Air Raid Wardens/Nothing but Trouble

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Includes Air Raid Wardens (Edgar Kennedy. 1943/67 min.) in which the boys are rejected for active duty and instead become air raid wardens. In Nothing But Trouble (Mary Boland, Philip Merivale. 1944/79 min.), they pose as a chef and a butler whose hilarious mealtime antics foil a plot by enemy agents to poison a young exiled king. B&w/NR/fullscreen.

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Features:
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Languages: English & Francais (Air Raid Wardens only)
  • Subtitles: English, Francais & Espanol (feature films only)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Mary Boland - Mrs. Elvira Hawkley
       Philip Merivale - Prince Saul
       Henry O'Neill - Basil Hawkley
       David Leland - King Christopher
       John Warburton - Ronetz
       Matthew Boulton - Prince Prentiloff of Marshovia
       Connie Gilchrist - Mrs. Flannagan
       Bert Moorhouse - Warden

• Director:

  Edward Sedgwick, Sam Taylor

• Producer:

  B.F. Zeidman

• Screenwriter:

  Harry Crane, Jack Jevne, Martin Rackin, Charles Rogers, Ray Golden, Bradford Ropes, Russell Rouse, Margaret Gruen

• Cinematographer:

  Walter Lundin, Charles Salerno, Jr.

• Composer (Music Score):

  Nathaniel Shilkret

• Editor:

  Irvine Warburton, Conrad A. Nervig

• Art Director:

  Cedric Gibbons, Harry McAfee

• Set Designer:

  Alfred E. Spencer, Edwin B. Willis, Jack Bonar

• Costume Designer:

  Irene

REVIEW:

• Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's return to MGM, who had released their best Hal Roach comedies in the 1930s, reunites the team with former Roach director Edward Sedgwick and longtime foil Edgar Kennedy. That the resulting comedy isn't better than it is must be blamed on the period in which it was made. That most patriotic of Hollywood studios, MGM was not about to poke fun at home front security and the comedy comes to a screeching halt as Stan and Ollie soberly explain the need for blackouts. Unbeknownst to the team, a blackout has been called off and they proceed to pester poor Edgar Kennedy in what ought to have been a riotous encounter. The result is disappointing mainly because of MGM's failure to properly pace the scene, a fault that also bedeviled the company's Bud Abbott and Lou Costello vehicles. Despite its many flaws, Air Raid Wardens is still preferable to Laurel and Hardy's previous Fox efforts: Great Guns (1941) and A-Haunting We Will Go (1942). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi