Pack Up Your Troubles is a 1932 film directed by George Marshall and Raymond McCarey, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
The film is set during and just after World War I. Stan and Ollie are their usual bumbling selves, this time bumbling into the United States Army and fighting in the trenches. Stan and Ollie make a friend, a soldier named Eddie Smith, who is killed in combat. This leaves Eddie's adorably cute little preschool daughter an orphan. Stan and Ollie vow to fix this, and when they get home, they take the little girl from her awful Jerkass of a foster father, and go off in search of Eddie's parents.
Tropes:
- Accidental Hero: Stan and Ollie, stuck in no-man's-land between the trenches during an artillery barrage, dive for cover inside an abandoned tank. Stan accidentally starts messing with the levers, and the tank starts up. A panicking Stan starts jerking around with the controls even more, and winds up driving the tank right into the German trench. And not only that, the tank gets tangled up in the barbed wire, which also ensnares the German soldiers, capturing the lot.
- Aside Glance: Ollie does this several times when exasperated by Stan's idiocy, as he did in every movie. His first time in this one is when the boys are pretending to be amputees to fool a military recruiter, only for Stan to extend his hidden arm to take the money the recruiter gives them.
- Breaking the One Steve Limit: When Stan and Ollie tell the butler at the third Smith home that they visit that they have "Eddie's baby," they think they've found the right place, as everyone has very shocked reactions to this news. It turns out that the address book was out-of-date, and the family currently in residence was hosting a wedding that day in which a man named Eddie was to marry into the family. The patriarch is absolutely furious at this news of his prospective son-in-law's supposed unfaithfulness until the mistake is cleared up.
- Character Tic: Stan and Ollie had several, but Stan's habit of reaching up and scratching his head in befuddlement is lampshaded here. Ollie takes a pratfall, looks up, and sees Stan scratching the top of his head. Then he does a Double Take when he sees that Eddie's baby is scratching her head in just the same way.
- Chased Off into the Sunset: Plays this trope straight. Early on, Stan and Oliver get an Army cook in trouble. He vows that if he ever comes across the duo again, he'd come after them with a knife. At the end of the film, when they've happily resolved everything, they're asked to stay to eat. The cook turns out to be the former Army cook from before, and he makes good on his threat as he chases Laurel and Hardy off into the distance.
- Chekhov's Gun: Eddie's last name is Smith. This is a problem because Stan and Ollie got Eddie's hometown but got neither his address nor his parents' first names. So after they get back home and claim Eddie's daughter, they're left endlessly hunting through a large city for all of the people named "Smith".
- Chekhov's Gunman: The bank president who rejects Stan and Ollie's loan application and then gets conked on the head when a statue falls on him. He turns out to be Mr. Smith, grandfather to Eddie's baby and the man that Stan and Ollie have been looking for all along.
- Contrived Coincidence: The bank president whom Stan and Ollie meet about a loan turns out to be Eddie's father.
- And said president's personal chef turns out to be the army cook whom the boys had gotten in trouble back at the training camp.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Implied: Eddie mentions that the reason he's estranged from his parents is due to an argument they had when he got married, presumably involving them disapproving of his wife. Given that she would go on to abandon him and their daughter with barely a word, whatever issues they had seem to have been justified.
- "Dear John" Letter: Eddie gets a particularly nasty one from his wife Nan saying "I never did love you." This is depressing for Eddie but it's also a problem because there's no one to take care of their daughter.
- Decoy Protagonist: Eddie Smith. Initially, it seems as though he'll be something of an underdog hero (his wife left him, he has a little toddler he has to take care of, he's been estranged from his father) while Stan and Ollie act as the comic relief. Then, he is killed while serving in WWI, and the focus stays on Stan & Ollie for the rest of the movie as they try to take care of his daughter and reunite her with her grandparents; thankfully, the comedic tone returns after this shift of focus.
- Department of Child Disservices: An annoying busybody sics the police on Stan and Ollie, with the purpose of taking Eddie's baby and tossing her into an orphanage. (And that's after she was left with an abusive petty criminal in the first place.)
- Dramatic Irony: Stan drops the $2000 that they stole from a bank. A cop gives it back to him and says "You'd better put that in a bank where it's safe."
- Dumbwaiter Ride: The cops show up, and Stan and Ollie try to escape by sending Eddie's baby down the dumbwaiter and following after. Stan winds up breaking the dumbwaiter, which leads to Ollie falling down the shaft to the bottom.
- Extra! Extra! Read All About It!: A newsboy hawking "WAR DECLARED" headlines is how the movie tells us that it's April 6, 1917.
- Fostering for Profit: Eddie's daughter winds up in the hands of a sleazy petty criminal who, as his beaten-down wife points out, is only keeping the little girl for the cash payout. Stan and Ollie rescue her and set out in search of her grandparents.
- Hey, Wait!: Stan and Ollie steal $2000 from a bank and run for it. They have made it to the front steps of their building when a cop chases them down. Stan and Ollie turn around in defeat. The cop then tells them that he's been chasing them for three blocks, and hands over the $2000 that Stan dropped.
- Hypocritical Humor: When the bank president asks the boys if they have any collateral for the loan they wish to negotiate, Ollie clearly has no idea what that means, and replies that they had instead hoped to put up their business as security. A moment later, Stan misunderstands another term the president uses, and Ollie chastises him while telling the president, "You'll have to pardon my friend; he's not very familiar with these big business deals."
