I first saw this Laurel and Hardy misfire some 10 years back. It stank then, and it still did now in a recent fresh viewing. Here, Stan and Ollie are looking for work as an unemployed butler and cook. They wind up being hired by a rich woman where Hardy cooks his famous "steak a la Oliver" (the name of that delicacy is the funniest thing about this) and nothing much happens in the bargain. The pair also get involved with a King who happens to be a young boy who is hell bent on breaking free of the confines of royalty by playing football with street kids and also tagging along with L&H (reminded me of the rich kid from Our Gang's "Honkey Donkey" short). There's also a plot to murder the boy (ha ha ha).
This is mostly quite a painfully unfunny film save for one or two quickly forgettable moments, and the worst reason it rates low for me is because it's way too wholesome and sweetened, with Stan and Ollie's characters really speaking and acting nothing like their classic screen persona's as they try to be guardians to the young King. The worst case here is poor Stan Laurel who comes off normal and not at all like his typical dimwitted or childlike character throughout most of this movie. Also hurting this "comedy" is that too much time is spent on the boy instead of the comedians. Fans are always talking about how bad Laurel & Hardy's 1940's movies are, and having seen them all now I can disagree strongly in favor of the 6 Fox films, and maybe even MGM's AIR RAID WARDENS. But there's no doubt for me that NOTHING BUT TROUBLE is pretty bad, and it takes the crown as what I'd call "worst Laurel and Hardy film". I even thought UTOPIA (their final movie) had more laughs. *1/2 out of ****
This is mostly quite a painfully unfunny film save for one or two quickly forgettable moments, and the worst reason it rates low for me is because it's way too wholesome and sweetened, with Stan and Ollie's characters really speaking and acting nothing like their classic screen persona's as they try to be guardians to the young King. The worst case here is poor Stan Laurel who comes off normal and not at all like his typical dimwitted or childlike character throughout most of this movie. Also hurting this "comedy" is that too much time is spent on the boy instead of the comedians. Fans are always talking about how bad Laurel & Hardy's 1940's movies are, and having seen them all now I can disagree strongly in favor of the 6 Fox films, and maybe even MGM's AIR RAID WARDENS. But there's no doubt for me that NOTHING BUT TROUBLE is pretty bad, and it takes the crown as what I'd call "worst Laurel and Hardy film". I even thought UTOPIA (their final movie) had more laughs. *1/2 out of ****