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Author
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Topic: What is your favorite Laurel and Hardy Feature?
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 09, 2009 09:18 AM
Since this is not really dealing with Super 8, I put it in general yak!
What is your favorite film of the lads?
I have a very hard choice in this, between "Blockheads" and "Sons of the Desert", but the award has to go to ....
"SONS OF THE DESERT"
Both of these features are so well paced and played out that they feel like a really good short, but the lads win out in this one, it has all the best elements in spades ...
Angry Wives
scheming lads
Things going from bad to worse, hilariously.
and that wonderful moment when Laurel looks into his wifes eyes and can't lie.
Though Blockheads has the same elements as well, AND a wonderful little battle with Jimmy Finlayson!
Actually, I'm almost changing my mind!!!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 09, 2009 10:23 AM
If we include shorts, I would have to say, as first choice,
"Towed in the Hole"
Those wonderful shots, from different places on the boat of a scared Stan peeking out from smaller and smaller holes, then
looking up, bewildered and asking ...
"Why is the paint on your face?"
We next see Stan with a black eye!
and, of course, my beloved ...
"Helpmates"
Ollie throws a wild party and the house in a shambles, and the wife is coming home later in the day. Ollie calls Stan over to help him clean up, and they progressively demolish the house with Stan, at the end, stating the obvious ...
"Well, I guess there is nothing else I can do."
Leaving poor Ollie sitting in a burned down house and, to add insult to injury, it starts to rain.
Brilliant!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 10, 2009 09:50 AM
One of the understated gags in "Towed in the Hole" is when Ollie is desiring to drench Stan with water, but Stan is in charge, having the hose, and it's truly funnier than hell with his little
"spurts" he lest out in warning.
There is one absolute truth and the Lads that is not true of any of the other great comedy teams, (not even the Marx Brothers).
Stan and Ollie could milk a gag beyond anybody else. Look at how many shorts, (as mentioned before) revolve around a simple premise, (putting on pants and boots) and milk them for a whole
twenty or so minutes?
Carrying a Piano up a staircase for thirty minutes? WOW!
I have often thought, what the Marx Brothers could have done in a short subject format?
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Tony Stucchio
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 625
From: New Jersey
Registered: Dec 2005
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posted July 10, 2009 08:36 PM
There are very few from their prime years (late 1927 as a team to 1940) that I dislike. It is hard to pick a "best" feature. WAY OUT WEST and SONS OF THE DESERT are the usual candidates, and I've never been able to decide which is better. BABES IN TOYLAND is grand in so many ways. PARDON US is a personal "favorite", and OUR RELATIONS excellent. BLOCK-HEADS is great until about the last 5 minutes, then it falls apart.
I agree about BLOTTO being one of their best shorts. So is SCRAM!
To me they are both right up there with HELPMATES, HOG WILD, TOWED IN A HOLE, THEM THAR HILLS, TIT FOR TAT, and THE MUSIC BOX.
BELOW ZERO is a great one despite not being one of their funniest. The only shorts I don't like very much are TWICE TWO and BERTH MARKS.
The silents: BIG BUSINESS, LIBERTY, TWO TARS, and PUTTING PANTS ON PHILLIP are my favorites -- at least on the days where I'm not enjoying BACON GRABBERS and THE FINISHING TOUCH. Is YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN' a good one? You're darn tootin' it is!
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Michael De Angelis
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1261
From: USA
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted July 17, 2009 12:32 AM
As Tony said, It's hard to pick a best feature.
The films are divided into era, and in my opinion, their most stellar work was up until 1934.
The short films were great stepping grounds for the features.
If I was forced to select the very best features from this early sound era,
it would be Sons of The Desert and Babes in Toyland.
"Sons," on the whole vision being the perfect cast, comedic timing, and story that organically holds together. A timeless vehicle that fits their modern characters.
"Toyland," because it illustrates their persona - two children at play, and out to save humanity. The creative mix of story, fairy tale, music, set design
and in accord with Walt Disney make this a wonderful accomplishment.
