Who Are...LAUREL AND HARDY?

You really should know who LAUREL AND HARDY are! Briton "Stan Laurel" (1892-1957), born Arthur Stanley Jefferson, and Georgian "Oliver Hardy" (1892-1957), born Oliver Norvell Hardy, were teamed by Hal Roach in 1927. They quickly became the greatest consistently funny comedy team in American movies.



A fine place to start is by viewing: Big Business (1929)? Stan & Ollie are trying to sell Christmas Trees. They get involved in a fracas with James Finlayson (their best foil) which results in the destruction of their car and of his house. A masterpiece of comedy timing.

See that and watch them in the following four films.


Putting Pants On Philip (1927) Hardy is confronted by his girl-crazy nephew, Stan, just arrived from Scotland. The attempts to change Philip's attire are unforgetable. Not a typical Laurel and Hardy comedy by any means. An absolute gem.
The Music Box (1932) Stan, Ollie, a crated piano and a very long and steep set of stairs. This short won the Academy Award.
Sons Of The Desert (1933) The boys concoct a story to get away from the wives for the annual convention of their lodge. Then, the ship they are supposedly on sinks.....
Liberty (1929) The boys are in prison for some undisclosed reason. Friends help them escape but when changing clothes, they just cannot seem to get the right trousers. Then there are the attack crab and the skyscraper construction site. A true classic of silent comedy.


*Contributed by: Eric Jamborsky Date: Jun 21 2002 / 18:21:33 PST

Autographed publicity still reads:
To Eric -
Regards
Hal Roach

STAN LAUREL
Academy Awards®
© A.M.P.A.S.®
1960 Honorary and Other Awards: For his creative pioneering in the field of cinema comedy. Winner presented a Statuette.