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WIKIMAG n. 8 - Luglio 2013
Laurel and Hardy
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Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically
acclaimed comedy
double acts of the
early
Classical Hollywood era of
American cinema. Composed of thin Englishman
Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and fat American
Oliver Hardy (1892–1957), they became well known during the late
1920s to the mid-1940s for their
slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike
friend of the pompous Hardy.[1][2]
They made over 100 films together, initially
two-reelers (short films) before expanding into feature length films
in the 1930s. Their films include
Sons of the Desert (1933), the Academy Award-winning short film
The Music Box (1932),
Babes in Toyland (1934), and
Way Out West (1937). Hardy's
catchphrase, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me
into!", is still widely recognized.[N
1]
Prior to the double act, both were established actors, with Laurel
appearing in over 50 films and Hardy in over 250 films. Although the two
comedians first worked together on the film
The Lucky Dog (1921), this was a chance pairing and it was not
until 1926, when both separately signed contracts with the
Hal
Roach film studio, that they began appearing in movie shorts
together.[3]
Laurel and Hardy officially became a team the following year in the
silent short film
Putting Pants on Philip (1927). The pair remained with the Roach
studio until 1940, then appeared in eight "B" comedies for
20th Century Fox and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945.[4]
After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944, they
concentrated on stage shows, embarking on a music hall tour of England,
Ireland, and Scotland.[4]
In 1950, they made their last film, a
French/Italian
co-production called
Atoll K,
before retiring from the screen. In total, they appeared together in 107
films. They starred in 40 short
sound films, 32 short
silent films and 23 full-length
feature films, and made 12 guest or
cameo appearances, including the recently discovered
Galaxy of Stars promotional film (1936).[citation
needed]
A common comedy routine was a
tit-for-tat fight. Their silent film
Big Business (1929), which includes one of these routines, was
added to the
Library of Congress as a national treasure in 1992. Notable Laurel
traits include crying like a baby while being berated and scratching his
hair in a gesture of befuddlement. Signature Hardy mannerisms include
"twiddling" his necktie in an effort to be ingratiating, and looking
pointedly at the camera to register frustration, resignation, or
mounting apprehension. On December 1, 1954, the team made their only
American television appearance, surprised by Ralph Edwards on his live
NBC-TV program,
This Is Your Life.
The works of Laurel and Hardy have been released again in numerous
theatrical reissues, television revivals, 16-mm and 8-mm home movies,
feature-film compilations, and home videos since the 1930s. They were
voted the seventh greatest comedy act in a 2005 UK poll by fellow
comedians. The duo's signature tune, known variously as "The Cuckoo
Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", played on the opening
credits of their films. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation
society is known as
The Sons of the Desert, after a fraternal society in their film of
the same name.
Before the teaming
Stan Laurel
Main article:
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel (June 16, 1890 – February 23, 1965) was born Arthur
Stanley Jefferson in
Ulverston, Lancashire, England.[5]
His father, Arthur Joseph Jefferson, was a theatrical entrepreneur and
theatre owner in northern England and Scotland, who, with his wife, was
a major force in the industry.[6]
Laurel was born into a family with
theatre
in its blood.[7]
In 1905, the Jefferson family moved to
Glasgow
to be closer to their business mainstay, The Metropole Theatre,[8]
with Laurel making his stage debut in a Glasgow hall called the
Britannia Panopticon, a month short of his 16th birthday.[9]
Arthur Jefferson secured Laurel his first acting job with a theatrical
juvenile company, Levy and Cardwell, specialising in Christmas
Pantomimes.[10]
In 1909, he was employed by Britain's leading comedy impresario,
