Double Trouble (1941)

Recently, I came across a series of articles at the website, The Scribe Files, which described the relationship between Harry Langdon and Stan Laurel, two comedians who I've always thought had some similarities. The articles are definitely worth checking out, but one thing that really interested me was reading about Langdon's last two starring features: Double Trouble and House of Errors, both of which saw him in a pairing with Charley Rogers. Rogers, like Langdon, was a gag writer for Laurel and Hardy, although his direct association with the duo went back farther than Langdon's. He also had some bit roles in those films as well, but as far as I'm aware, this was the closest he got to being a star comic himself. The idea of these two Laurel and Hardy influences being paired together fascinated me, so I decided to check out Double Trouble, and...yeah, they actually are a pretty good pairing.

Harry and Charley are Albert and Alfred Prattle, two men from London who are taken in by bean manufacturer John Whitmore (Frank Jaquet) and his wife (Mira McKinney). The catch is that Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore were led to believe that they were children, and Mr. Whitmore is not happy at the surprise. Despite this, he puts them to work at his company, which has been facing serious competition. As part of a promotional campaign, advertising man Sparky Barton (Dave O'Brien), suggests using a $100,000 diamond in their commercials, but Albert and Alfred inadvertently get it stuck in one of the bean cans, and set out to find it.

The balance between the story and the comedy could have been handled a bit better. Outside of the humorous intro with Langdon placing the title card upside down on a stage, most of the first five minutes consists of setting up the whole "bean business" angle, which is pretty boring. They could have at least tried cutting between this setup and some comedy bits. The romantic leads are pretty boring too, and it's hard to root for Sparky considering he openly flirts with another girl at his job. To its credit, I do like the idea of the company actually using the "diamond in the can" to their advantage and making a profit, and I even think the idea of having Bert and Alf having to search for the cans is a good idea as well.

The real saving grace of this film is the pairing of Langdon and Rogers, which really is an interesting pairing. In some respects, Langdon plays the character he portrayed back in the silent era. The scene where he's trying to catch a woman's attention at the cannery certainly feels like something that would have come out of one of his silent films. At the same time, though, this is the sound era and Langdon had to adapt somewhat. There are some good sound based gags in here. The scene with him telling the Whitmores about the ship while also trying to whisper to Charley is a good example. Really good timing on his part there and he surprisingly does not show signs of struggling with the lines. In fact, he actually shows his voice to be quite versatile here, having to talk in a higher pitch multiple times throughout the movie.

Then there's Rogers. One would immediately assume that Rogers is the "Ollie" to Langdon's "Stan", but that's not actually the case here. While Rogers is the definite leader of the two, Rogers has more of a sarcastic wit to him, and is more distrusting of the world than Langdon. He kind of reminds me of a British Chico Marx at times. It's a pretty interesting characterization, and it's not unbelievable that the two are together. It's not like Abbott and Costello where they spend their time conning each other; they both seem to like being around each other, and it's also understandable that Langdon would want to follow someone he thinks knows the world better than him. 

The two definitely proved that they could put a lot of energy into their performances. The phone prank is a good example. In this scene, the Whitmores are trying to contact the woman who caused them to think that Bert and Alf were children. Not wanting to get kicked out, Bert takes the phone in the kitchen and pretends to be the woman while Alf makes a bunch of noises in order to create weather effects. Alf eventually goes out of control, to the point that the Whitmores believe that there's been an air raid! There's also a small running joke towards the beginning where they're acting out themselves swimming, and Charley especially exaggerates those movements.

Energy isn't the only positive thing about their style. In fact, one of the best running gags actually involves a lack of emotional response. Bert occasionally gets hiccups throughout the film, and as part of his way to cure it, he asks Alf to scare him. Alf says boo, and the hiccups go away, even though Bert doesn't really seem that scared. It's just so funny to think that these two characters have this whole thing down to a routine, to the point where neither is surprised.

Those comedy scenes during the first third are probably the best moments, but Harry and Charley still prove themselves a very capable team throughout. Charley's cynical attitude really shines through during the "bean cannery" scenes. Even when a woman is nice and brings them food after they forgot their lunch, he still complains! Another fun moment involves them running around the cannery and Harry jumps on top of a table to find it.

The last third mostly consists of the two in drag, which I don't tend to think is usually the funniest concept, although Langdon being confused throughout the whole ordeal is kind of funny and I also like Benny Rubin as the hot-tempered chef throughout this portion. Unfortunately, Harry and Charley are also separated throughout most of this, so this is the weakest part as far as comedy goes.

As far as the supporting cast goes, I really like Frank Jaquet as Mr. Whitmore. He reminds me a lot of Vernon Dent, who was often a frequent supporting player for Langdon. And even though she's not in a lot of it, Mira McKinney is also good as the protective motherly figure. The romantic leads are boring and the rest of the supporting cast is serviceable. There are lots of corporate and greedy villains throughout the film and the actors do fine with the roles, but they're just not that interesting.

In my opinion, this was a comedy team with real potential and it does shine through for at least the first two-thirds. Unfortunately, they're also stuck with a script that's not always the most well-balanced and has some dull supporting characters in it. I still enjoyed it somewhat thanks to the unique team-up. I'm planning on checking out their other film, House of Errors soon, so maybe that might have a better setup.

7 out of 10