Laurel and Hardy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stan Laurel (right) and Oliver Hardy in the short film The Tree in a Test Tube (1942)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The Golden Age of Hollywood Comedy
  UK 55 December 06, 1975 (4 weeks)
Singles
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (with The Avalon Boys feat. Chill Wills )
  UK 2 
silver
silver
11/22/1975 (10 weeks)
Clunk Click (Belt Up Dub)
  UK 65 04/02/1983 (4 weeks)

Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedian duo that consisted of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy . In 1921 and between 1926 and 1951 they made a total of 107 films (80 short films , 27 feature films), including guest appearances. They are considered one of the most famous and successful film duos in history. In the German-speaking world, Laurel and Hardy are also known under the names Dick and Doof or Stan & Ollie .

While Oliver Hardy was mainly involved in the joint work as an actor, Stan Laurel is considered the creative head of the duo. He not only developed numerous gags and scripts, but also de facto directed and edited many of her films , even if he was not mentioned by name in the opening credits . In the films, Laurel embodied the simple-minded childish character, while Hardy has to suffer as his often self-important, fatherly partner.

Laurel and Hardy's humor is shaped by slapstick interludes, which often result in orgies of destruction. Further gags were created through the tit for tat (“Like you me, so me you”), through numerous running gags and the changeable relationship between the characters. Dialog jokes were also added in the sound film era.

history

Beginnings in silent films

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy first starred in The Lucky Dog together in a short film. When exactly the film was filmed is unknown, but it is likely that it was made around 1921. The comedy , directed by director Jess Robbins for producer Gilbert M. Anderson , starred Stan Laurel and Hardy only played a supporting role as a villain. From 1926 both happened to be under contract for the studio of producer Hal Roach . While the Briton Laurel was still waiting for the big breakthrough after around 50 films as a leading actor, the American Hardy had appeared in almost 250 films, but mostly only as a supporting actor. Directed by Fred Guiol and supervised or promoted by Leo McCarey , the world-famous duo gradually developed. In 1929 Laurel and Hardy made the transition to talkies with ease, in contrast to other famous film artists of the time. One, perhaps also “the” forerunner of slapstick in silent film based on the Laurel and Hardy principle, was Cocl & Seff in Austrian silent film .

Career development in the 1930s

Statues of Laurel and Hardy in Stan Laurel's hometown of Ulverston

Until 1940 Laurel and Hardy were under contract for producer Hal Roach. He gave the two comedians a relatively large amount of freedom, especially with the short films, so that some small masterpieces of the slapstick film could emerge under the decisive influence of Laurel . Her short film The Music Box , which shows the duo's desperate attempts to carry a piano up an endless flight of stairs, won an Oscar in 1932 .

Because of the reduced demand for short films in the 1930s, Roach only produced feature films with Laurel and Hardy from 1935 onwards. This limited the creative freedom during the shooting due to the higher costs, but the full-length films Die Wüstensöhne (1933), Die Sittenstrolche (1933), Die Doppelganger (1936), Zwei ritten nach Texas (1937) and Die Klotzkopf were made (1938) Highlights of the classic American comedy film.

Behind the scenes, however, there were repeated artistic differences and contractual disputes between Laurel and Roach. They led to the fact that in the film Zenobia, the fairground elephant (1937) Stan Laurel was omitted and instead Harry Langdon played Oliver Hardy's partner. This did not prove very successful, however, and Laurel and Hardy were reunited soon after. The differences between Laurel and Roach persisted and eventually led to the duo separating from their long-time producer after the film Auf hoch See (1940). In the spring of 1942 they took part in the Hollywood Victory Caravan Tour .

Late phase of the duo

From 1941 onwards Laurel and Hardy made eight feature films for the major Hollywood studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox , the last of which, The Bullfighters , was released in 1945. The production style of the big studios was very different from the previous one at Roach. The two comedians now had to work strictly according to the script. Improvisations in front of the camera - the order of the day at Roach - were virtually nonexistent. In addition, Laurel had received no contractual assurance about the creative collaboration behind the camera. As a result, the duo's influence on their films slipped so much that they turned down the offer of a five-year contract from Fox in the summer of 1945 and no new films were made.

As a result, the duo's popularity gradually declined from the mid-1940s, especially as the importance of slapstick humor declined in general and new comedian duos and groups such as Abbott and Costello , Bing Crosby and Bob Hope or the Three Stooges gained popularity. Still, Laurel and Hardy continued to tour successfully across America and Europe.

In 1950/51, Atoll K was the duo's last film as a British-French-Italian co-production. The film was made under extremely difficult and unprofessional conditions in the south of France and was made even more difficult by Laurel and Hardy's health problems. The finished film was not well received by the public or critics and is considered one of the weakest of the duo. Stan Laurel is said to never have looked at it.

Laurel and Hardy (1943)

In the 1940s Laurel and Hardy toured Europe with a live stage program. After their last film, they successfully continued this tradition until 1954. When they received an offer to work for television in 1955 from their former producer's son, Hal Roach Jr., Laurel and Hardy enthusiastically agreed. A series of full-hour shows called Laurel & Hardy's Fabulous Fables was planned . It was unusual for the time that they should be recorded on color film. However, a few days before filming of the first episode began, Laurel suffered a minor stroke. Production was delayed again and when Hardy later fell ill, the project had to be abandoned.

With the death of Oliver Hardy in 1957, the career of the successful duo came to an end. For Stan Laurel, too, Hardy's death meant the de facto end of his career; after that he hardly appeared in public and turned down various offers for appearances in film and television. In 1961, four years before his death, Stan Laurel was awarded an honorary Oscar for his life's work.