Fred Karno,[11]
working as a supporting actor and as an
understudy of
Charlie Chaplin.[12]
Laurel said of Karno, "There was no one like him. He had no equal. His
name was box-office."[13]
In 1912, Laurel left England with a Fred Karno Troupe, to tour the
United States of America. Laurel expected the tour to be merely a
pleasant interval in his life before returning to London; however, he
had, in actuality, emigrated.[14]
In 1917, Laurel was teamed with
Mae Dahlberg: they worked as a
double act for stage and film and were
common law husband and wife.[15]
Laurel made his film debut with Dahlberg in
Nuts in May (1917).[16]
While working with her, he started using the stage name Stan Laurel,
changing his name legally in 1931.[17]
Dahlberg held Laurel's career back because she demanded parts in
Laurel's films and her tempestuous nature made her difficult to work
with; dressing room arguments between the two were common, so film
producer
Joe
Rock paid her to leave Laurel and return to her native
Australia.[18]
In 1925, Laurel joined the
Hal
Roach film studio as a director and writer, and between May 1925 and
September 1926, he was credited in at least 22 films.[19]
Laurel starred in over 50 films for various producers before teaming up
with Hardy.[20]
Without Hardy, he experienced only modest success because it was
difficult for producers, writers, and directors to figure out what
character he might be playing, and American audiences knew him either as
a "nutty
burglar" or as a
Charlie Chaplin imitator.[21]
Oliver Hardy
Main article:
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy (January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was born Norvell
Hardy in
Harlem, Georgia.[22]
He took his father's first name, calling himself "Oliver Norvell Hardy".[23]
His offscreen nicknames were "Ollie" and "Babe". Hardy's nickname "Babe"
originated from an Italian barber near the
Lubin Studios in
Jacksonville, Florida, who would rub Hardy's face with talcum powder
and say, "That's nice a baby!", which the other Lubin actors mimicked.[24]
Hardy was billed as "Babe Hardy" in his early films.[25]
By his late teens, Hardy was a popular stage singer, and he operated his
own movie house in
Milledgeville, Georgia, the Palace Theater, partly financed by his
mother.[26]
Seeing film comedies inspired him with an urge to take up comedy
himself, and in 1913, he began working with Lubin Motion Pictures in
Jacksonville. He started out by helping around the studio with lights,
props, and other duties, gradually learning the craft as a script-clerk.[26]
Around the same time, he married his first wife, Madelyn Salosihn.[27]
In 1914, Hardy acted as Babe in his first film called
Outwitting Dad.[25]
Between 1914 and 1916, Hardy made 177
shorts as Babe with the
Vim Comedy Company, which were released up to the end of 1917.[28]
Exhibiting a versatility in playing heroes, villains, and even female
characters, Hardy became much in demand as a supporting actor, comic
villain, or
second banana. For the next 10 years, he memorably assisted star
comics
Billy West, a Charlie Chaplin imitator,
Jimmy Aubrey,
Larry Semon and
Charley Chase.[29]
In total, Hardy starred or co-starred in more than 250 silent shorts,
about 150 of which have been lost. While in New York, his abortive
effort to enlist in 1917 led his wife, Madelyn, and him to seek new
opportunities in California.[30]
History
Films
The first film pairing of the two comedians, although as separate
performers, took place in
The Lucky Dog (1921). The exact date the film was produced is
not recorded, but film historian Bo Bergulund dated it between late 1920
and January 1921.[31]
The association was so casual, based upon interviews given in the 1930s,
both had forgotten it entirely.[32]
The plot sees Laurel befriended by a stray dog, which after a number of
lucky escapes, saves him from being blown up by a stick of dynamite,
while Hardy is a mugger attempting to rob him.[33]
Several years later, both comedians had separately signed for the
Hal
Roach film studio and next appeared in
45 Minutes From Hollywood (1926).[34]
Laurel and Hardy appeared for the first time together in
The Lucky Dog (1921). In this
lobby card scene, Stan Laurel (left), is attacked by
Oliver Hardy (above) as
Jack Lloyd spots that Stan's faithful dog has retrieved
Oliver's lit stick of dynamite.
