Pack Up Your Troubles

Infobox_Film


caption =US lobby card
name = Pack Up Your Troubles
director = George Marshall
Raymond McCarey
producer = Hal Roach
writer = H.M. Walker
starring = Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
James Finlayson
Don Dillaway
music = Marvin Hatley
cinematography = Art Lloyd
editing = Richard C. Currier
distributor =
released = 17 September 1932
runtime = 68 mins.
country = U.S
language = English
preceded_by = "Scram!"
followed_by = "Their First Mistake"
imdb_id =

"Pack Up Your Troubles" is a 1932 Laurel and Hardy film directed by George Marshall and Raymond McCarey, named after the World War I song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and smile, smile, smile."

Plot

The film begins in 1917 with Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War I. While in the Army, the pair befriend a man named Eddie Smith, who is kidnapped and killed by the enemy during a battle.

After the War is over, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City, where they begin a quest to reunite Eddie's baby daughter (Jacquie Lyn) with her rightful family. The task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys discover just how many people in New York have the last name "Smith".

The film features a World War I army tank which was not a prop, but an actual tank on loan from the 160th Tank Corps of Salinas, California.

In one scene the little girl tells Stan the story of Goldilocks and Stan falls asleep. The part was originally written for Oliver Hardy. The comic effect is heightened with the child clearly mimicking Laurel's intonations.

Another scene includes a menacing social worker, played by Charles Middleton, who wants to put the little girl into an orphanage. His general demeanor prompts Ollie to ask, "Hey, how much would you charge me to haunt a house?", possibly originating of this expression.

The action also features a knife-wielding chef, and when the actor intended for the role did not turn up, co-director George Marshall had to fill in and play the chef.

A mishap with the props meant that when Ollie flings a teapot full of "boiling" water on Uncle Jack (played by Richard Cramer), a few pieces of dry ice fell out, revealing that the steam was the result of placing the dry ice in water.

References

*imdb title|id=0023312|title=Pack Up Your Troubles