You're Darn Tootin'

You're Darn Tootin'
Theatrical poster
Directed by E. L. Kennedy
Produced by Hal Roach
Written by H.M. Walker (titles)
Starring Stan Laurel
Oliver Hardy
Cinematography Floyd Jackman
Edited by Richard C. Currier
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • April 21, 1928 (1928-04-21)
Running time
 20 minutes
Country United States
Language Silent film
English (Original intertitles)

You're Darn Tootin' is a 1928 Laurel & Hardy silent comedy short, produced by Hal Roach. It was shot in January 1928 and released April 21, 1928, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The title is an American idiomatic phrase akin to "You're darn right!"

Plot

Members of a municipal band, Stanley and Oliver seem to be always following someone else's lead, rather than that of the temperamental conductor. Soon they're out of a job, as well as their lodgings when the landlady finds out they've been fired. The boys try their luck at being street musicians, but the tiffs they get into with each other soon spread to passersby in general, until the street is filled with men pulling each other's pants off.

Production and exhibition

  • The film was originally released in the UK under its working title The Music Blasters.
  • The final US release title was supplied by H. M. "Beanie" Walker.
  • The short was directed by fellow film comedian Edgar Kennedy, here billed as "E. Livingston Kennedy".
  • Scenes from this film were featured in several silent film compilations of the 1960s produced by Robert Youngson.
  • The film was shown on the BBC Four programme Paul Merton's Silent Clowns in full with an original, specially composed, musical score.

Cast

Stan Laurelas Stanley
Oliver Hardyas Ollie
Uncredited
Otto Ledereras Bandleader
Charlie Hallas Musician
Wilson Bengeas Musician
Ham Kinseyas Musician
William Irvingas Musician
Agnes Steeleas Landlady
Dick Gilbertas Boarder
Christian J. Frankas Policeman
Rolfe Sedanas Drunk
Chet Brandenburgas Manhole Worker
George Roweas Pedestrian
Sam Lufkinas Man in Restaurant

Critical reputation

L&H scholar Randy Skretvedt has written stirringly about You're Darn Tootin', its place in the L&H canon, and the poignancy of the canon itself:

"You're Darn Tootin' is the first clear statement of the essential idea inherent in Laurel and Hardy. The world is not their oyster: they are the pearls trapped in the oyster. Their jobs hang by rapidly unraveling threads. Their possessions crumble into dust. Their dreams die just at the point of fruition. Their dignity is assaulted constantly. At times they can't live with each other, but they'll never be able to live without each other. Each other is all they will ever have. That, and the hope for a better day — which is about the most profound philosophical statement ever to come from a two-reel comedy."[1]

Prolific film critic Leslie Halliwell liked You're Darn Tootin' as well: "...though early in their teaming [it] shows Stan and Ollie at their best in a salt shaker routine and in a surreal pants-ripping contest."[2]

L&H Encyclopedia author Glenn Mitchell contrasts the expanding-mayhem finale with earlier scenes:

"You're Darn Tootin' contains what is in many respects the best of Laurel & Hardy's huge street battles. So good is this climactic sequence that other sections tend to be ignored: the opening bandstand segment is timed to a musical beat...."[3]

Silent film maven and movie-stills webmaster Bruce Calvert says:

"This classic Laurel and Hardy comedy is famous for the pants-ripping scene at the end, but the other parts of it are just as funny.... The final pants-ripping scene is not funny just because so many men lose their pants, but because Laurel and Hardy come up with inventive ways to pull more innocent bystanders into the fray."[4]

Writing in the 1960s, early L&H analyst William K. Everson appraised You're Darn Tootin':

"The boarding house [dinner] is a charming sequence with Hardy's fruitless efforts to charm and cajole the landlady.... The shin-kicking, pants-ripping finale is one of their best and most meticulously constructed sequences of controlled savagery, similar to and in many ways better than the great pie fight [of The Battle of the Century]."[5]

The Sons of the Desert

Chapters, called Tents, of The Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society, all take their names from L&H films; the You're Darn Tootin' Tent is in Mobile, Alabama.

References

  1. ↑ Skretvedt, Randy (1996). Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies. Beverly Hills, CA: Past Times Publishing. ISBN 0-940410-29-X, p.117.
  2. ↑ Walker, John, ed. (1994). Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 0-06-273241-2, p.1342.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, Glenn (1995). The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia. London: Batsford Books. ISBN 0-7134-7711-3, p. 296.
  4. ↑ http://www.allmovie.com/work/153126
  5. ↑ Everson, William K. (1967). The Films of Laurel and Hardy. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0146-4, p. 63.
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