8mm Forum: This Is Your Life Laurel & Hardy

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Topic: This Is Your Life Laurel & Hardy

Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 02, 2016 05:01 AM

This Is Your Life Laurel & Hardy. 1954. 600ft. Unknown distributor.

Ralph Edwards presents the life of the comedy two-some who both seem very ill at ease, and often not remembering people announced from the past. Only one small clip from a film is shown where a large box is being off-loaded from a horse and cart, the horse moves away, and the box falls on them.

Hal Roach junior speaks well, at the end the boys' wives appear (including Stan's daughter) and their host tells them that they will get a 16mm copy of the program and a Bell and Howell sound projector to show it on.

Picture quality quite good but sound from those unaccustomed to public speaking are not very clear. Unfortunately, the boys get little chance to speak.

Original ads are included for cosmetics and an airline.

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Maurice

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted September 02, 2016 11:24 AM

I've seen this come up occasionally. I'vfe thought about getting it. Thanks for the review.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 02, 2016 03:07 PM

I now read that Stan was angered by being "tricked" into what would be the team's only American television appearance on 1st December 1954.

He later said: "Oliver Hardy and I were always planning to do something on TV, but never dreamed that we would make our television debut on an unrehearsed network program. I was damned if I was going to put on a free show for them."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PlzdJnY6z0

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Maurice

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 03, 2016 10:40 AM

What an obnoxious personality Ralph Edwards was. I guess This Is Your Life was his original concept, but I always thought it to be a severe imposition and embarassement for the poor victims. In fact I believe that one movie star, who I forget, actually fled the studio when confronted with the situation. I remember we had a British version that was hosted by the equally overbearing Eammon Andrews.

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 03, 2016 04:05 PM

Paul
I agree. Most of them made you feel embarrassed for the victims, who most of the time were obliged to grin through gritted teeth while enduring a recount of a past that they probably would rather forget. As for the Laurel & Hardy episode - not their finest hour and certainly not something I would entertain buying in film,DVD or any other format. I would however say that I am a dedicated L&H fan and have many of their films on 16mm and I just love them to bits.

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Graham Sinden
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1131
From: Kent, UK
Registered: Aug 2005

posted September 03, 2016 05:14 PM

I agree Terry. Its a bit like tree in a test tube, not something I like looking at or would buy on Super 8 or DVD. Utopia is the same. There is plenty available of L&H in their prime.

Graham S

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Mike Newell
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 826
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted September 03, 2016 06:34 PM

I had This is your Life on super 8 and it is pretty turgid stuff. It was actually one film I couldn't wait to finish. Tree in a Test Tube was one of my early buys on super 8 from I believe Moviedrome. It lived through the era of my Cinerex projector so had customised scratch lines once I was introduced to 2.22. I basically used it as my suicide film when I bought a projector and wanted to see if it worked properly. Utopia I have managed to get halfway through before I gave up. There is a box set of three of their movies on DVD they made 20th Century Fox which I picked up as part of a bundle of memorabilia on eBay still sealed and after about two years still unwatched.

Anything post Hal Roach isn't worth the time or effort. At best they repeat some of their old routines and the rest is studio imposed drivel.

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Graham Sinden
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1131
From: Kent, UK
Registered: Aug 2005

posted September 04, 2016 01:14 AM

I dont mind Great Guns though and have watched all that but in Utopia Stan just looks ill and is painfull to watch knowing what better films you could be looking at.

Graham S

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 04, 2016 03:20 AM

Yes I've got a copy of Utopia on 16mm and they both look unhappy and unwell and struggling to make a performance. It is just not funny and all it does is make you sorry to see them in such a poor state of health. I will never forgive 20th Century Fox for releasing it. I'm sure that Stan and Ollie would not have wanted to end on such a sour note.

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015

posted September 05, 2016 08:17 PM

20th Century Fox did not release UTOPIA. It was originally released under several different titles by different companies depending upon the country.

The 20th Century Fox films of Laurel and Hardy aren't half as bad as the reputation that precedes them.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 06, 2016 06:05 AM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atoll_K

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Maurice

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 06, 2016 12:41 PM

Joseph
You're right it was not 20th Century Fox. I've just checked my copy and it accredited to 'Exploitation Films' which is quite appropriate when you read of the horrendous history of the making of the film. It was planned to have been filmed in 12 weeks but took 12 months, during which Stan suffered much ill health and Stans wife was very critical of the Directors incompetence which did not help Stans health issues, which included Diabetes, Colitis, Dysentery and Prostate ulcer. It is recorded that he was only able to perform for few minutes at a time because of his condition. How very sad.

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