In Pack Up Your Troubles, misfit army rookies Stan & Ollie survive The Great War. Then, they try to reunite their deceased army buddy’s daughter with her family. However, since his name was “Smith,” it’s one problem after another!
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
Pack Up Your Troubles begins with Laurel and Hardy being drafted for World War I. After being comically inept drills in the Army, Stan and Ollie are doing KP duty. An off-hand joke by the cook has them “delivering” the garbage to the general (James Finlayson)! And so, they’re in the brig …. With the cook! Who threatens them, once they’re all out of there ….
Along the way, they meet their friend Eddie, a married man with a little girl. Sadly, his wife sends him a “dear John” letter to the effect that she’s leaving him & their daughter. Next, they’re all in the trenches of World War I. After some slapstick (including splashing their sergeant in the face with cold coffee), the audience learns that Eddie’s baby is now staying with strangers. So Ollie decides to send a letter to Eddie’s folks. But he doesn’t know the address, although Ollie gets the child’s address. Soon after, there’s a raid by the Germans, and Eddie’s taken. So the sergeant sends Stan and Ollie to capture a German prisoner.
The boys decide to hide inside a German tank for “safety” — with poor Ollie on the outside, while Stan’s driving — without knowing what he’s doing! Soon, they’re driving down a trench of fleeing German soldiers! And, capturing them in the barbed wire trailing the tank! Soon after, the Armistice is signed, the war’s over …. And Eddie’s gone.
Rescuing the baby
And his little girl’s staying with a couple, where the father’s abusive. Thankfully, Ollie and Stan show up. But, the man’s not going to let two strangers take her. Ollie and Stan beat him up, in a comic moment. But, he sets his friends on them! Chased into the kitchen, they put teapot and coffeepot to good use, and fight their way free, rescuing the child.
Stan: Now what are we gonna do?
Oliver: All we’ve got to do is find Mr. Smith.
Stan: You don’t know where they live.
Oliver: Will you leave that to me. It’s the simplest thing in the world.
Hunting for Mr. Smith
Except, of course, there are a lot of Smiths! Leading to several comedy moments. Not the least of which is interrupting a wedding, where a “Mr. Smith” is getting married — and the thought of his having a child causes the bride to faint! And, cancelling the wedding! Poor Mr. Smith …. And poor Ollie, as the bride’s father (Billy Gilbert) chases them away with a shotgun! So, they try calling instead.
Bringing up Baby
It’s a very sweet — and funny — scene in their apartment, as Ollie’s watching the baby, while Stan’s on a trip looking for the baby’s grandparents. The Smith Brothers (cough drops) aren’t it! Ollie does the laundry, while the baby tells Stan a bedtime story …. And puts him to sleep with he story of the three bears. Ollie, upset that Stan’s sleeping while he’s working, wakes him up harshly. And as normal, his bad temper backfires on him in comic fashion.
Lunch wagon
The boys are running a lunch wagon — where many of their customers are cats. Babysitter Mrs. McTavish brings the baby by for a visit. Then, a Welfare Association officer visits, planning to put her in an orphanage! Ollie decides they need to leave the state, So, they go to the bank to refinance their lunch wagon. The bank president misunderstands their “restaurant” to be a chain. Once he realizes, the bank officer accidentally gets knocked out, and the boys help themselves to the money!
On the run
They run, home, and after scaring themselves silly with an encounter with a helpful policeman, they’re trying to pack and leave town. But, the welfare association man is coming …. They hide her in the dumbwaiter, while, the place is searched. Then, they hear police sirens! Stan goes down to the basement in the dumbwaiter, and Ollie …. Falls down the shaft! But the police look there and find them …
Happy ending
At the bank president’s mansion, they’re identified. As the police search the boys, they find the photo of them with Eddie. And, the bank president is Eddie’s father! All ends well
Oliver: Gee, we had a lot of trouble finding you, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith: Well, boys, you can pack up your troubles from now on.
…. Except that his chef is Pierre, the cook from the Army! And the film ends with him chasing Laurel and Hardy!
Cast
- Stan Laurel (Below Zero) … Stan
- Oliver Hardy (Angora Love) … Ollie
- Don Dillaway (The Animal Kingdom) … Eddie Smith
- Jackie Lyn Dufton … Eddie’s Baby
- Mary Carr (One Good Turn) … Old Woman with Letter
- James Finlayson (Block-Heads) … General
- Richard Cramer (Scram!) … Uncle Jack (as Rychard Cramer)
- Adele Watson … Annie
- Tom Kennedy … Recruiting Sergeant
- Charles Middleton (Duck Soup) … Welfare Association Officer
- Richard Tucker (Flash Gordon 1936) … Mr. Smith
- Muriel Evans (Manhattan Melodrama) … Relieved Bride
- Grady Sutton (The Bank Dick) … First Wrong Eddie
- C. Montague Shaw (Buck Rogers 1939) … Groom’s Father
- Billy Gilbert (The Great Dictator) … Mr. Hathaway, Bride’s Father.
Editorial review of Pack Up Your Troubles courtesy of Amazon.com
The boys’ Army buddy, Eddie Smith, is killed in the trenches in France, leaving his baby girl an orphan. Back home after Armistice, they try to find Eddie’s father and turn the child over to him. Unfortunately, they keep coming up with the wrong Smiths, and in the process disrupt a wedding by proclaiming the baby to be the groom’s child. To evade the Welfare Association, they try to skip town, raising money for their escape by hocking their lunch wagon. But they accidentally knock the bank president unconscious and wind up being hunted down for bank robbery.
Songs
- Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile! (1915) Music by Felix Powell
- You’re In The Army Now, Music by Isham Jones, Lyrics by Tell Taylor and Ole Olsen
- K-K-K Katy (1918) Written by Geoffrey O’Hara