Laurel and Hardy

[That Jekka Gal]

On Sunday, as we reposed ourselves in our woodland loggia, Mr Gittins finally follow through on a threat that has been hanging over me for some time now; to subject me to his Laurel and Hardy box set.

Actually, the word "threat" implies the possibility of being subjected to some kind of ordeal. I'm fairly ambivalent about L&H - used to see them quite a bit on TV when I was a kid just like all those other black and white comedies they used to show back then - Harold Lloyd, Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers - so I had an open mind when he pulled out a copy of "Block Heads" from its plastic case.

And do you know something inneresting? One hour later I was a convert. There was so much going on in that film - the comic timing, the supporting cast (James Finlayson in particular as the ultimate foil), the snobberies and all the human traits that I would not have appreciated as a child.

There are actually some very surreal moments in it. Three in particular stand out.

The bit where Stan and Ollie are ascending the stairs in the apartment block. On reaching each landing, Stan goes over to the shadow of the window casement made by the sun on the wall, yanks the reflected shadow of a pull cord to bring down a silhouette of the blind, thus "closing" it. On the final landing we are treated to Ollie attempting the same feat but, finding his target as intangible as anyone else would, he flounders. He finally manages it only for the blind to promptly snap back open again.


Another scene has the doors of a crowded lift opening and a baritone voice issuing from within declaring "Let me out please" and the source of the voice is revealed to be a five year old boy in top hat and tails puffing on a very impressive looking cheroot. I'm sure that scene would be cut these days should the film be shown on TV again what with all the anti smoking hysteria....

The other surreal moment is probably one of the best known L&H scenes - the one where Stan smokes that pipe with his clenched fingers serving as the bowl of the pipe and his extended thumb acting as the stem. He nonchalantly fills the bowl with tobacco and lights it up while Olly looks on completely bemused - the look he shoots to camera is absolutely priceless.

I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing a few more next weekend.

Anyone else like L&H or anything in that vein?

 

[something daft already!!]

Last time I saw them would have been the late 70s when I was a small child. I suspect it's probably a bit racist and only funny if you have the mental age of 10 and were born about 70 years ago. IIRC, it's much like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon but with actors.

 

[slackrob]

Last time I saw them would have been the late 70s when I was a small child. I suspect it's probably a bit racist and only funny if you have the mental age of 10 and were born about 70 years ago. IIRC, it's much like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon but with actors.

Racist?,really. I'd have to watch some as I can't remember the films myself either. Rest of your post is a little harsh.

 

[something daft already!!]

Racist?,really. I'd have to watch some as I can't remember the films myself either. Rest of your post is a little harsh.

I'm not certain if it is racist but I have a memory of them in black face makeup. It was made nearly 100 years ago in America so....

It was low brow humour, people falling over that kind of thing.

Ah here's one.

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Last time I saw them would have been the late 70s when I was a small child. I suspect it's probably a bit racist and only funny if you have the mental age of 10 and were born about 70 years ago. IIRC, it's much like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon but with actors.

Hmm.......inneresting

Don't remember anything remotely racist about them but the chemistry between them was palpable. So much more than a slap stick double act. As I said, I'm a convert. Try watching them again - you'll be amazed.

 

[something daft already!!]

Hmm.......inneresting

Don't remember anything remotely racist about them but the chemistry between them was palpable. So much more than a slap stick double act. As I said, I'm a convert. Try watching them again - you'll be amazed.

I lasted less than five minutes on the clip I posted. It was dreadful tbh.

 

[Bubo]

I chuffing well love Laurel and Hardy. I was basically indoctrinated into L&H by my Dad, who has a slight physical similarity to Stan Laurel, and he used to do that ruffle thing with his hair all the time and tell us about when they came to tour the UK in the 50's and he saw them live. It is a shame they get don't passed down through the generations now as they simply don't get shown on tv anymore, just just get people like the OP who are exposed on the off chance. Stan was the genius behind the duo and I do class him as a proper genius. Another who I consider that level was Curly Howard of The Three Stooges. The Three Stooges are certainly not to everyone's taste, but as a physical presence Curly Howard pretty much was a tour de force. On the flip side, I am absolutely bored to tears by Charlie Chaplin, like seriously fail to find anything he did funny. But I suppose that is just an example of that era not transferring to the mind set of my youth, which is obviously the same with the likes of today's youth and L&H, so it clearly is a repeating cycle that stretches back and forward.

 

[Thekwango]

as above i love L&H. yea there is a lot of slapstick comedy involved but there is also more nuanced, clever comedy in their routines that usually gets missed by those that dismiss them are purely slapstick. of course there was a degree of racism in some of their skits, how could there not be given the era, but it wasn't something that was plastered right through their comedy repertoire. i was a big fan of all those old comedies, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton et al. but again, as above, Chaplin never really floated my boat. to me he felt too 'silly', almost as if he were missing a straight man (not sexually!) to his inept character.

 

[malccy]

I think 'the piano' feature they did to be one of the greatest short comedies ever made. They were so big in their time and deserve to be praised for all the great films they wrote and acted in.

