian Blaine, Douglas Fowley, Lee Patrick, Noel Madison, Robert Emmett Keane.

One of the better post-Hal Roach Laurel & Hardy features is hardly a must-see, but fans should enjoy it well enough; laughs aren't plentiful but at least the con-artists-conning-con-artists plot is one of the meatier stories the duo ever bumbled through--it was a reworking of a non-L&H 30s movie, "Arizona to Broadway." Stan and Ollie join up with small-time swindler Bailey on a gas pill scheme, then get caught up helping singer Blaine recover money stolen from her in a mob con. Stan spends almost half the movie in drag, and the pair's two-man jazz band is a visual delight, but funniest bit is the seduction scene between money-grubbing Patrick and Ollie in the guise of a rich southerner, Colonel Watterson Bixby. Blaine sings three songs, so there are three opportunities to take a bathroom break or sneak off to the kitchen to make a snack.

58/100

dull...with bright spots

[beauzee · 4/10 · 5 November 2014]

remarkably brighter and fresher than the 1941 and 1942 efforts, in fact, should have been made in color and billed as a musical: yes, Vivian Blaine, of GUYS AND DOLLS gets a lot of frame time, with very good songs. the film actually opens with L & H playing as, one might say, one-man-bands, on their tour truck.

cinematography is good and there's a sense that they are actually enjoying this one. we know Hardy said much later he liked JITTERBUGS.

it's been written that they enjoyed the chance to get into costume, as they did in the gambling scene, where they try to win back money that Vivian lost to con men, earlier. along the way they met an affable con artist, Bob Bailey, who agrees to help out... and *not* help himself, this time.

but general L & Hers, try it on for size.

like so many of the MGM and Fox efforts, the lost opportunities are too much to bear, in outlining. I'll give ya one: L & H are thumbing a ride, out in the desert. Stan suggests one of them should lie down on the road so as to make someone stop. Fine. Not to give it away but there's no quibbling about who has the honor, such as "As usual, I have to do everything myself!" Plus, the bit is terribly executed. Not by L & H but by the Writer and/or the Director. any 14 year old *new* fan will frown and say, "why didn't they just...?" :)

Under used

[ilprofessore-1 · 7/10 · 30 October 2016]

Hollywood was always suspicious of madcap comedians, and often burdened their films with mindless plots, subplots, silly love stories, and mediocre songs. This is a perfect example of the Twentieth Century Fox B unit busily churning out wartime entertainment for a less than demanding audience. L & H are not wasted, but under used. Even in as improbable story as this one, studio cowardice and lack of imagination cannot totally subvert the genius of two great comedians who could make even second-rate comic ideas seem better than they really were. Vivian Blaine, forever remembered as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, debuts here as that stock character, the pretty spunky damsel in distress, a carbon copy of another FOX contract player, Alice Faye. She gets to sing three ordinary, completely forgettable tunes in excellent voice. Many similarly attractive young women like her were wasted like this during the studio days. Vivian had to good sense to go back to Broadway and to the stardom she deserved.

Maybe watch it once

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 20 July 2021]

JITTERBUGS is another late Laurel and Hardy flick, not as bad as you might have heard, but a far cry from their Hal Roach days. They haven't aged too much in this one but they sometimes feel a bit excluded in a story about con men and streetwise guys and gals trying to outwit them. Stan gets to play in drag for a large part of the running time, but although there are a few funny moments there are no real stand-out gags to enjoy. It's fun as a one off watch, but not one you'll come back to.

Stan & Ollie Always Entertaining

[rdbqpaul · 8/10 · 24 April 2022]

Jitterbugs is good entertainment for a rainy afternoon,but far from an example of their best work. Both, although past their prime, are delightful playing the various characters moves into the plot. Stan in drag is fun, but not up to his Hal Roach moments in faux-fem roles.

Ollie demonstrates his comic genius and graceful dance moves too.

I love the two man band sequence and as a southern gentleman he is a delight.

