Hal Roach wisely employed talented directors and gag men to work on the Laurel and Hardy short subjects, although it has always been widely acknowledged that Stan Laurel was the guiding creative force behind the team's output. Laurel never took a directing credit and very few writing credits, so the actual operating procedure of the collaborations is a bit unclear. In his book Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, John McCabe quotes Laurel on the topic: "I don't by any means take credit for most of the comedy ideas since gags and routines were suggested by many of the gag men. I would take one that appealed to me, and with their help, work it out to fit our characters. I certainly never directed the pictures, but I guess you might say that I sort of stood on the sidelines and helped." McCabe interviewed Charley Rogers, director of The Fixer Uppers (1935) and many other two-reelers, who clarified the collaboration: "Stan was the spirit behind the director. He never intruded himself, and there probably wouldn't have been any reason for him to intrude because all of us worked in real harmony. We were all friends, thank God, and that helped a lot. But whenever Stan suggested something in conference or during shooting, it almost always proved to be the right thing. He, perhaps more than anybody else, knew by instinct the kind of gags needed. He watched closely over the pictures, but it was kind of a beneficent father, not a bossy one who always wanted his own way at any cost. You see, by nature his is a polite man and a gentle fellow, and those two qualities always came over, in front of the camera and behind it. He was the director's conscience."
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Charles Rogers
Screenplay: Frank Tashlin (uncredited)
Cinematography: Art Lloyd
Music: Leroy Shield (uncredited)
Film Editing: Bert Jordan
Cast: Stan Laurel (Stanley), Oliver Hardy (Oliver), Mae Busch (Madame Pierre Gustave), Charles Middleton (Pierre Gustave), Arthur Housman (the drunk), Bobby Dunn (nose-blowing boarder, uncredited), Dick Gilbert (policeman, uncredited), Jack Hill (policeman, uncredited), James C. Morton (policeman, uncredited), Bob O'Connor (waiter at Café des Artistes, uncredited), Noah Young (bartender at Café des Artistes)
BW-20m.
