Pardon Us
| Pardon Us | |
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Theatrical poster for the 1944 re-release
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| Directed by | James Parrott |
| Produced by |
Stan Laurel Hal Roach |
| Written by | H.M. Walker |
| Starring | Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy |
| Music by | Leroy Shield |
| Cinematography | Jack Stevens |
| Edited by | Richard C. Currier |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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41' (Jailbirds cut) 56' (classic cut) 67' (extended cut) 70' 22" (director's cut) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Pardon Us is a 1931 American Pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by MGM in 1931.
During Prohibition, Laurel and Hardy are sent to prison for concocting and selling their own home brew. They are put in a cell with "Tiger" Long, the roughest, toughest and meanest of all inmates. Stan has a loose tooth that causes him to emit a razzberry at the end of every sentence; the inmate interprets this as a coolly defiant attitude and is impressed—nobody else ever stood up to him like that. He and Stan become fast friends.
Laurel & Hardy are assigned to attend prison school with James Finlayson being the teacher. The vaudeville routine that follows ends with a spitball meant for somebody else hitting the teacher in the face and the boys wind up in solitary. There is a sustained scene of the bleak cells with the unseen boys conversing through the walls.
After a prison break, the boys escape to a cotton plantation, where they hide out undetected, in blackface. The boys sing "Lazy Moon". When they attempt to repair the warden's car, they are discovered and are sent back to prison.
The prison authorities decide to send Laurel to the prison dentist to have the offending tooth pulled, but the dentist is incompetent and the procedure goes awry.
Tricked by a prison guard into calling off a hunger strike by being promised a thanksgiving-style feast, they go to the mess hall, only to be served the usual drab fare. Laurel causes a disturbance by protesting the absence of the feast, but is threatened by the guards. Soon after, as guns are being passed around under the tables, Laurel sets off his gun and causes an uproar. They inadvertently break up the prison riot and the grateful warden issues them a pardon. Laurel unintentionally "razzes" the warden and their exit from the prison has to be a very fast one.
H.M. Walker wrote the opening title card to this film, which states, "Mr. Hardy is a man of wonderful ideas—So is Mr. Laurel—As long as he doesn't try to think."
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Wikipedia