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This comedy marked the first time Laurel and Hardy worked together away from the Hal Roach Studios. Even so, a number of people from the Roach Studios were on hand: James Finlayson added his amusingly irascible presence, Art Lloyd was the cameraman, and Charley Rogers and Harry Langdon were writers (a sketch Langdon drew of the duo also appears in the film). Director Edward Sutherland did not try to influence the comic duo in any way, but he didn't exactly enjoy the assignment; he was later quoted as saying he'd rather direct a tarantula than work with Stan Laurel again. In any case, this is only a fair-to-middling Laurel and Hardy film. The Foreign Legion story line is similar to Beau Hunks -- in fact, Charles B. Middleton, who so effectively played the mean-spirited commandant in Beau Hunks plays the same role here. But Beau Hunks was a much more funny film. The Flying Deuces drags in places and there are several scenes which should have come out far better than they did (the runaway plane climax is a prime example). Nevertheless, there are a few classic moments -- the boys' performance of "Shine on Harvest Moon" is the most memorable. The duo would make one more excellent comedy -- A Chump at Oxford -- before their film career took a permanent downward slide.