The Flying Deuces
Encyclopedia
The Flying Deuces, also known as Flying Aces, is a 1939 comedy film
starring Laurel and Hardy
, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion
. It is a partial remake of their 1931 short film Beau Hunks
.
. Ollie proposes to the innkeeper's daughter Georgette, who is actually married to an officer, François. When she turns him down, Ollie decides to jump into the River Seine
. He drags Stan along with him, and they discuss reincarnation
:
The boys are saved from suicide
in the nick of time when François changes their mind and recruits them into the French Foreign Legion
.
They are sent to a fort in North Africa, where they disrupt drills, and are eventually sent to do laundry work. They accidentally throw wet underwear in the face of an officer and set a mountain of clothes on fire. They find that they are not army material (as one would guess) and they desert, after having sent an offensive letter to their commandant. They are imprisoned and sentenced to execution by firing squad
.
The boys find a secret tunnel, but it caves in. They manage to escape in an aircraft, despite Stan's initial protests ("Good old terra cotta firma for me any time,") and a hilariously frantic take-off. The aircraft crashes, and Ollie is killed on impact. His soul
waves goodbye to Stan as it floats up towards heaven.
At the very end, Stan, on a walk in the countryside back home, meets the re-incarnated Ollie, a moustachioed horse wearing a bowler hat
. Stan hugs his friend, who says "Well, here is another nice mess you've gotten me into!"
Charles B. Middleton
reprises the Legion Commandant role he played in 1931's Beau Hunks
, while Laurel and Hardy's frequent co-star James Finlayson
also makes an appearance as a jailer.
, although they had played supporting roles in MGM features previously. The film was made by independent producer Boris Morros
, and released by RKO Radio Pictures after Roach agreed to 'loan out' his two stars. RKO bought the rights to a French picture, The Two Aces, but the remake was very different.
Director A. Edward Sutherland
and Stan Laurel
did not get on well together. Sutherland said he would rather eat a tarantula
than work with Laurel again. Noted Cinematographers for The Flying Deuces are Elmer Dyer
, and Art Lloyd.
At the beginning of the film, the innkeeper's daughter is seen looking at a framed photograph of Ollie. The same photograph can also be seen in the short film Our Wife (1931), where sight of it prompts the father of Ollie's fiance to forbid the wedding.
The Flying Deuces was shown in the reality show Age of Love
. An unedited version of the film includes an escaped shark (a strange-looking model fin being pulled back and forth) in the river Stan and Ollie are planning on jumping into. The film is now in the public domain
and good quality prints or transfers for commercial VHS
or DVD
release have been rare.
. Considered a popular but lacklustre remake of Laurel and Hardy's four-reel comedy Beau Hunks
, the only memorable scenes revolve around the aerial sequences. Screen veteran Frank Clarke was the stunt pilot who flew the aircraft in the film but the ground-based scenes were strictly RKO sound stage.
During the film Oliver Hardy sings "Shine On, Harvest Moon
" in a musical interlude which recalls "Lazy Moon" from Pardon Us
.
The harp pastiche that Stan plays on the wires under his bed is "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
". Most of the audience at the time would have recognized that tune and understood the point that Stan and Ollie were waiting for the sunrise too.
", the first episode of series 6 of Doctor Who
, Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) and Rory Williams
(Arthur Darvill
) watch the movie on DVD. Rory sees the The Doctor
(Matt Smith) appear in the film running towards the camera wearing his fez and waving, before returning to dance with Stan and Ollie.
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
starring Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
. It is a partial remake of their 1931 short film Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks is a 1931 movie starring Laurel and Hardy and directed by James W. Horne. Beau Hunks is a reference to Beau Geste. At 37 minutes long—four reels—it is the longest L&H short.-Plot:...
.
Plot
The boys are in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Ollie proposes to the innkeeper's daughter Georgette, who is actually married to an officer, François. When she turns him down, Ollie decides to jump into the River Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
. He drags Stan along with him, and they discuss reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
:
- Stan: Well now that you're going to go, what would you like to come back as?
- Ollie: Well I haven't given it much thought. I like horseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s. I guess I'd like to come back as a horse. - Stan: Hah!
- Ollie: What would you like to be when you come back?
- Stan: Oh, I'd rather come back as myself. I always got on swell with me.
The boys are saved from suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in the nick of time when François changes their mind and recruits them into the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
.
They are sent to a fort in North Africa, where they disrupt drills, and are eventually sent to do laundry work. They accidentally throw wet underwear in the face of an officer and set a mountain of clothes on fire. They find that they are not army material (as one would guess) and they desert, after having sent an offensive letter to their commandant. They are imprisoned and sentenced to execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
.
- Ollie: Shot at sunrise!
- Stan: I hope its cloudy tomorrow!
The boys find a secret tunnel, but it caves in. They manage to escape in an aircraft, despite Stan's initial protests ("Good old terra cotta firma for me any time,") and a hilariously frantic take-off. The aircraft crashes, and Ollie is killed on impact. His soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
waves goodbye to Stan as it floats up towards heaven.
At the very end, Stan, on a walk in the countryside back home, meets the re-incarnated Ollie, a moustachioed horse wearing a bowler hat
Bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
. Stan hugs his friend, who says "Well, here is another nice mess you've gotten me into!"