Bob Bailey in his screen debut is fine, but his real skill was in radio as Johnny Dollar.

Vivian Blaine sings a few mediocre tunes that should have been left on the cutting room floor. With the wealth of music available in the Fox library they should have been much better.

All I all, it is fun and worth the 1 and 1/4 hours.

Dancing medicine

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 5 January 2019]

It is very easy to understand Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's appeal, with them having such great comic timing and memorable contrasting and distinct personalities, and why they are so fondly remembered. The same goes with their chemistry, considered legendary and one of the best, and in their prime (mid/late-1920s to 1940) one can see there's a reason for that. Their best material, both verbal and particularly physically, was amusing to hilarious and their best films, short and feature, are classic comedy.

Which is why it is sad that there was such a drastic decline in the post-Hal Roach period post-1940 (know that a few of the late 30s films were less than great but not to this extent). A period when Laurel and Hardy became underused, they and their material on the most part were tired, they were put in settings that they didn't gel in, the films seemed to forget what made Laurel and Hardy's prime period as great as it was, a lot of the verbal humour was dumb and trite, the supporting casts were variable and a few were too plot-heavy and the plots were far from great. For me though, while not a great film and far from prime Laurel and Hardy, 'Jitterbugs' is one of the best from this period. Some of the problems that plagued this period are still here but there is less of them compared to the previous 1940s films and most of what came after.

'Jitterbugs' is too heavy in the story, which is an issue when the story was not particularly good. At least it wasn't paper thin or felt like an over-stretched short film like those of some of the duo's other feature films, but it suffers from the opposite, being over-plotted, sometimes over-complicated and from being wildly improbable. Do feel that Laurel and Hardy could have been treated more like leads, there is too much of Bob Bailey and Vivian Blaine and the romantic subplot is not the film at its most interesting. The film starts to run out of gas and become muddled towards the end.

Part of me wanted more physical comedy, because most of Laurel and Hardy's funniest and most famous material was physical/slapstick.

However, both Laurel and Hardy have more energy than in other films from this period and they are good fun and look like they're enjoying themselves more than most of their post-Hal Roach films. Their chemistry shines much more than it did in the previous 1940s films and they're in a setting and situation that they gel much better in and more like something you get in their late1930s outings. The material they have here is also much better, none of it classic but as far as this period goes the humour and writing are far less dumb and are actually funny and well timed. The scamming discussion, the parts with Lee Patrick, the boys as a two-man band (particularly clever) and Laurel in drag are the standouts, it felt like 'Jitterbugs' did much better than most of their post-Hal Roach period in remembering what made them great even though for me it's too dialogue heavy.

Supporting cast is one of the best and most consistent of their 1940s films. A very funny Lee Patrick comes off best in the humour department, while Vivian Blaine is very charming and likeable, even getting the chance to sing a few pleasant if not entirely memorable musical numbers that actually don't distract too much. 'Jitterbugs' is nicely made and looks professional in how it's shot, the editing not crude, while the direction is competent if not always the most inspired.

In summary, decent post-Hal Roach outing and, although far from classic Laurel and Hardy, one of the best from this declining period. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Gassed

[st-shot · 4/10 · 8 March 2022]

Stan and Ollie make the scene as zoot suit hipsters in Jitterbugs, a sluggish wartime comedy with a few but very sparse comic moments that recall the boys in their prime. There's some comic drag from Laurel and chuckle inducing by Hardy doing a poor southern gentleman imitation but it's more than clear the boys looked fatigued and needed a rest.

As a two man traveling band the pair run out of gas in the middle of nowhere where an amiable con-man befriends then uses them to sell a fraudulent product and make a run for it. The shysters however eventually redeem themselves when they come to the aid of others at the mercy of other con men.

The pair both look brittle and tired as they deliver stale lines an expressions from their prime that result in more melancholy than mirth. Like Mantle and Mays they had stayed too long at the dance and found themselves far from their golden past and their prime. Jitterbugs has two left feet.