Air Raid Wardens

During World War II, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fortunes of Stan and Ollie are shown in a montage of their failed businesses. They try to enlist in every branch of the armed forces, but fail there, too. They return to their home town of Huxton, only to find that moving men are evicting them. Their bicycle shop has been taken over by a man named Eustace Middling, selling radios. Middling offers to share the space in a joint venture. Stan and Ollie do not realize that Middling is a German spy using the shop as a base for espionage.

Stan and Ollie support the civil defense by becoming air-raid wardens. To complete their training, they must participate in an advanced military drill, but Stan receives the wrong assignment, which is far more complicated than they can handle. They begin their mission to rescue prominent banker J.P. Norton from a fire but fail once again, burying Norton alive in a huge load of sand. They are given one more chance as air-raid wardens, assuming the task of ensuring that all of the town's citizens extinguish their lights at night. They quarrel with one of the more troublesome inhabitants, Joe Bledsoe, resulting in a rumor that spy activity is taking place in Joe's home. Stan and Ollie are dismissed from the corps.

Back at their shop, they overhear the spies speaking German and follow them to a hideout outside of town, where Middling and another spy are plotting the destruction of the town's new magnesium plant. Stan and Ollie try to send a message to the civil defense, but instead they are captured by the German agents. They flee and alert the civil defense, which arrives at the plant just in time to stop the sabotage. Stan and Ollie expose Middling as a German spy.[2]

Most trade reviewers considered this par for the course, a typical Laurel & Hardy comedy. "The full bag of Laurel and Hardy tricks is unloaded in Air Raid Wardens," reported Motion Picture Daily; "Their adventures in bungle, evolving in the capture of Nazi spies, are replete with the team's characteristic antics, and exhibitors have the Laurel and Hardy marquee value as a focal point in selling the film."[3] Film Bulletin concurred: "Typical Laurel and Hardy horseplay which permits these comedians to pull most of their familiar tricks, Air Raid Wardens will get laughs from their numerous followers."[4] "Every possible blunder known to man is committed by the boys," said Photoplay, adding that "Stan and Ollie are in rare form."[5]Showmen's Trade Review noted that the studio's injection of pathos slowed the pace of the comedy: "Avid Laurel-Hardy fans will find it a fair-to-middlin' example of that team's comedy, but average audiences are more likely to find the proceedings on the dull side."[6] In The New York Times, Ted Strauss wrote, "The pair still insist on traveling the longest distance between two points; the simplest acts such as pulling a rope or climbing a ladder become operations hardly less complicated than the invasion of Europe... Meanwhile, the folks in the Rialto pews are laughing their heads off."[7] Motion Picture Reviews recommended the film as excellent juvenile entertainment: "Against a background of efficient civil defense, Laurel and Hardy epitomize all the pathos and comedy of incompetence, representing the misfits in the world who are long on good intentions but short on ability. It is slapstick fun which has high moments of hilarity and should delight the comedians' followers."[8]

Bibliography

Wikiquote has quotations related to Air Raid Wardens.

• Air Raid Wardens at IMDb
• Air Raid Wardens at AllMovie
• Air Raid Wardens at the TCM Movie Database
• Air Raid Wardens at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Air Raid Wardens at Rotten Tomatoes