Roach's "separate and divide"contract negotiating management,
lasting friction coupled from the Toyland script disagreements,
Ollie's troubled life, and Stan's multiple marriages,
and divorces were embattling too.
Last but not least, the budget cuts and lack of complete artistic control strained the work on some of the films - resulted in conflict.
Thus, the mood shifted from Thicker Than Water and onward.
when Roach declared the two-reelers being unprofitable.
Arguably, the best feature from the second wave was Way Out West,
and it was a Stan Laurel Production too.
We Faw Down plays out better than the Blockheads ending.
Chump at Oxford is a delight and Saps at Sea finishes out with wonderful wackyness that is embellished with a fun music score.
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Isn't it great that we can all communicate about this great
hobby that we love!
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Mikael Barnard
Film Handler
Posts: 85
From: Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, UK
Registered: Jun 2009
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posted July 17, 2009 03:20 PM
Picking a favourite Laurel and Hardy is such a challenge, best feature as far as I'm concerned is easy- I'm a complete sucker for 'Flying Deuces'- but shorts and silents? Putting Pants on Philip, Country Hospital, Big Business, Tit for Tat, damn they're ALL good, true some are better than others but I don't think there's any I dislike (although I have to try really, really hard to like the Fox disasters). I suppose if someone put a gun to my head and said choose it would run thus:
Favourite Silent: The Finishing Touch (although I'd be begging the gunman to let me put Big Business at joint first)
Favourite Talkie: HAS to be Dirty Work!
"Somewhere an electric chair is waiting". ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Practically every line and gag has me in stitches every time.
Favourite Feature: Flying Deuces.
Funny, both Laurel and Hardy both considered Chaplin to be the
superior comedian. I've never got much more than a light chuckle out of Chaplin yet those two make my sides ache. Same with Morcambe and Wise, every loves 'em, why?! Humour is extremely subjective. My sister's father can't stand Laurel and Hardy, but then that really DOES just make him a freak doesn't it! ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 17, 2009 05:04 PM
You make good points Shorty (as well as quite a few other of you).
Comedy, I think, depends largely on two things ...
1. The persons own persona/likes/dislikes.
2. The era in which the audience grows up in.
It amazes me, (as well as deeply saddens), that most young people only seem to laugh if a fella puts his "organ" in a pie. Humor has been so diluted to a few fart jokes which pains me to say.
... and then you see master craftsmen like Stan, Ollie and they're generation. Even in the case of the Marx Brothers, (the "Mel Brooks" of thier time) were able to have racy material, but it still stayed within the "code". Barely, but it stayed.
Look, I may only be 43, but I can say for a fact that with each year that passes, literally everything in our society continues a downward spiral to the "lowest common denominator" , or the most base way of getting a laugh.
I don't think we can really blame the movie goers. The crap first came out in the theaters, THEN the audience either embraced it or they didn't.
... sadly, the audience embraced the crap.
I have written two comedy scripts that I would DIE to get made, and it is classic word-play and physical humor, and not a shred of fart jokes, as well as a comedy novel ...
... not a single taker.
... but thank goodness that we have these amazing and still as fresh as the day they were filmed comedies to enjoy over and over.
My apologies for "preaching" about this, but my blood got up!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Christopher P Quinn
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 210
From: Bedfordshire
Registered: Sep 2008
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posted July 19, 2009 07:01 PM
My Favourite feature is Way Out West followed closely by Saps at Sea & Block-Heads.
Sound short, well Laughing Gravy every time for me. It is in my mind one of there best, although the bed scene in Berth Marks (not one of their best) when they are trying to get dressed for bed, always has me rolling around in stitches. I am also a fan of Them Thar Hills. Tra da da, da da da, da da da da, pom,pom. and many more.
Silent’s,well i started to appreciate these recently when I got the 21 disc box set, I always collected the sound versions on 8mm, but my fav ones are Two Tars and Habeas Corpus, at the moment. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
You can't beat a bit of slap stick.
Chris.
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Chris Quinn Rides again.
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