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7.1/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 7.1/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Pardon Us remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like seeing two grown men look completely out of place in a prison, then yeah, you should watch this. 🍺 Laurel and Hardy fans will love it, but people who hate 1930s sound quality might find it a bit of a chore.
The whole thing starts because they try to sell home-made beer to a cop. It’s such a dumb mistake, but Stan's face makes it work immediately.
It is a classic Laurel and Hardy setup where everything goes wrong because they are just too nice or too dumb. Most of the movie takes place in the 'Big House' which looks like every other movie prison from that era.
The standout thing is Stan's tooth. He has this loose tooth that whistles every time he says an 'S' sound.
It drives the warden crazy. It's one of those bits that feels like it was added just because they didn't have enough script for an hour.
But somehow, it works because Stan’s timing is just that good. It gets a bit annoying, then it becomes funny again, then it gets annoying one more time.
I've heard there was a French version of this called Sous les verrous. Supposedly, it's lost forever, which is a real shame because I'd pay good money to hear them phonetically speak French.
They used to do that back then—record the same movie in different languages to sell it overseas. Imagine the whistling tooth joke but in French. 🥖
Walter Long plays the "Tiger," the scary cellmate. He is actually terrifying, which makes the comedy better because the stakes feel slightly real.
When he glares at Oliver, you actually feel a bit bad for the big guy. Oliver's tie-twiddle move is in top form here.
There is a scene in the mess hall that feels a bit long. The extras in the background look like they were pulled off the street and told to just stare into space.
It gives the whole thing an oddly empty feeling. Like half the prison is just ghosts wandering around the set.
The movie is a bit messy in the middle. They escape, they end up in a cotton field, and Stan is in blackface which... yeah, that part has not aged well at all. 😬
It's a weird detour that doesn't really fit the rest of the prison vibe. You can tell they were just trying to find things for the boys to do to fill the time.
Compared to something like Isn't Life Terrible?, this feels a bit more ambitious but less focused. It’s not as tight as their short films, but for a first try at a feature, it's pretty okay.
I also thought about The Suitor while watching this. There's just something about that 1930s pacing that feels so different from today.
It reminds me a bit of the random energy in Africa, where things just sort of happen without much reason. It’s slower, but it gives you time to look at the sets.
One thing I noticed was how quiet the movie is. Sound was still pretty new in 1931 and it shows in the silence.
There are long stretches where it’s just footsteps and the sound of clothes rustling. It makes the whistling tooth sound even louder than it probably was.
If you're looking for a deep story, look elsewhere. This is just about two guys trying to survive jail and failing at it in the funniest way possible.
Is it the best thing they ever did? No. But it has that specific charm that only these two have.
It's like hanging out with old friends who keep making the same jokes. You know what's coming, but you laugh anyway. 🎩
I wish we could find that French version. Maybe it's sitting in a basement in Paris somewhere under a pile of old film reels.
It's greatest sin is the pacing in the second act. But if you can get past the weird detour in the cotton fields, it’s a solid bit of history. 📽️
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