Hal Roach was the most important person in their film careers; he
brought them together officially as a team and paid their wages for over
20 years.[35]
Charley Rogers worked closely with the three men for many years and
said, "It could not have happened if Laurel, Hardy and Roach had not met
at the right place and at the right time."[36]
Their first "official" film together was
Putting Pants on Philip (1927).[37]
The plot sees Laurel as Philip, a young Scottish man newly arrived in
the United States in full
kilted
splendor: after various mishaps surrounding the kilt, his uncle, played
by Hardy, tries to put him in trousers.[38]
Laurel said to
John McCabe, "Of all the questions we're asked, the most frequent is
how did we come together? I always explain that we just came together
naturally."[39]
Laurel and Hardy were joined by accident and grew by indirection.[40]
In 1926, both were part of the Roach Comedy All Stars - a group of
actors of similar standing who took part in a series of films; quite
unwittingly, Laurel and Hardy's parts became larger and the parts of
their fellow stars became less, because Laurel and Hardy were the best
actors.[41]
The teaming was suggested by
Leo McCarey, who was their supervising director between 1927 and
1930; during this period, McCarey and Laurel jointly devised the team's
format.[42]
After the teaming, they played the same characters for 30 years.[43]
Although Hal Roach employed writers and directors such as
H. M. Walker,
Leo McCarey,
James Parrott, and
James W. Horne on Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel would rewrite
entire sequences or scripts, have the cast and crew improvise on the
sound stage, and meticulously review the footage for editing.[44]
By 1929, Laurel was the head writer. The writing sessions were gleeful
chaos; Stan had three or four writers who joined him in a perpetual game
of 'Can You Top This?'[45]
As Laurel so obviously relished writing gags, Hardy was more than happy
to leave the job to his partner.[46]
From this point, Laurel was also the uncredited film director. He ran
the Laurel and Hardy set no matter who was in the director's chair, but
never felt compelled to assert his authority. Roach remarked, "Laurel
bossed the production. With any director if Laurel said 'I don't like
this idea,' the director didn't say 'Well, you're going to do it
anyway.' That was understood."[47]
As Laurel made so many suggestions, not much was left for the credited
director to do.[48]
In 1929, the
silent era of film was coming to an end, and most silent-film actors
saw their careers decline with the advent of sound.[49]
Many silent film actors failed to make the transition because they
decided their prime duty was to tell stories in words, and they misused
sound through overemphasis, or there was poor recording. Laurel and
Hardy avoided this pitfall because they decided to continue making
primarily visual films.[50]
They did not ignore sound, but they were not ruled by it.[50]
They proved skillful in their melding of visual and verbal humor,[51]
and made a seamless transition to the talking era in their first sound
film,
Unaccustomed As We Are (1929). The title took its name from the
familiar phrase "Unaccustomed as we are to public speaking".[52]
In the opening dialogue, Laurel and Hardy began by
spoofing
the very slow and self-conscious speech of the early talking actors, a
routine they would use regularly.[53]
Laurel and Hardy's first starring feature film was
Pardon Us (1931).[54]
The most memorable Laurel and Hardy film is
The Music Box (1932), the image of the duo forever pushing a
piano up a tremendous flight of steps has stuck in the public
consciousness.[55]
The film won an
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject in 1932.[56]
While many enthusiasts claim the superiority of The Music Box,
their silent film
Big Business (1929) is by far the most consistently acclaimed.[57]
The plot sees Laurel and Hardy as Christmas tree salesman involved in a
classic tit-for-tat battle with
James Finlayson, eventually destroying his house and their car.[58]
Big Business was added to the
Library of Congress in the United States as a national treasure in
1992.[59]
Sons of the Desert (1933) is considered Laurel and Hardy's best
feature film.[60]
Babes in Toyland (1934) retains a timeless appeal and remains a
perennial on American TV at Christmas.[61]
Hal Roach spoke scathingly about the film and Laurel's behavior during
its making. Laurel was unhappy with Roach's plot, and after an argument,
was allowed to make the film his own way. The rift permanently damaged
Roach-Laurel relations to the point that Roach said that after
Toyland, he no longer wished to produce Laurel and Hardy films,
although their association continued for another six years.[44]
Hoping for greater artistic freedom, Laurel and Hardy split with
Roach and signed with major studios 20th Century-Fox and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. However, the working conditions were now completely
different, as they were hired only as actors, relegated to the B-film
divisions, and initially not allowed to improvise or contribute to the
scripts. When the films proved popular, the studios allowed the team
more input, with Laurel and Hardy starring in eight features through
1944. These films, while not considered the team's best, were extremely
successful. Budgeted at $250,000 to $300,000 each, the films earned
millions at the box office. The films were so profitable, Fox kept
making Laurel and Hardy comedies after discontinuing its other "B"
series.[62]
Laurel and Hardy made one final film together,
Atoll K
(1951), a French-Italian co-production directed by
Leo Joannon, which was plagued by language barriers, production
problems, and both Laurel and Hardy's grave health issues. During
shooting, Hardy began to lose weight precipitously and developed an
irregular heartbeat, while Laurel experienced painful prostate
complications.[63]
Critics were disappointed with its storyline, English dubbing, and
Laurel's sickly physical appearance.[64]
The film was not a success, and brought an end to Laurel and Hardy's
film careers.[63]
A number of their films were reshot with Laurel and Hardy talking in
Spanish, Italian, French, or German.[65]
The plots for these films were similar to the English-language version,
although the supporting cast were often native language actors. Laurel
and Hardy could not speak a foreign language, so they received voice
coaching to reproduce their lines.
