Directed by: A. Edward Sutherland

Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker, Reginald Gardiner, Charles Middleton, Jean Del Val, James Finlayson

STORY

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy take their glorious brand of chaos to France in The Flying Deuces, where one broken heart is all it takes to land the boys in the French Foreign Legion.

While vacationing in Paris, Ollie falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Georgette, played by Jean Parker. Certain that he has found the woman of his dreams, Ollie is devastated to discover that Georgette is already married. Heartbroken and ready to end it all, Ollie is persuaded that the best way to forget a woman is to join the Foreign Legion. Naturally, wherever Ollie goes, Stan goes too.

The boys soon discover that military life is not quite what they expected. They are assigned backbreaking work, receive very little pay and learn that joining the Foreign Legion is considerably easier than leaving it. When Stan and Ollie decide they have had enough and simply announce that they are quitting, their commanding officers are not amused. Before long, the pair find themselves facing imprisonment, escape, pursuit and one of the most wonderfully disastrous airplane rides in Laurel and Hardy history.

The Flying Deuces gives Stan and Ollie everything they need to create comic havoc — romance, military discipline, prison, mistaken assumptions and machinery they have absolutely no business operating. Beneath all the slapstick is the friendship that made Laurel and Hardy so enduring. Ollie may get them into trouble, Stan may make the trouble infinitely worse, but through every catastrophe they remain together — two perfectly mismatched friends against the world.

AIN BACKSTAGE SECRETS & AINTOIDS

LAUREL AND HARDY LEAVE HAL ROACH

The Flying Deuces was an unusual adventure behind the scenes as well as on screen. Laurel and Hardy had become international stars through their work at Hal Roach Studios, but this picture was independently produced by Boris Morros and released through RKO Radio Pictures. The boys would return to Hal Roach after completing the film.

THE STORY HAD FRENCH ROOTS

Producer Boris Morros acquired rights to the 1931 French comedy Les deux légionnaires. The Foreign Legion setting was also familiar territory for Laurel and Hardy, who had already ventured into the desert in their 1931 short Beau Hunks. The Flying Deuces expanded the basic situation into a feature-length showcase for the team.

SHOT IN ONLY FOUR WEEKS

The production moved remarkably quickly. Contemporary reports cited by the American Film Institute indicate that principal photography was completed in approximately four weeks, with only one additional day devoted to retakes.

STAN AND OLLIE BET ON THEMSELVES

Laurel and Hardy reportedly accepted reduced guaranteed salaries in exchange for participation in the film’s profits. Director A. Edward Sutherland, cinematographer Art Lloyd and art director Boris Leven were also reported to have made similar arrangements — tying part of their compensation directly to the movie’s success.

OLLIE FOUND SOMETHING BETTER THAN GEORGETTE

Oliver Hardy may have been unlucky in love on screen, but production of The Flying Deuces brought a much happier romance into his real life. During the making of the movie, Hardy met script clerk Virginia Lucille Jones. The two fell in love and married the following year. She remained Hardy’s wife for the rest of his life.

SHINE ON, HARVEST MOON

One of the film’s most charming sequences has Stan and Ollie performing Shine On, Harvest Moon. Ollie sings while Stan contributes one of his wonderfully peculiar dances. It is a delightful reminder that Laurel and Hardy could create laughs without destruction, chases or elaborate gags — sometimes all they needed was each other and a song.

CALIFORNIA BECOMES THE FOREIGN LEGION

Despite its French and North African setting, The Flying Deuces was made in California. Production took place at General Service Studios, with location work that included Chatsworth and Van Nuys Airport. Hollywood movie magic transformed Southern California into the boys’ very own corner of the French Foreign Legion.

JAMES FINLAYSON RETURNS

Laurel and Hardy fans will recognize James Finlayson, one of the great recurring foils of the team’s films. With his distinctive bald head, mustache and legendary ability to react to Stan and Ollie’s destruction with volcanic outrage, Finlayson appeared with the pair many times and became one of the most recognizable members of the Laurel and Hardy comedy universe.

AINTOID: WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T LET STAN FLY THE PLANE

The movie saves one of its greatest pieces of insanity for the finale. During their escape, Stan and Ollie wind up aboard an airplane — despite neither man knowing how to fly one. Stan accidentally gets the aircraft into the air, turning their escape into an increasingly frantic airborne disaster and giving The Flying Deuces one of the most memorable finales of any Laurel and Hardy feature.

AINTOID: TWO DEUCES IN THE SKY

The title The Flying Deuces is a playful description of our two heroes themselves. “Deuce” could be used to mean the devil or a mischievous fellow — and once Stan and Ollie become airborne, the title could hardly be more appropriate.