Pardon Us (MGM 1931, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy)

This send-up of prison films was Laurel and Hardy’s first feature after a string of classic two-reel comedies. The comic twosome star as a pair of bumbling bootleggers who end up in jail, incarcerated with the toughest con in the joint: The Tiger (Walter Long). But the Tiger turns out to be a pussycat to the boys, and they soon find themselves involved in one of his periodic escape attempts, which lands them, in blackface, amidst a group of cotton-pickers. There, among further adventures, they perform one of their charming trademark song-and-dance numbers.

The expense of the prison set built by producer Hal Roach for Pardon Us made it essential to stretch the film to feature-length; it thus became Laurel and Hardy’s first full-length comedy.

production details
USA | MGM | 56 minutes | 1931

Director: James Parrott
Producer: Hal Roach
Cinematography: Jack Stevens
Editor: Richard Currier
Music: Marvin Hatley, Leroy Shield
Script: H. M. Walker

cast
Tiny Sandford as Prison Guard
Lucien Prival as Warden
Oliver Hardy as Ollie
Stan Laurel as Stan
June Marlowe as
James Finlayson as
Walter Long as The Tiger