 

[Tombstone]

as above i love L&H. yea there is a lot of slapstick comedy involved but there is also more nuanced, clever comedy in their routines that usually gets missed by those that dismiss them are purely slapstick. of course there was a degree of racism in some of their skits, how could there not be given the era, but it wasn't something that was plastered right through their comedy repertoire. i was a big fan of all those old comedies, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton et al. but again, as above, Chaplin never really floated my boat. to me he felt too 'silly', almost as if he were missing a straight man (not sexually!) to his inept character.

Some old comedies are hilarious, Abbott and Costellos legendary Who's on first sketch is still funny today, 82 years after they first did it and has been repeated and paraphrased in many major films and tv shows ever since.

 

[ThePainBarrier]

Suspect it's an age thing (I'm a 70's child).

That video above had me laughing out loud several times as I flicked through it - the car being cutting in half and the look they gave the saw - genius.
Remember - these guys were the original screen comedians - they invented it all.

As a kid I was always watching the "oldies" on BBC2 after tea. Much better than most of the rubbish on TV these days (allegedly - I haven't watched commercial TV for years - can't stand the "celebrity" and "reality" culture).

 

[marl]

Last time I saw them would have been the late 70s when I was a small child. I suspect it's probably a bit racist and only funny if you have the mental age of 10 and were born about 70 years ago. IIRC, it's much like an old Tom and Jerry cartoon but with actors.

I must say I think they are the kings of comedy. I thought their brand of humour was innocent and inoffensive. In my opinion, and I'm probably leaving myself open to an equally harsh rebuttal, the only thing since that is in any way incomparable is the incomparable crew of Red Dwarf!!!!

 

[something daft already!!]

I must say I think they are the kings of comedy. I thought their brand of humour was innocent and inoffensive. In my opinion, and I'm probably leaving myself open to an equally harsh rebuttal, the only thing since that is in any way incomparable is the incomparable crew of Red Dwarf!!!!

Each to their own. I prefer a more dry sarcastic type humour, to me Fawlty Towers, Chris Morris some Monty Python would be the height of comedy. Everyone's tastes are different and there is no accounting for it.

 

[MookJong]

Suspect it's an age thing (I'm a 70's child).

That video above had me laughing out loud several times as I flicked through it - the car being cutting in half and the look they gave the saw - genius.
Remember - these guys were the original screen comedians - they invented it all.

As a kid I was always watching the "oldies" on BBC2 after tea. Much better than most of the rubbish on TV these days (allegedly - I haven't watched commercial TV for years - can't stand the "celebrity" and "reality" culture).

I've mentioned this before but the difference being a 70s or 80s child and now is that you were exposed to things your parents also grew up on. Tom and Gerry, 60s Batman, original Star Trek, The lone Ranger etc etc. These were all things my Dad would watch and as an 80s child I saw many of them too. I learnt about the earlier part of the 20th century through the media that actually had come from those decades. Apart from a few iconic films like Star Wars or Back to the Future this is just completely unimaginable now with our current generations. It's no wonder the young people I speak to now seem so disconnected from history.

For example Loony tunes cartoons or a L&H film would show old technology / devices from that era. You might not have seen these things in real life yourself but we knew what they were and how they worked. Now you'll see YouTube videos of children not understanding how something like a cassette tape works because everything is so of the moment they have no exposure to historical references in any of the media they grow up on.

 

[Flibster]

They're right up there as comedy gods. I have the box set and have watched it many times. Sits very happily next to my Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd collection too. They're all still funny. A couple of years back went to a small film festival that were showing Keaton, Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy silent movies with live musical accompaniment. Ages rage of about 10 to 90 were there and there was lots of laughter throughout.

Each to their own. I prefer a more dry sarcastic type humour, to me Fawlty Towers, Chris Morris some Monty Python would be the height of comedy. Everyone's tastes are different and there is no accounting for it.

Well Faulty Towers and Monty Python aren't racist at all....

 

[something daft already!!]

They're right up there as comedy gods. I have the box set and have watched it many times. Sits very happily next to my Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd collection too. They're all still funny. A couple of years back went to a small film festival that were showing Keaton, Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy silent movies with live musical accompaniment. Ages rage of about 10 to 90 were there and there was lots of laughter throughout.



Well Faulty Towers and Monty Python aren't racist at all....

Yeah they are all of their time.

 

[Gerard]

My uncle was a big fan of them and met them a few times, had all their tapes and i watched a lot of them growing up. Big Business was a classic where a house pretty much gets demolished.

The actual house used is still there today and looks pretty similar to how it was near 100 years ago.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1...25715b02c4f65!8m2!3d34.0360889!4d-118.4081179

 

[marl]

Each to their own. I prefer a more dry sarcastic type humour, to me Fawlty Towers, Chris Morris some Monty Python would be the height of comedy. Everyone's tastes are different and there is no accounting for it.

Fawlty Towers... we can agree on this, it was brilliant...

What about Benny Hill?

 

[something daft already!!]

What about Benny Hill?

I'd rather eat broken glass flavoured with poison personally. I always found it unfunny and sexist, even as a young child who didn't really understand the overt sexualisation it had, it just seemed wrong. Slapping a bald person on the head is funny in real life but less so on TV. It seemed mad to me how popular it became in America.