Laurel & Hardy

[Carmine5]

Laurel and Hardy are timeless. I love the measured pace and long drawn out silent routines.
Also when Stan has a brilliant flash of inspiration, then Oliver asks him to repeat it, and he gets hopelessly muddled.

In James Bacon's book Hollywood is a Four-Letter Town, a few pages are devoted to Laurel & Hardy.

Bacon wrote that their pairing was a happy accident, and that they hit it off from Day 1. Stan directed everything L & H did, and Ollie was perfectly happy to let Stan be the brains of the operation.

According to the book, whatever Laurel wanted him to do, Hardy would just say "OK, Stan", and do it. Apparently when it came to matters about L & H, Ollie was not insecure.

On one occasion, Mr. Bacon took a young Marcel Marceau to Santa Monica to meet an elderly Stan Laurel, and Marceau later said that it was the biggest thrill of his life. Marcel Marceau worshiped the ground Laurel walked on.

In one of his last interviews, Stan Laurel said that in over 30 years of working together, he and Oliver Hardy never had a single argument. I think that quality shows in their marvelous work.

They may not have openly argued but from what I had read the two had tense moments. Apparently Babe Hardy, being an avid golfer, had it written into his contract that he could quit work at 4 PM giving him time at the end of the day to play a few holes. But Stan would often plead with him to stay past 4 and finish a scene which greatly peeved Babe.

The upshot is that Stan often got his best work from Babe at these moments when he was annoyed.

 

[oldiesfan2]

Will be on METV every Sunday Morning at 6:30am to 8:00am

http://metvnetwork.com/files/MeTV-Schedule-FALL-2011.pdf

 

[skiwest]

Thanks!

 

[Robnoxious]

So if none of the L&H films make it to Me-TV or the other sub-nets, you can enjoy them on DVD. Personally, I think we're long overdue for having L&H and W.C. Fields on broadcast TV.

While Laurel & Hardy are master craftsmen of the silent comedies era, I don't think the duo have fallen through the cracks nearly as much as Harold Lloyd and that is a shame. Lloyd was a brilliant performer and funny to boot and just as important to the silent genre.

 

[landtuna]

While Laurel & Hardy are master craftsmen of the silent comedies era, I don't think the duo have fallen through the cracks nearly as much as Harold Lloyd and that is a shame. Lloyd was a brilliant performer and funny to boot and just as important to the silent genre.

I got to watch a number of the old B&W comedy shorts growing up and developed a love for the genre. My kids though see everything in color and it is very difficult to get them to watch black and white film (I was successful with 'Casablanca' however).

But the biggest reason they are not shown is probably because the demo that is familiar with that type of comedy is way older than the 18-49 target of most TV. Soon we'll join the genre in oblivion.