Pardon Us (1931) was reshot in all four foreign languages.
Blotto (1930),
Hog Wild (1930), and
Be
Big! (1931) had French and Spanish versions.
Night Owls (1930) had Spanish and Italian versions.
Below Zero (1930) and
Chickens Come Home (1931) had only Spanish version.
Most of the Laurel and Hardy films survive, and have never gone out
of circulation permanently. Three of their 107 films are considered
lost, as they have not been seen in full since the 1930s.[66]
The silent
Hats
Off (1927) has vanished completely. The first half of
Now I'll Tell One (1927) is lost and the second half has yet to
be released on video. In the operatic Technicolor musical
The Rogue Song (1930), Laurel and Hardy appear in 10 sequences,
only one of which is known to exist along with the complete soundtrack.[67]
Style of comedy and characterizations
The humor of Laurel and Hardy was generally visual with
slapstick used for emphasis. They often had physical arguments with
each other, which were quite complex and involved
cartoon violence, and their characters preclude them from making any
real progress in even the simplest endeavors. Much of their comedy
involves milking a joke, where a simple idea provides a basis from which
to build several gags without following a defined
narrative.
Laurel and Hardy had an inherent physical contrariety. Stan Laurel
was of average height and weight, but appeared small and slight next to
Oliver Hardy, who was 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall[64]
and weighed about 280 lb (127 kg) in his prime. Laurel kept his hair
short on the sides and back, but let it grow long on top to create a
natural "fright wig". At times of shock, he would simultaneously cry
while pulling up his hair. In contrast, Hardy's thinning hair was pasted
on his forehead in spit curls and he wore a
toothbrush moustache. To achieve a flat-footed walk, Laurel removed
the heels from his shoes. Both wore
bowler hats, with Laurel's being narrower than Hardy's, and with a
flattened brim. The characters' normal attire also called for
wing collar shirts, with Hardy wearing a standard neck tie which he
would twiddle and Laurel a
bow tie.
Hardy's
sports jacket was too small for him and done up with one straining
button, whereas Laurel's
double-breasted jacket was loose fitting.
A common routine the team performed was a "tit-for-tat"
fight with an adversary. This could be with their wives—often played by
Mae
Busch,
Anita Garvin or
Daphne Pollard—or with a neighbour, often played by
Charlie Hall or
James Finlayson. Laurel and Hardy would accidentally damage someone
else's property, with the injured party
retaliating by ruining something belonging to Laurel or Hardy. After
calmly surveying the damage, they would find something else to
vandalize, and conflict would escalate until both sides were
simultaneously destroying property in front of each other. An early
example of the routine occurs in their classic short,
Big Business (1929), which was added to the
Library of Congress as a national treasure in 1992, and one of their
short films, which revolves entirely around such an altercation, was
titled
Tit for Tat (1935).
One of their best-remembered dialogue routines was the "Tell me that
again" routine. Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he had
come up with, and Hardy would reply, "Tell me that again." Laurel would
attempt to repeat the idea, but jumble it into utter nonsense. Hardy,
who had difficulty understanding Laurel's idea when expressed clearly,
would understand perfectly when hearing the jumbled version.
While much of their comedy remained visual, various lines of humorous
dialogue appeared in Laurel and Hardy's talking films. Some examples
include:
- "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led."
(Laurel,
Brats)
- "I was dreaming I was awake, but I woke up and found meself
asleep." (Laurel,
Oliver the Eighth)
- "A lot of weather we've been having lately." (Hardy,
Way Out West)
In some cases, their comedy bordered on the surreal, a style Stan
Laurel called "white magic".[68]
For example, in Way Out West (1937), Laurel clenches his fist and
pours tobacco into it, as if it were a pipe. Then, he flicks his thumb
upward as if he held a
lighter.
His thumb ignites, and he matter-of-factly lights his "pipe". The amazed
Hardy, seeing this, would unsuccessfully attempt to duplicate it
throughout the rest of the film. Much later in the film, Hardy finally
succeeds – only to be terrified when his thumb catches fire.
Rather than showing Hardy suffering the pain of misfortunes, such as
falling down stairs or being beaten by a thug, banging and crashing
sound effects were often used so the audience could visualize the scene
for themselves.
