"Pardon Us" was the first full-length film featuring the comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy. It was short by present day standards, running for just under an hour at 56 minutes. It was released in 1931 as the infamous prohibition era was coming to its end. It was the era of Chicago gangsters and hoodlums, it was the era of Al Capone, it was the era of the electric chair, it was the era of the speakeasy, it was the era of the bootlegger, it was the era of illegal alcohol production, it was the era of prisons. So against this background our happy pair of laughable chaps find themselves in prison for trying to sell their home made brew to a friendly LA cop! However there is no real story running through the film, it is no more than a series of separate sketches loosely tacked together with prison life as a common theme. Many of the prison scenes of riots and shoot-outs are in fact left over footage from an earlier film, "The Big House". Maybe MGM felt they were on a winner with something that was in the public's eye - lawlessness, crime and corruption. However it does not seem to have worked, for laughs are few and far between. The best supporting star is Walter Long who plays an extremely tough and much feared prisoner "The Tiger". Apart from one sketch involving the daughter of the Prison Governor there is no female character in the film, perhaps she should have been more prominent. Stan and Ollie's old stalwart James Finlayson appears in just one sketch in which he plays an idiosyncratic teacher in front of a class of prisoners. There are a few mild laughs here but one is immediately reminded of the famous British comedian Will Hay who as Headmaster of St.Michaels school had perfected virtually the same act around 1920; as both he and Laurel had worked for Fred Karno, it is possible that Finlayson was introduced to this act by Laurel. Surprisingly, Hardy comes over very well in one scene as a singer, he had a good baritone voice, not something we normally associate with him. Overall "Pardon Us" is very out dated so it must be regarded as a nostalgic work that has not aged well; so much so that the MGM credit has been removed from the start of the film. If you are a Stan and Ollie fan watch it by all means but for others, watch something else instead.