- Jerk Ass Has A Point: While it's clear that Stan and Ollie rescued Eddie Smith's daughter from an abusive foster home and she is far safer and happier with them than she would be with her old fosterers or at an orphanage, the government worker who confronts the boys and threatens to arrest them if they don't hand her over is not wrong that they essentially kidnapped the girl and have no legal standing to act as her guardians.
- Literal Ass-Kicking: Stan throws some stale coffee out of their trench dugout—and right into the face of the sergeant, who is standing outside. He comes back inside and kicks Stan in the butt.
- Metaphorically True: Ollie uses this when trying to get a loan, telling the bank president that he and Stan own a "restaurant business" which operates "all over town" - leaving out the fact that said business consists of a single food truck, letting the president assume that they own a chain of restaurants. It almost works, until the president spots their truck from the window and asks if it's part of their business, whereupon Stan cluelessly spills the beans.
- Mistaken for Cheating: When Stan and Ollie tell the latest prospective Smith family that they have "Eddie's baby" - without asking to clarify that these are in fact the correct Smiths or even named Smith at all - they have everyone thinking that a different Eddie, who was marrying into the family that day, has been fooling around behind his fiancée's back.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: The only clue Stan and Ollie have for finding Eddie's parents is that their family name is "Smith". At one point after they've been at it for a while, Ollie is shown to have gone through several pages worth of Smiths in the phone book with no luck.
- No Name Given: Eddie's insanely cute little girl is only ever called "Eddie's baby."
- Oh, Crap!:
- At the end of the debacle at the wedding, when Ollie calls the family patriarch "Mr. Smith", said patriarch realizes that this whole thing was a case of mistaken identity, and informs the boys that his name is not Smith, but Hathaway. And orders his butler to bring him his shotgun...Ollie: (nervously chuckling and twiddling his tie) I'm afraid we've made a little faux pas.
Mr. Hathaway: (growling) I'm afraid that you have.
Ollie: I'm sorry if we've caused you any inconvenience.
Mr. Hathaway: That's... quite all right... (takes his shotgun from the butler) - When Stan and Ollie encounter the army cook again at the end of the film, and he makes it clear just how delighted he is to see them. "Weeell, if it ain't the snitchers!"
- At the end of the debacle at the wedding, when Ollie calls the family patriarch "Mr. Smith", said patriarch realizes that this whole thing was a case of mistaken identity, and informs the boys that his name is not Smith, but Hathaway. And orders his butler to bring him his shotgun...
- Parental Substitute: Stan and Ollie become this to Eddie's little girl, giving her a much safer and more loving home environment, while going to a lot of trouble to find her grandparents and give her a more legally stable home without the risk of being put back in the foster system. She is shown to be quite fond of her "uncles", and they of her.
- Poor Communication Kills: After his wife leaves him, Eddie acknowledges that the simplest solution for his daughter would be to send her to his parents, but assumes the option would be Off the Table due to having fallen out with them over his marriage and dismisses it without much consideration. Stan and Ollie subsequently go through much trouble and hijinks trying to locate them on their own, but once they finally do, the elder Smiths are thrilled to meet their granddaughter and take her in immediately, implying that Eddie had simply unintentionally misjudged them in the matter.
- Rule of Three: Stan and Ollie visit three houses in their initial attempts to find Eddie's parents. The first Smith they visit is obviously not Eddie's father (he's black, Eddie was white), but politely accepts Ollie's apology for the mix-up. The second is a boxer who thinks the boys are trying to blackmail him, and pops them both in the nose. The third are not even Smiths, the address book being out of date, and the misunderstanding leads to a ruined wedding and Ollie being Shot in the Ass, after which he tosses the address book away as Stan starts directing them to the next house, and firmly declares that they will be telephoning prospective Smiths from now on.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Stan and Ollie have been assigned to KP duty at the Army base. They ask what to do with the cans of garbage, and the exasperated cook says "Take it to the general." They proceed to do just that, taking four cans of garbage to the general's house, earning both of them and the cook some time in the stockade.
- Shot in the Ass: Stan and Ollie interrupt a fancy wedding to return Eddie's baby. Once again they have the wrong place and wind up getting chased off as an angry father fires a shotgun at them. When they make it outside Ollie's butt is smoking and his pants are in tatters.
- Tempting Fate: The bank manager rejects Stan and Ollie's request for a loan (they're trying to get out of town). He laughs and says "Why, to lend you two thousand dollars on a business like that," (he's seen Stan and Ollie's food truck outside), "I'd have to be unconscious!" He rocks back on his chair in his mirth and the Shakespeare bust above him falls on his head and knocks him unconscious. Stan and Ollie proceed to sneak into the vault and take two grand.
- Title Drop: After realizing the connection and taking custody of his granddaughter, Mr. Smith the bank president says to Stan and Ollie, "Boys, you can pack up your troubles from now on."
- Titled After the Song: Titled after the World War I patriotic song "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag".
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Downplayed: After having his wife walk out on him and subsequently being forced to have his daughter placed with strangers (on top of the general stresses of war), Eddie becomes more impatient and snippy with Stan and Ollie while bunking in the trenches than he was back at the boot camp. The boys are aware of these issues and don't hold his behavior against him, and in fact their desire to help him feel better is what initially prompts their idea to find his baby and bring her to her grandparents.
- Undercrank: This is used for a scene where Ollie slips on a ball and takes a pratfall, in a scene that appears to have been done with wires.