Sailors Beware (1927) was a significant film for Hardy because
it gave him two of his most enduring trademarks. The first was his
"tie-twiddle" to demonstrate embarrassment. Hardy, while acting, had
been met with a pail of water in the face. He said, "I had been
expecting it, but I didn't expect it at that particular moment. It threw
me mentally and I couldn't think what to do next, so I waved the tie in
a kind of tiddly-widdly fashion to show embarrassment while trying to
look friendly."
[69] His second trademark was the "camera look", in which he
breaks the
fourth wall. Hardy said "I had to become exasperated, so I just
stared right into the camera and registered my disgust."[70]
Offscreen, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were quite the opposite of
their movie characters: Laurel was the industrious "idea man", while
Hardy was more easygoing.[71]
Final years
After Atoll K, Laurel and Hardy took several months off, so
Laurel could recuperate. Upon their return to the European stage in
1952, they undertook a well-received series of public appearances in a
short sketch Laurel had written called "A Spot of Trouble". Hoping to
repeat the success the following year, Laurel wrote a routine titled
"Birds of a Feather" (in 1953).[72]
On September 9, 1953, their boat arrived in
Cobh,
Ireland.
Laurel recounted their reception:
- The love and affection we found that day at Cobh was simply
unbelievable. There were hundreds of boats blowing whistles and mobs
and mobs of people screaming on the docks. We just couldn't
understand what it was all about. And then something happened that I
can never forget. All the church bells in Cobh started to ring out
our theme song ["Dance
of the Cuckoos"] and Babe [Oliver Hardy] looked at me and we
cried. I'll never forget that day. Never.[73]
On December 1, 1954, the team made their only American television
appearance, surprised by
Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program,
This Is Your Life. Lured to the Knickerbocker Hotel as a
subterfuge for a business meeting with producer
Bernard Delfont, the doors opened to their suite #205, flooding the
room with light and the voice of Edwards. The telecast was preserved on
a
kinescope and later released on home video. Partly due to the
positive response from the television broadcast, the pair was
renegotiating with Hal Roach, Jr. for a series of color
NBC Television specials to be called Laurel and Hardy's Fabulous
Fables. However, plans for the specials were shelved, as the aging
comedians suffered from declining health.[72]
In 1955, Laurel and Hardy made their final public appearance
together, taking part in This Is Music Hall, a
BBC Television program about the
Grand Order of Water Rats, a British variety organization. Laurel
and Hardy provide a filmed insert during which they reminisce about
their friends in British variety. They made their final appearance on
camera in 1956 in a home movie titled "One Moment Please". The film was
shot by a family friend at Laurel's home; it is without audio and lasts
three minutes.
Under doctor's orders to improve a heart condition, Hardy lost over
100 pounds (45 kg; 7.1 st) in 1956. Several strokes resulted in loss of
mobility and speech. He died of a stroke on August 7, 1957. Longtime
friend Bob Chatterton said Hardy weighed just 138 pounds (63 kg; 9.9 st)
at the time of his death. Hardy was laid to rest at Pierce Brothers
Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood.[74]
Just after Hardy's death, Laurel and Hardy's films returned to movie
theaters, as clips of their work were featured in
Robert Youngson's silent-film compilation
The Golden Age of Comedy. For the remaining eight years of his
life, Stan Laurel refused to perform, even turning down
Stanley Kramer's offer to make a cameo in his landmark 1963 movie,
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. In 1960, Laurel was given a
special Academy Award for his contributions to film comedy. Despite not
appearing onscreen after Hardy's death, Laurel did contribute gags to
several comedy filmmakers. Most of his writing was in the form of
correspondence; he insisted on answering every fan letter personally.
Late in life, he hosted many visitors of the new generation of comedians
and celebrities, including
Dick Cavett,
Jerry Lewis,
Peter Sellers,
Marcel Marceau, and
Dick Van Dyke. Laurel lived until 1965, surviving to see the duo's
work rediscovered through television and classic film revivals. He died
on February 23 in
Santa Monica, and is buried at
Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills in
Los Angeles, California.[75]
Supporting cast
Laurel and Hardy's films included a memorable supporting cast, some
of whom appeared regularly.[76]
-
Harry Bernard played bit parts as waiter, bartender and cop.
-
Mae Busch played a formidable Mrs. Hardy, and some other
characters, particularly sultry female pests.
-
Charley Chase, the Hal Roach film star and brother of
James Parrott, Laurel and Hardy writer/director, made four
appearances.
-
Baldwin Cooke played bit parts as a waiter, bartender and cop.
