It was the team's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931.

After the release of MGM's hit The Big House with Chester Morris and Wallace Beery, producer Hal Roach decided to feature Laurel and Hardy in a short comedy spoofing the current prison drama.

Previewed in August 1930, the film ran 70 minutes, and was subject to lukewarm reviews, in which critics stated that the movie needed a bit of tightening.

Stan Laurel, who was always involved in the editing of his films, suggested withdrawing Pardon Us, adding new scenes and deleting unnecessary ones.

An elaborate sequence was filmed, in which the convicts set the prison on fire as part of their escape plan, and the warden's daughter is seen screaming from her second-floor bedroom.

[2] Stan Laurel did not find this sequence satisfactory, and staged the much simpler ending involving the boys holding the convicts at bay with a machine gun.

[2] During the early era of sound cinema, Hollywood studios frequently produced foreign-language versions of their films, using the same sets, costumes, and production elements.

In addition to the Spanish version, counterparts were created in other languages, including Italian (Muraglie), German (Hinter Schloss und Riegel), and French (Sous Les Verrous).

Boris Karloff portrayed "The Tiger" in the French version, prior to his iconic role in Frankenstein released in November 1931.

Language coaches assisted the actors, while English-speaking performers relied on phonetically transcribed cue cards positioned just outside the camera's view.

This method, predating modern dubbing techniques, allowed for seamless dialogue delivery but proved costly and labor-intensive.