Jitterbugs

74 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Jitterbugs is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair.

Plot

Stan and Ollie are musicians traveling across the U.S. as "The Original Zoot Suit Band". During their journey, they encounter Chester Wright who purports to possess a revolutionary pill capable of converting water into fuel. In reality, Chester is a swindler who substitutes water canisters with gasoline unnoticed by Stan and Ollie.

The trio devises a scheme to exploit Stan and Ollie's musical performance to attract a crowd, enabling Chester to peddle his fraudulent product. Despite initial success, their ruse unravels when a customer experiences a disastrous accident due to the pill's ineffectiveness. To evade retaliation, Chester masquerades as a police officer, feigning arrest of Stan and Ollie. Subsequently, Susan, a choir singer acquainted with the trio, seeks their assistance in reclaiming her mother's swindled funds. Adopting aliases, they infiltrate a hotel where the con men responsible for the scam are lodged. Ollie fabricates an ostentatious display of wealth, enticing the gang's leader, Corcoran.

Disguised as a woman, Stan unwittingly complicates their plans, while Ollie orchestrates a confrontation with Corcoran, coercing him into returning the stolen funds. The group concocts a new scheme involving Susan's employment at Bennett's club, aiming to retrieve the remaining funds. Amidst subterfuge and double-crosses, the trio manages to secure Bennett's funds, but their deception is uncovered, leading to their capture by the gang. Trapped aboard Bennett's vessel, they engineer a daring escape, culminating in the gang's apprehension by the authorities.

Chester redeems himself by demonstrating his genuine intentions to return the money to Susan's mother. Stan and Ollie bid farewell to Susan and Chester, opting for a hasty departure to evade the remaining gangsters.

Cast

Analysis

The film is notable for its dance sequences and the interaction between the duo with Vivian Blaine and Lee Patrick. Blaine, who later starred in the Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, was among those who honored Laurel and Hardy during their December 1954 appearance on NBC's This Is Your Life.

The film was a reworking of Arizona to Broadway, made ten years earlier by the Fox Film Corporation.

Jitterbugs is often considered to be the best Laurel and Hardy film made under 20th Century Fox.^[1]

References

External links

• Jitterbugs at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Jitterbugs at IMDb
• Jitterbugs at the TCM Movie Database