-
Richard Cramer appeared as a scowling, menacing villain or
opponent
-
James Finlayson, a small, balding, moustachioed Scotsman known
for displays of indignation and squinting "double takes", made 33
appearances and is perhaps their most celebrated foil.
-
Anita Garvin was a memorable Mrs. Laurel.
-
Billy Gilbert made many appearances, most notably as bombastic,
blustery characters, and also most notably in the classic The
Music Box (1932).
-
Charlie Hall, who usually played angry "little men", appeared
nearly 50 times.
-
Jean Harlow, the "Blonde Bombshell" had a small role in their
short
Double Whoopee (1929) and two other films, before her
breakout stardom.
-
Arthur Housman made memorable appearances as a comic drunk.
-
Edgar Kennedy, master of the "slow burn", often appeared as a
cop, hostile neighbor, or relative.
-
Walter Long played grizzled, physically threatening villains,
similar to Richard Cramer.
-
Sam Lufkin appeared several times.
-
Daphne Pollard was featured, mostly as Oliver's shrewish wife.
-
Charley Rogers, the English actor, appeared several times.
-
Tiny Sandford was a very tall and burly man who played authority
figures, notably cops.
-
Thelma Todd appeared several times.
-
Ben Turpin, the
cross-eyed actor, made two memorable appearances.
-
Peter Cushing, well before becoming a star in many memorable
Hammer Horror Films, made an appearance in
A Chump at Oxford.
Music
The duo's famous signature tune, known variously as "The Cuckoo
Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was composed by Roach
musical director
Marvin Hatley as the on-the-hour chime for the Roach studio radio
station.[77]
Laurel heard the tune on the station, and asked Hatley to use it as the
Laurel and Hardy theme song. In Laurel's eyes, the song's melody
represented Hardy's character (pompous and dramatic), while the harmony
represented Laurel's own character (somewhat out of key, and only able
to register two notes: "coo-coo").[citation
needed] The original theme, recorded by two
clarinets in 1930, was recorded again with a full orchestra in 1935.
Leroy Shield composed the great majority of the music used in the
Laurel and Hardy short sound films.[78]
A compilation of songs from their films, titled Trail of the Lonesome
Pine, was released in 1975. The title track was released as a single
in the UK and reached #2 in the charts.
Influence and
legacy
Silhouette portrait of the duo in
Redcar, England
Catchphrases
The catchphrase most used by Laurel and Hardy on film is:
“ |
Well,
here's another nice mess you've gotten me into! |
” |
The phrase, which was earlier used by W. S. Gilbert in The Mikado
(1885) and again in The Grand Duke (1896), was first used by
Hardy in
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930). In popular culture, the
catchphrase is often misquoted as "Well, here's another fine mess
you've gotten me into." The misquoted version of the phrase was never
used by Hardy on film; the misunderstanding stems from the title of
their film
Another Fine Mess (1930).[79]
Numerous variations of the quote appeared on film. In
Chickens Come Home (1931), Ollie says impatiently to Stan,
"Well...." with Stan replying, "Here's another nice mess I've gotten you
into." In
Thicker than Water (1935) and
The Fixer-Uppers (1935), the phrase becomes "Well, here's
another nice kettle of fish you pickled me in!" In
Saps at Sea (1940), it becomes "Well, here's another nice bucket
of suds you've gotten me into!"
Another regular catchphrase, cried out by Ollie, when in moments of
distress and/or frustration, as Stan stands helplessly by, is, "Why
don't you do something to help me?" And yet another, not-as-often
used catchphrase of Ollie, particularly after Stan has accidentally
given a verbal idea to an adversary of theirs to torment them even more;
"Why don't you keep your (big) mouth shut?!"
"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by
James Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in 33
Laurel and Hardy films. The phrase, expressing surprise, impatience, or
incredulity, was the inspiration for "D'oh!"
as spoken by the fictional character
Homer Simpson in the long-running animated comedy
The Simpsons. Homer's first intentional use of "d'oh!" occurred
in the Ullman short "Punching Bag" (1988).[80]
The Sons of
the Desert
The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as
The Sons of the Desert, after a fraternal society in their film
of the same name (1933).[81]
It was founded in New York City in 1965 by Laurel and Hardy biographers
John McCabe,
Orson Bean,
Al
Kilgore,
Chuck McCann, and John Municino, with the sanction of Stan Laurel.
