Pardon Us

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Two guys end up in prison after attempting to sell beer to a policeman during Prohibition.Two guys end up in prison after attempting to sell beer to a policeman during Prohibition.Two guys end up in prison after attempting to sell beer to a policeman during Prohibition.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

2.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Top cast45

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Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel

Oliver Hardy

Oliver Hardy

June Marlowe

Warden's Daughter

Wilfred Lucas

Warden

James Finlayson

Schoolteacher

Walter Long

The Tiger

Tiny Sandford

Shields - Prison Guard
(as Stanley J. Sanford)

Frank Austin

Prisoner with Sore Tooth
(uncredited)

Chester A. Bachman

Insurgent Convict
(uncredited)

Eddie Baker

Plantation Boss
(uncredited)

Belle

Bloodhound
(uncredited)

Harry Bernard

Desk Sergeant
(uncredited)

Phil Bloom

Convict
(uncredited)

Bobby Burns

Dental Patient
(uncredited)

Baldwin Cooke

Insurgent Convict
(uncredited)

Al Corporal

Singer in chorus
(uncredited)

Charles Dorety

Insurgent Convict
(uncredited)

Gordon Douglas

Typist
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Four foreign language versions were also shot: Pardon Us (1931) (French), Hinter Schloss und Riegel (1931) (German), Pardon Us (1931) (Italian) and Los presidiarios (1931) or "De Bote en Bote" (Spanish) . Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spoke their lines phonetically, and many supporting roles were recast, including Boris Karloff playing "The Tiger" in the French version.

Goofs
Stan has a loose tooth that "buzzes" after he speaks, unless he holds it down, but in the school room he is able to sing without it buzzing, despite not holding it in place.

Quotes
Schoolteacher: You spell "Needle!"
Oliver: [pause] N-E-I-D-L-E.
Schoolteacher: There is no "I" in needle!
Stanley: Then it's a rotten needle.

Alternate versions
"Whatta Stir" is an edited, abbreviated version of the feature recut for 50s TV.

Connections
Alternate-language version of Los presidiarios (1931)

Soundtracks
Lazy Moon
(1903) (uncredited)
Words and Music by Bob Cole and J. Rosamond Johnson
Performed by Oliver Hardy and the Hall Johnson Choir

User reviews40

Review

Featured review

10/10

Comedy On The Lam

In & out of prison, Stan & Ollie just can't seem to stay out of trouble.

"PARDON US" was the Boys' first starring feature film. Rather disjointed and poorly edited, it plays more like a few of their short subjects strung together. However, the Boys never falter and they deliver a film whose parts are greater than its whole.

The film was meant to be a spoof of MGM's popular THE BIG HOUSE (1930) and it helps to have seen that earlier movie to fully appreciate this one. Many of the standard conventions of the typical prison film are mocked here: the understanding' warden, the dangerous convict cell mate, the confinement in Solitary, the escape chased by bloodhounds, the prison riot.

A few comedy pieces in particular stand out: Stan's loose tooth; Ollie in the dentist's chair; the Boys trying to settle into the constricted confines of an upper bunk. James Finlayson, Stan & Ollie's old nemesis, makes the most of his one scene as the prison schoolteacher driven to despair by the Boys' good-natured idiocy.

Walter Long is lots of fun as the Tiger, the meanest convict in the prison (Boris Karloff played the part for the French language version). Movie mavens will spot an uncredited Charlie Hall as the dental assistant.

An added delight is Babe Hardy's rendition of Lazy Moon,' one of the decade's finest film songs. Ollie had a warm, evocative voice, full of feeling and emotion. Here, backed by the magnificent Hall Johnson Choir, his song reaches out of the screen and down the decades to touch the hearts of the audience.