The working title of this picture was The Aviators. According to the Var review, this was the first comedy that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made without Hal Roach. The team had previously "guest-starred" in four M-G-M films, however. After completing this picture, they returned to the Hal Roach Studios. To make this film, Boris Morros bought the rights to the 1931 French picture Les deux legionnaires, which had a similiar story. The picture marked Morros' first independent production and, according to NYT, it was shot in continuity in four weeks with only one day needed for retakes. The 1960 film Man on a String (see below) was based on Morros' experiences. The stars, director, camermaman and art director all agreed to a minimum salary in return for a share in the profits. A news item in HR adds that the film was shot on location at the Van Nuys Airport and Chatsworth, CA. Modern sources note that there are many similarities between this film and the 1931 Laurel and Hardy short entitled Beau Hunks, directed by James W. Horne. Modern sources add the following actors to the cast: Kit Guard, Billy Engle and Jack Chefe (Legionnaires); Rychard Cramer (Truck driver); Sam Lufkin and Eddie Borden (Legionnaires knocked out by corks); Frank Clarke (Pilot); Michael Visaroff (Innkeeper); and Monica Bannister, Bonnie Bannon, Mary Jane Carey and Christine Cabanne (Georgette's girl friends). Modern sources also note that during filming, Hardy met script clerk Virginia Lucille Jones , who became his third wife in 1940. For more information about Laurel and Hardy's career together, please seen entry below for Pardon Us.