Since the group's inception, well over 150 chapters of the organization
have formed across North America, Europe, and Australia. An Emmy-winning
film documentary about the group, Revenge of the Sons of the Desert,
has been released on DVD as part of The Laurel and Hardy Collection,
Vol. 1.
Posthumous
revivals
Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released
again in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals (broadcast,
especially public television, and cable), 16-mm and 8-mm home movies,
feature-film compilations, and home video. After Stan Laurel's death in
1965, there were two major motion-picture tributes: Laurel and
Hardy's Laughing '20s, Robert Youngson's compilation of the team's
silent-film highlights; and
The Great Race, a large-scale salute to slapstick which director
Blake Edwards dedicated to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy". For many
years, the duo were impersonated by Jim MacGeorge (as Laurel) and
Chuck McCann (as Hardy) in children's TV shows and television
commercials for various products.[82]
The two Laurel and Hardy museums are in Laurel's birthplace,
Ulverston, United Kingdom,[83]
and in Hardy's birthplace, Harlem, Georgia, United States.[84]
Maurice Sendak showed three identical Oliver Hardy figures as bakers
preparing cakes for the morning in his
award-winning children's book
In the Night Kitchen (1970).[85]
This is treated as a clear example[by
whom?] of "interpretative illustration" wherein the
comedians' inclusion harked back to the author's own childhood.[N
2]
The Beatles used cut-outs of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as two
members of the cutout celebrity crowd for the cover of their 1967 album,
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
A 2005 poll by fellow comedians and comedy insiders of the top 50
comedians for The Comedian's Comedian, a TV documentary broadcast
on UK's Channel 4, voted the duo the seventh greatest comedy act ever,
making them the top double act on the list.[88]
Numerous
colorized versions of copyright-free Laurel and Hardy features and
shorts have been reproduced by a multitude of production studios.
Although the results of adding color were often in dispute, many of the
popular titles are currently only available in the colorized version.
The color process often renders the print into an unwatchable state,
while some scenes were altered or deleted, dependent on the source
material used.[89]
Helpmates (1932) was the first film to undergo the process; it
was experimented upon by Colorization Inc., a subsidiary of Hal Roach
Studios, in 1983. Colorization became a success for the studio and
Helpmates was released on home video with the colorized version of
The Music Box (1932) in 1986. The technology for this process was
inferior compared to today's digital colorization technology. There were
numerous continuity errors and garish color design choices. However, the
most significant criticism these versions received revolved around their
editing: whole scenes were altered or deleted altogether, changing the
character of the film.
Merchandiser
Larry Harmon claimed ownership of Laurel's and Hardy's likenesses,
and issued Laurel and Hardy toys and coloring books. He co-produced a
series of
Laurel and Hardy cartoons in 1966 with
Hanna-Barbera Productions.[90]
His animated versions of Laurel and Hardy guest-starred in a 1972
episode of Hanna-Barbera's
The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1999, Harmon produced a
direct-to-video feature, the live-action comedy The All-New
Adventures of Laurel and Hardy: For Love or Mummy, with actors
Bronson Pinchot and
Gailard Sartain playing the lookalike nephews of the original Laurel
and Hardy, Stanley Thinneus Laurel and Oliver Fatteus Hardy.[91]
Around the world
Laurel and Hardy are popular in many countries around the world, but
often have been given different names, for example in
Poland
they are known as "Flip and Flap" (Flip
i Flap), in
Germany
as "Dick und Doof" (Fat and Dumb)*,
in Brazil
as "O Gordo e o Magro" (The Fat and the Skinny)"*,
in Sweden
as Helan och Halvan
*, in the Spanish-speaking world as "El
Gordo y el Flaco", in
Italy as
Stanlio e Ollio*,
in Hungary as "Stan és Pan" (Stan and Pan), and in Denmark they
are known as "Gøg and Gokke" (Gøg
og Gokke),
Filmographies
References
Notes
-
^ Oft misquoted as
"another fine mess", see
section on Catchphrases.
-
^ Sendak described
his early upbringing as sitting in movie houses fascinated by
the Laurel and Hardy comedies.[86][87]
Citations
-
^
"Laurel and Hardy." Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
Retrieved: June 12, 2011.
-
^ Rawlngs, Nate.
"Top 10 Across-the-Pond Duos."
Time, July 20, 2010. Retrieved: June 18, 2012.
-
^ Smith 1984, p. 24.
-
^
a
b
McGarry 1992, p. 67.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
11.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
14.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
12.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
22.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
200.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
25.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
159.
