Olsen + Johnson Are Back - Did Anyone Miss Them?

Zany comics Olsen & Johnson returned to the screen for the fifth time in this better effort after three lukewarm debut pictures at Warner Bros. in 1930-1931, and then their 2-picture deal with Republic Pictures for 1936-1937, following a 5-year hiatus while they performed on stage in New York and Atlantic City.
This time out, they did their homework after their former picture COUNTRY GENTLEMEN (1936) bombed at the box office. They hired a good comedy director, James W. Horne, formerly with Hal Roach Studios, and he brought along with him from Hal Roach's studio James Parrott, brother of Charles Parrott, best known to his fans as the famous comedian Charley Chase. The two Jimmies worked with O & J to develop a funny story, framed more in their own element of vaudeville comedy, and this picture worked much better, although it still was not the breakthrough success the comedy duo had hoped for. Not to be deterred by this less than spectacular picture, they forged on, focusing on crazy, wacky gags that nobody else could duplicate.
The pair then left Hollywood in the dust for the lights of Broadway, where they would work hard over the following year to develop a sure-fire hit musical comedy revue, which would become one of the longest-running shows in the history of Broadway musicals - HELLZAPOPPIN' (1938). Three years later, they would realize their dream of making a rip-snorting sure-fire Hollywood hit comedy movie version of their play, which would also be nothing like what they did on Broadway. By the time of their sixth film together, HELLZAPOPPIN' (Universal, 1941) they had arrived in Tinseltown - and gave Abbott & Costello a run for their money!

Dejael