Jitterbugs (1943) starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Bob Bailey, Vivian Blaine
Jitterbugs is, hands down, one of the funniest Laurel and Hardy films that I’ve ever seen. The jitterbug ending, especially, is laugh out loud hilarious — literally. The movie begins with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy driving across the country as not-too-successful musicians. They are soon picked up by a likable con man (Bob Bailey). He uses the unwitting duo to sell his bogus “gas pill” (think free gasoline) at every stop …. And they soon have lots of dissatisfied people chasing them.
Along the way, the handsome, likable young con man falls in love with a pretty small-town girl (Vivian Blaine). Her mother has been swindled out of their home by real-estate swindlers Corcoran (Robert Emmett Keane) and Bennett (Douglas Fowley). And since turnabout is fair play, the young con man decides to con the money back. It’s a funny scheme: Oliver plays a southern gentleman. And Stan — in drag, despite his protests — as the gentleman’s Aunt Sally. “She” has money to be swindled.
Of course, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. Soon the con man’s criminal friend Tony Queen (Noel Madison) and his gang capture the boys… They escape, nearly despite their best efforts, due to those “gas pills” (not a cure for indigestion, as one of the criminals find out). Jitterbugs ends with a zany chase on an old-time showboat, and Stan and Ollie in the drink!
Jitterbugs is a funny Laurel and Hardy film, very funny, quick paced, and hard to improve — highly recommended. Be sure to check out the funny movie quotes from Jitterbugs as well.
Cast
- Stan Laurel (Sons of the Desert) … Stan
- Oliver Hardy (March of the Wooden Soldiers) … Ollie
- Vivian Blaine (State Fair) … Susan Cowan
- Robert Bailey … Chester Wright
- Douglas Fowley (Singin’ in the Rain) … Malcolm Bennett
- Noel Madison … Tony Queen
- Lee Patrick (The Maltese Falcon) … Dorcas
- Robert Emmett Keane (The Atomic Kid) … Henry Corcoran
Trivia for Jitterbugs
- Oliver Hardy, who uncharacteristically has solo scenes without partner Stan Laurel, rated this film as one of his five favorites.
- Wartime rationing had an impact on the duo’s films. In this case, shoes were rationed to three pairs a year, and the dancers had to rehearse in bare feet. Because so many young men had joined the armed forces, the original plan to have 150 jitterbug teams in the jitterbug scene had to be reduced. The 50 couples planned were reduced to 30. Not only that, but the “zoot suits” the duo wore needed a special dispensation. Because it was at the time considered a profligate use of material.
- Cy Slocum, plays a bouncer in this movie. he was Oliver Hardy’s stand-in and stunt double in the Laurel and Hardy movies of the 1930s.
- According to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy biographer Scott McGillivray, the scene where Laurel tears up his gasoline ration cards elicited groans from wartime audiences who were coping with gas shortages.
Updated December 7, 2021