- star ▁in ▁The ▁Fight ing ▁Kent uck ian ▁for ▁Republic ▁Pictures , ▁and ▁B ing ▁C ros by ▁got ▁him ▁a ▁small ▁part ▁in ▁Frank ▁Cap ra ' s ▁R iding ▁High . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 5 0 – 5 1 , ▁La ure l ▁and ▁Hard y ▁made ▁their ▁final ▁feature - length ▁film ▁together , ▁At oll ▁K . ▁This ▁film ▁was ▁a ▁French - Ital ian ▁co - production ▁directed ▁by ▁Leo ▁Jo annon , ▁but ▁was ▁pl ag ued ▁by ▁problems ▁with ▁language ▁bar riers , ▁production ▁issues , ▁and ▁the ▁serious ▁health ▁issues ▁of ▁both ▁La ure l ▁and ▁Hard y . ▁During ▁the ▁film ing , ▁Hard y ▁began ▁to ▁lose ▁weight ▁precip it ously ▁and ▁developed ▁an ▁irregular ▁heart be at . ▁La ure l ▁was ▁experien cing ▁pain ful ▁pro state ▁comp lications ▁as ▁well . ▁Crit ics ▁were ▁disappoint ed ▁with ▁the ▁story line , ▁English ▁dub bing , ▁and ▁La ure l ' s ▁sick ly ▁physical ▁appearance ▁in ▁the ▁film . ▁ ▁The ▁final ▁draft ▁of ▁the ▁script ▁was ▁handed ▁to ▁La ure l ▁upon ▁arrival , ▁which ▁he ▁found ▁ob jection able ▁due ▁to ▁its ▁heavy ▁political ▁content ▁over shadow ing ▁the ▁comedy . ▁He ▁quickly ▁re w rote ▁the ▁screen play , ▁with ▁screen ▁com ic ▁Mont y ▁Collins ▁contrib uting ▁visual ▁g ags , ▁and ▁h ired ▁old ▁American ▁friend ▁Alf ▁G ould ing ▁to ▁direct ▁the ▁La ure l ▁and ▁Hard y ▁scenes . ▁The