Review of Saps at Sea (1940) by William W — 17 Dec 2013

Stan and Ollie on the verge of a nervous breakdown from working at a car horn factory take a holiday out to sea and fall into the arms of a dangerous wanted killer. One of the weakest comedies of the duo, though in their defense this is a fact that is mostly due to contract and studio nuisance.

This was, in fact, the last film they made with Hal Roach and to fulfil the contract it had to be made. So here is an unremarkable film that shows some creativity and originality in its start but hence recycles old gags and feels much more aged than the stuff they had been dishing out up to then.

Slow paced and dull, Saps at Sea is an unremarkable work in Laurel and Hardy's remarkable filmography.