Main Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mary Boland, Philip Merivale, Henry O'Neill
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 70 minutes
Plot
The second of Laurel & Hardy's two MGM starring films, Nothing But Trouble casts Stan and Ollie as, respectively, an unemployed butler and chef. Despite their inherent ineptitude, there's a wartime servant shortage, so the boys are hired by flighty dowager Mrs. Hawkley (Mary Boland), who hopes to impress visiting dignitaries from the kingdom of Orlandia. While purchasing food for Mrs. Hawkley's dinner party, Stan and Ollie meet a likeable child named Chris (David Leland) - who unbeknownst to them is Orlandia's young monarch-in-exile King Christopher. The boy's uncle, Prince Saul (Philip Merivale), intends to assassinate Chris and take the throne for himself, so the bumbling twosome set out on an improbable rescue mission to save Chris from the Prince's evil clutches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Harry McAfee - Art Director, Irene - Costume Designer, Sam Taylor - Director, Conrad A. Nervig - Editor, Nathaniel Shilkret - Composer (Music Score), Charles Salerno, Jr. - Cinematographer, B.F. Zeidman - Producer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Jack Bonar - Set Designer, Ray Golden - Screenwriter, Bradford Ropes - Screenwriter, Russell Rouse - Screenwriter, Margaret Gruen - Screenwriter
Nothing But Trouble is a late Laurel and Hardy feature, and not regarded by fans and critics as one of their better efforts although it does have some funny moments. The plot involves the team as a chef and a butler wrecking a dinner party - the bit where they cook a rubber steak and try to carve it at the table is particularly humorous. They also foil an assassination plot against a young king who is threatened for the throne by his jealous uncle.
At a low point in his career at the time, Buster Keaton worked as a gagman on this film. Keaton's regard for Laurel and Hardy was always high, and he was a good friend of Stan Laurel's throughout their lives.
The finale where the two are about to commit suicide by jumping off a tall building to the busy street below is an obvious Keaton idea.
At Laurel's funeral in 1965, Keaton said that he felt Laurel was a greater comedian than Charlie Chaplin.[1]