-
^ Louvish 2001, p.
18.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
26.
-
^ McCabe 1987, pp.
42–43.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
169
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
158.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
113.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
170.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
182.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
249.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
117.
-
^ Louvish 2001, p.
37.
-
^ Cullen et al.
2007, p. 661.
-
^ McIver 1998, p.
36.
-
^
a
b
McCabe 1989, p. 19.
-
^
a
b
Bergen 1992, p. 26.
-
^ Everson 2000, p.
22.
-
^ McCabe 1989, p.
30.
-
^ Louvish 2001, pp.
107–108.
-
^ McCabe 1989, p.
32.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
181.
-
^ Barr 1967, p. 9.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
180.
-
^ Gehring 1990, p.
273.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
98.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
100.
-
^ Gehring 1990, p.
62.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
229.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
117.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
118.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
120.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
188.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987, p.
54.
-
^
a
b
Mitchell 2010, p. 28.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987, p.
50.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987, p.
52.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987,
pp. 59–61.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987, p.
61.
-
^ Sagert 2010, p.
40.
-
^
a
b
McCabe 1987, p. 153.
-
^ Gehring 1990, p.
42.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
305.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
252.
-
^ Gehring 1990, p.
23.
-
^ Skretvedt 1987, p.
230.
-
^ McCabe 2004, p.
73.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
39.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
38.
-
^
"Big Business awards." IMDb. Retrieved: December 19,
2011.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
268.
-
^ Mitchell 2010, p.
27.
-
^ McCabe 1987, pp.
214–215.
-
^
a
b
McGarry 1992, p. 73.
-
^
a
b
Mitchell, Glenn. The Laurel &
Hardy Encyclopedia. London: Batsford, 1995.
ISBN 0-7134-7711-3
-
^ Fullerton, Pat.
"Laurel & Hardy Overseas." patfullerton.com.
Retrieved: April 20, 2011.
-
^ Dorman, Trevor.
"A Guide to the Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy - Update."
The Laurel and Hardy Magazine. Retrieved: April 20, 2011.
-
^ Haines 1993, p.
13.
-
^ McCabe 1975, p.
18.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
123.
-
^ McCabe 1987, p.
124.
-
^ Gehring 1990, p.
5.
-
^
a
b
McCabe 1975, p. 398.
-
^ Baker, Glenn A.
"History's harbour." The Sydney Morning Herald, March
13, 2011. Retrieved: April 16, 2012.
-
^ Smith 1984, p.
191.
-
^ Smith 1984, p.
187.
-
^
"Laurel and Hardy Films: The People."
laurelandhardyfilms.com, Retrieved: April 3, 2011.
-
^ Louvish 2001, p.
267.
-
^ Louvish 2002, p.
268.
-
^ Andrews 1997, p.
389.
-
^
"What’s the story with... Homer’s D’oh!". The Herald,
Glasgow, July 21, 2007, p. 15. Retrieved: July 25, 2010.
-
^ MacGillivray,
Scott.
"Welcome to Sons of the Desert." International Laurel &
Hardy Society. Retrieved: April 20, 2011.
-
^ McCann, Chuck.
"Laurel & Hardy Tribute." chuckmccann.net: Chuck McCann,
November 30, 2007. Retrieved: March 1, 2010.
-
^
"Laurel & Hardy Museum: Ulverston akedistrictletsgo.co.uk,
June 2004. Retrieved: March 1, 2010.
-
^ Root, Robin.
"Laurel and Hardy Museum and Harlem, Georgia Visitor Info
Center." www.laurelandhardymuseum Retrieved: March 1,
2010.
-
^ Lewis,Peter.
"In the Night Kitchen." commonsensemedia.org.
Retrieved: April 20, 2011.
-
^ Lanes 1980, p. 47.
-
^ Salamon, Julie.
"Sendak in All His Wild Glory."
The New York Times, April 15, 2005. Retrieved: May 28,
2008.
-
^
"Cook voted 'comedians' comedian'." BBC News.
Retrieved: June 17, 2012.
-
^ Tooze, Gary.
"Laurel & Hardy - The Collection (21-disc Box Set)."
dvdbeaver.com. Retrieved: April 20, 2011.
-
^ Krurer, Ron.
"Laurel and Hardy cartoons by Hanna-Barbera."
toontracker.com. Retrieved: March 1, 2010.
-
^
"The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in 'For Love or Mummy'
(1999)." IMDb. Retrieved: March 1, 2010.
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