 |
|||
|
A program devoted to the work of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (and our dates 1923-1935, printed at left, refer to the boundaries of our program, not of their career) can be tackled in several ways. From a purely chronological point of view, one could take regularly spaced examples of their work as individual comedians, as a team in silents, and as a team in sound films. One could separate their films into categories, and select the best examples of each. One could arbitrarily select their best films. Or finally, one could concentrate exclusively on their fine work in lesser known films. Our task is complicated by the fact that we have frequently shown Laurel and Hardy films (often as "bonus" items, not listed on our notes) and hate to devote sparse playing time to films already shown. So, taking the bull by the horns, we have tried in some measure to combine ALL of these approaches. And since Laurel & Hardy devotees never mind (in fact, welcome) repeat viewings of their comedy, which never seems to grow stale, we think you'll like the outcome. You'll find some old favorites here - plus one or two lesser-known comedies that you probably haven't seen - and some really rare silent footage that you almost certainly haven't seen, at least since the time of its initial release back in the twenties. |
||
Oliver Hardy died in mid-1957; Stan Laurel is currently very ill, and it is unlikely that he will ever work in films again. |
|||
Program in order of screening LAUREL AND HARDY - A SURVEY (27 minutes) This print of a recent television program provides a useful introduction to our entire program in that it highlights recurring trends which you'll see throughout the rest of our films. An off-the-cuff discussion of their work does of course leave important things unsaid, as do most off-the-cuff discussions -- especially on television, where there always seems to be an endless race against time. However, the things left unsaid vocally are more than taken care of by the carefully selected film sequences, which include silent extracts from Crazy Like a Fox and Kill or Cure, and longer sound sequences from Pack Up Your Troubles, Come Clean, Tit For Tat, Their First Mistake and Hog Wild.
|
|||
|
|||
Before his teaming with Laurel, Hardy was used primarily as a burlesque heavy (most notably in Larry Semon comedies) and as a minor comedy foil - as in Mack Sennett's Madcap Ambrose. Yet this film makes it strikingly apparent that already, by 1917, he was a unique comedy performer. The infant routine between Hardy and Billy West, the Chaplin imitator, is an astonishing foreshadowing of the similar Brats done much later by Laurel and Hardy. This print by the way consists of the first reel of a two-reeler. When a 35mm print was discovered recently, reel two had already decomposed beyond all saving; reel one was already badly eaten away by hypo, and by now has also dissolves into dust and goo. However, this one reel, despite much flickering, was saved, and while it's frustrating not to have the rest of it, there's some grand stuff here. Not the least of its charms is Charlie Chase's uninhibited portrayal of a hopeless dope fiend!
| |||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
Laurel and Hardy came together almost accidentally in a number of Roach comedies made at Pathe in the late 20's. Some of these, in which they performed together, but not as a team (Slipping Wives, Sailors Beware) have already been shown by this society. But by the time Roach left Pathe, they were established as a team, and when he went to-work for MGM in 1927, they were not only stars, but creators of their own material. Just how creative was shown quite graphically a few shows back when we contrasted one of their silents with the remake which they had re-shaped to suit themselves. All this preamble is by way of explaining that their "supporting player" category in this film is really more in the nature of "guest" appearances. Again, this is a flash-title print, but all that you need to know is that Max Davidson is slowly going crazy because his neighbors (Laurel and Hardy et al) live in an insane asylum. He is tricked into trading his house for a brand new one which was, however, erected in three days -- and which proceeds to fall apart on him as soon as he moves in. The payoff of course is that the asylum moves too, so that in the fadeout Laurel and Hardy are again his neighbors. Although the Laurel and Hardy footage doesn't get too much prominence, they're on really top form nonetheless. * Bruckman of course was a master comedy craftsman who directed some of the best Keaton, Lloyd and Fields comedies. He died tragically a year or two ago by shooting himself.
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
It's a toss-up whether this, or Two Tars, can be considered the Laurel and Hardy comedy. We chose to show this, partly because Two Tars has been shown more frequently, but mainly because Big Business seems to be the very apotheosis of Laurel and Hardy's work. Everything is here - Hardy's polite chit-chat, his florid gestures, his fantastic ego, his mute, pitiful appeals to the audience - and above all, the savage exchanges of mutual sadism between the boys and their arch-enemy James Finlayson, with each waiting, like a good sport, to take his medicine, before reciprocating in kind. Never has the passive acceptance of disaster - and the element of curiosity combined with dread - been better exploited by Laurel and Hardy than in this masterpiece of at first childish, and finally uncontrollable, savagery. It's two reels of brilliantly constructed, steadily mounting frenzy and insanity.
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
Program Notes & Enquiries - Wm. K. Everson, Manhattan Towers Hotel, 2166 Broadway, NYC. Committee: Edward Gorey, Dorothy Lovell (art work), Chas. Shibuk |
|||
Coming Our next show, of course, is NAPOLEON, CHRONICLES OF THE GREY HOUSE and BLAZING THE TRAIL, one week from tonight. Our first show in March will be devoted to the years 1929-1933, and the changeover from silents to talkies, with stress not so much on the great films that were made, but rather on the stars themselves -- those who made it, and those who didn't. BETTY BRONSON's THE MEDICINE MAN (with Jack Benny and Eva Novak) will be the feature, while there will be lengthy extracts from early talkies starring LILLIAN GISH, GLORIA SWANSON, HENRY D. WALTHALL, LAURA LA PLANTE, RICARDO CORTEZ, JOHN MACK BROWN, JOHN BARRYMORE, WILLIAM FARNUM, DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, EVE SOUTHERN, PRISCILLA DEAN, MAE MURRAY, BETTY COMPSON, ESTHER RALSTON, NOAH BEERY and others -- plus WILLIAM S. HART's superb 3-minute speech used to introduce the reissue of TUMBLEWEEDS. An especially large set of program notes will be issued with this show. |
|||