Cast
Principal credited cast members (in order of on-screen credits) and roles:| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Stan Laurel Stan Laurel Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film... |
Stan |
| Oliver Hardy Oliver Hardy Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:... |
Ollie |
| Jean Parker Jean Parker -Career:Born as Lois Mae Green in Deer Lodge, Montana, she appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966. She was discovered by Ida Koverman, secretary to MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer, after she saw a poster featuring Parker portraying Father Time. She attended Pasadena schools and graduated from John... |
Georgette |
| Reginald Gardiner Reginald Gardiner Reginald Gardiner was an English-born actor in film and television and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in Britain. His parents wanted him to be an architect and he studied at it but he wanted to be an actor and eventually got his way.He started as a super on stage and eventually... |
François |
| Charles B. Middleton Charles B. Middleton Charles B. Middleton was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Charles Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films as well as numerous plays... |
the Legion Commandant |
| Jean Del Val Jean Del Val Jean Del Val was a French-born actor. He has also been credited as Jean Gauthier and Jean Gautier.He has played roles during the Hollywood silent era, beginning with The Fortunes of Fifi in 1917... |
Sergeant |
| Crane Whitley as Clem Wilenchick | Corporal |
| Jimmy Finlayson | Jailer |
| Michael Visaroff Michael Visaroff Michael Visaroff was a Russian-born film actor. He appeared in 113 films between 1925 and 1952. He was best known for his uncredited appearance in an early scene of Dracula as the nervous Hungarian innkeeper who, as Renfield is traveling to meet the Count, warns him about the actual existence of... |
The Innkeeper |
Charles B. Middleton
Charles B. Middleton
Charles B. Middleton was an American stage and film actor. During a film career that began at age 46 and lasted almost 30 years, Charles Middleton appeared in nearly two hundred films as well as numerous plays...
reprises the Legion Commandant role he played in 1931's Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks is a 1931 movie starring Laurel and Hardy and directed by James W. Horne. Beau Hunks is a reference to Beau Geste. At 37 minutes long—four reels—it is the longest L&H short.-Plot:...
, while Laurel and Hardy's frequent co-star James Finlayson
Jimmy Finlayson
James Henderson "Jimmy" Finlayson was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Bald, with a fake moustache, Finlayson had many trademark comic mannerisms and is famous for his squinting, outraged, "double take and fade away" head reaction, and characteristic expression...
also makes an appearance as a jailer.
Production
The Flying Deuces was the first Laurel and Hardy film not to be produced by Hal RoachHal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
, although they had played supporting roles in MGM features previously. The film was made by independent producer Boris Morros
Boris Morros
Boris Morros was an American Communist Party member, Paramount Studios producer, Soviet agent, and FBI double agent.Morros was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated with his family to America in 1922...
, and released by RKO Radio Pictures after Roach agreed to 'loan out' his two stars. RKO bought the rights to a French picture, The Two Aces, but the remake was very different.
Director A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland
A. Edward Sutherland aka Eddie Sutherland was a film director and actor. Born Albert Edward Sutherland in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer...
and Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
did not get on well together. Sutherland said he would rather eat a tarantula
Tarantula
Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...
than work with Laurel again. Noted Cinematographers for The Flying Deuces are Elmer Dyer
Elmer Dyer
Elmer Dyer, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer, the first film cameraman to specialize in aerial photography.Dyer was born in Lawrence, Kansas and died in Hollywood.-External links:...
, and Art Lloyd.
At the beginning of the film, the innkeeper's daughter is seen looking at a framed photograph of Ollie. The same photograph can also be seen in the short film Our Wife (1931), where sight of it prompts the father of Ollie's fiance to forbid the wedding.
The Flying Deuces was shown in the reality show Age of Love
Age of Love
Age of Love can refer to:* Age of Love , a reality television show on NBC* Age of Love , a 1997 studio album by Scooter* "The Age of Love" , a 1997 single by Scooter...
. An unedited version of the film includes an escaped shark (a strange-looking model fin being pulled back and forth) in the river Stan and Ollie are planning on jumping into. The film is now in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
and good quality prints or transfers for commercial VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
or DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release have been rare.
Reception
The successful production of a film away from Hal Roach Studios may have influenced the pair's decision to leave Roach the following year for a larger studio, 20th Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. Considered a popular but lacklustre remake of Laurel and Hardy's four-reel comedy Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks
Beau Hunks is a 1931 movie starring Laurel and Hardy and directed by James W. Horne. Beau Hunks is a reference to Beau Geste. At 37 minutes long—four reels—it is the longest L&H short.-Plot:...
, the only memorable scenes revolve around the aerial sequences. Screen veteran Frank Clarke was the stunt pilot who flew the aircraft in the film but the ground-based scenes were strictly RKO sound stage.
Music
Shine On, Harvest Moon
"Shine On, Harvest Moon" is the name of a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim...
" in a musical interlude which recalls "Lazy Moon" from Pardon Us
Pardon Us
Pardon Us is Laurel and Hardy's first feature length comedy film. It was produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by MGM in 1931.- Plot :...
.
The harp pastiche that Stan plays on the wires under his bed is "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
"The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" is a popular ballad with lyrics by Gene Lockhart and music by the concert pianist Ernest Seitz, who had conceived the refrain when he was 12. Embarrassed about writing popular music, Seitz used the pseudonym "Raymond Roberts" when the song was first published...
". Most of the audience at the time would have recognized that tune and understood the point that Stan and Ollie were waiting for the sunrise too.
Popular Culture
In "The Impossible AstronautThe Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
", the first episode of series 6 of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) and Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
) watch the movie on DVD. Rory sees the The Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith) appear in the film running towards the camera wearing his fez and waving, before returning to dance with Stan and Ollie.