Mike Davidson
I read the poor reviews before I watched this for the very first time, but I always try to keep an open mind and actually watch a film to decide for myself if it is good or bad. Admittedly it is still a far cry from L & H's glory days at Hal Roach Studios, but this film is still funny and very entertaining. I have seen many modern-day comedies that I would very easily rate well below this one. It is never a hardship to watch Laurel and Hardy together and the supporting cast is good and very capable. I urge any fan of the two great comedians to give The Big Noise a chance and watch it. You won't regret it. It is great that these long neglected films are finally being made available.
MartinHafer
First, a summary of what this wartime Laurel and Hardy film is about, and then some background information and my impressions of the movie.Stan and Ollie are janitors at a detective agency and are working late at night when a crackpot scientist calls them--asking for a couple of detectives to guard his new top secret bomb (I wasn't sure at first if he was referring to a weapon or the movie itself). Ollie announces that he and Stan are detectives and will be right over. Unknown to them, the neighbors who live next to the crackpot are crooks and two of them plan on stealing the bomb to sell to an enemy power.Once at the home of the professor, he entertains the boys by showing off his amazing space-saving room as well as feeding them a meal of food in pill form. Neither of these key moments in the film are funny, though it's obvious they were intended as laugh riots. I think showing a documentary on skin diseases would have been funnier! Later, after the crooks try to steal the formula, Stan and Ollie take off on a cross country chase. During this time, they board a train and they blatantly rip off one of their earlier films, BERTH MARKS. While I wasn't a huge fan of BERTH MARKS (it's not one of their better shorts), Stan and Ollie manage to redo it and take out all the humor and originality. Supposedly, Stan tried to get the director to change the scene and do it quite differently (on a plane), but Fox simply wanted to churn this out regardless of whether or not it was funny or a quality product. Stan and Ollie's lack of enthusiasm is quite evident in their delivery.Ultimately, the boys blunder onto a radio controlled plane and the movie ends with a scene that really seems to come from out of nowhere, as they parachute from the plane and drop this secret bomb on a Japanese sub. So, literally and metaphorically, the film ends with the team dropping a huge bomb.From 1941 to 1950 was the absolute low-point for the team of Laurel and Hardy. Following SAPS AT SEA (1940), the team no longer was under contract with Hal Roach Studios and became free agents--mostly selling their services to 20th Century Fox, but also to MGM and a French production company. None of these products remotely resembled the finely crafted films the boys made in the 1920s and 30s, but a few (such as JITTERBUGS) managed to be almost passable entertainment. A few, such as DANCING MASTERS, ATOLL K and THE BIG NOISE managed to mostly make fans of the team cringe--as Laurel and Hardy looked old and rather sickly, plus the films simply weren't funny. Most of this was because the companies had no interest in input from Stan--who often contributed ideas to the Roach films but was completely ignored by the other studios. Of all the bad films made by Laurel and Hardy, however, THE BIG NOISE must rank as the very worst--mostly because it doesn't offer a single laugh...not even one! This isn't to say the film is unwatchable--it is watchable--sort of like a train wreck. The main reason I saw it was because I have seen almost every available Laurel and Hardy film as well as almost all of their existing shorts before they teamed up--so I would eventually like to say I've seen every one of their films. I think I have at most 3 or 4 to go.There is one other reason I wanted to see THE BIG NOISE and that's because it managed to be listed in "The 50 Worst Films of All Time" book by Harry Medved. I have probably seen about 30 to 40 of these bad films and just like my quest for Laurel and Hardy films, I'd like to one day see them all. Now, having seen it, I can honestly say it is the worst Laurel and Hardy film but it isn't bad enough to make the list in the book--there are probably a few hundred movies worse than THE BIG NOISE--though this isn't much of a consolation!! My advice is that if you are obsessive-compulsive about Laurel and Hardy films or you also want to see the supposed 50 worst films ever made, then by all means watch it. Otherwise, with so many wonderful films to their credit, please see some other Laurel and Hardy film instead--any would be preferable to this unfunny pile of bilge.By the way, I have noticed in reviews for the later Laurel and Hardy films that most of the reviews were amazingly positive--so positive I either wonder if they never saw the earlier films (which deserve high praise) or if the positive reviews were really a vote to say "I love the team no matter what". Well, I love the team, but can't see how a sane person could like this mess of a film. It just isn't funny.
scott-walker-4
I bought this in the mid 1990's on VHS because it wasn't on DVD at the store. I was just hungry for more of the boys films and had not read the critic's yet. It turned out that I was very surprised at the level of comedy as I was not expecting much since the 40s and on I had mostly been disappointed. I recommend this film though. Much better than Utopia, Jitterbugs, and a couple of the other later ones. This film and Nothing But Trouble were probably their last good comedies, IMO. Not as good as their vintage days, but still good and funny. You can't always go by reviews(which includes mine!) This film has more character-driven comedy than some other Fox films. Maybe the studio let them do their own thing a little more, which was what made them so great such as was Keaton's greatness too but was stifled by over-control. If you have seen their old films but ignored this one and Nothing But Trouble give these a try. I think you will be surprised. Steve
cellorey
This is one of Laurel & Hardy's later Twentieth Century-Fox films and it is not one of their best. However, it is an upbeat and fast-paced effort that shows signs that they put some effort into it. THE BIG NOISE has some good bits: the dinner with the inventor, the bunk bed scene in the train, and the constant threat of the bomb going off with Stan transporting it carelessly. The only part of this movie that seems weak is the Nazi segment and the scenes with a very annoying little kid. Other than that, this is recommended for all L&H fans, especially younger fans. 7 out of 10.