Even after the death of Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel continued to write screenplays for joint films, which of course could never be realized.

Topics and working methods

Destruction and failure

The dominant stylistic devices for creating comedy in Laurel & Hardy's films are the failure of mostly solvable tasks and the physical destruction of inventory. Both often occur together.

In most of the films, the duo is faced with tasks, the solution of which ends in disaster thanks to the chaotic approach . An undoubted culmination moved beyond this scheme makes the film Big Business , in the Laurel & Hardy on the sale of Christmas trees in sunny California to a homeowner ( James Finlayson ) advised. In the ensuing conflict, both the delivery van of the two and the house are largely broken. This tit for tat game is another trademark of Laurel and Hardy. Other professional attempts by the duo, such as street musicians ( You're Darn Tootin ' , Below Zero ), hotel porters ( Double Whoopee ), police officers ( Midnight Patrol ) or shopkeepers ( Tit for Tat ) are unsatisfactory. In a few films - often their later feature films - the duo successfully completed their “mission” - for example in Way out West .

Running gags and motifs

Statue of Stan Laurel in North Shields , where he spent part of his childhood. She shows his head scratching gesture.

Aside from destroying inventory, in most films it is Oliver Hardy who has to suffer painful impact on his body. Stan Laurel, on the other hand, often looks helpless and often scratches his head to illustrate this state of affairs. The contrasting, majestically superior attitude that Hardy often displays helps to increase his comedy. In a similar way, other motifs are used more often:

  • Like you to me, so I to you: The stylistic device named in the original Tit for tat goes back to the director Leo McCarey and is varied again and again, in that the protagonists cause each other the greatest damage and each endure this with a stoic composure, before they strike back.
  • Eye-catching: A gag that runs through numerous films is Laurel's index finger that sticks in Hardy's eye. Instead of index fingers, plumbers (helpful hands) , door handles ( brats ), a ladder (The Music Box) and other things are also used.
  • Water: Hardy is soaked in every imaginable way by water hoses, aquariums, full bathrooms or completely submerged in bathtubs (Them Thar Hills) , fountains (The Music Box) or streams (Way out West) .
  • Doorbell: Almost all types of doorbells cause electrical or mechanical problems when pressed by Hardy.
  • The burning rump: In some films Hardy's rump is set on fire (Hog Wild, Them thar hills) and the extinguishing work on the part of his friend Stan leads to further disasters.
  • Fire: Laurel and Hardy's mishaps like to cause a fire in other ways too, so their tent burns down in the case of a rescuer , and in the hands of Oliver's whole house.
  • Explosions: Gas stoves , in particular , often explode in their presence as a result of improper use, for example in Die Klotzköpf and Auf high seas .
  • Money: Laurel and Hardy are often extremely short of money and homeless and try to beg for money and food - so in Saviors in Need they live in a tent, since they have lost everything, in Give me the hammer and laughter in the night stay her on a park bench and in sub-zero s they ind street musicians, trying to beg from passers money.
  • The jacket: With the help of billiard cues, pickaxes and other things, Laurel succeeds again and again in tearing Hardy's jacket partially or completely to shreds.
  • The hats: The accidental swapping of the famous bowler hats , the hallmark of the duo, leads to comical entanglements in several films because the two hat sizes are different.
  • Women: In Laurel & Hardy's world women appear either as attractive, young and easy-going women or as Xantippen by marriage . The young women are mostly courted by Oliver Hardy - often unsuccessfully; In some cases, as in Swiss Miss, he even accidentally helps the ladies to be happy with another lover. The Xantippen, however, often occur as dominant or contentious wives who give their husbands z. B. forbid the exit or want to force them to do housework. Frequent actresses in these roles were Mae Busch and Daphne Pollard .
  • A nice gift / soup: The accusation Hardy often uttered (and not infrequently unjustified) “You've got me some nice soup again” runs through several films and was used in the English original (“Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into! ”) to its own film title (“ Another Fine Mess ”).
  • “You didn't ask me about it”: That is Laurel's standard answer when he obviously has not brought up important things due to his passive nature.
  • Hardy's suffering gaze at the camera towards the audience became one of his trademarks. This form of breaking through the fourth wall was later imitated by many comedians, so u. a. determined by Tom Selleck in the US crime series Magnum, pi as well as in the Austrian crime series Kottan and numerous skits and films by Monty Python or Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker .
  • Emotional outburst: Short whimpering (in English rather a very high-pitched, indistinct squeak) from Laurel, often lasting only a few seconds, mostly when the two are forcibly forced to do something unpleasant.
  • Laurel's double-take is Laurel looking twice to understand something.
  • Head scratching: Laurel scratches her hair, usually accompanied by a noise.
  • Laurel can usually eat particularly calmly and slowly (for example a banana), but is accompanied by a correspondingly loud, annoying eating noise and wondrous facial expressions. He can also eat strange objects without any problems, such as a hat (in Zwei ritten to Texas ) or a wax apple (in The Sons of the Desert )
  • Tie: When Hardy gets embarrassed - for example when he introduces himself somewhere or comes into contact with women - he tinkers with his tie ("tie twiddle").
  • Proverbs: Stan always twists proverbs so that they get no meaning or the wrong one. Often he uses the proverbs when they have nothing to do with the subject, or he utters them in the worst possible situation. For example, he says “The apple doesn't fall far from the pear tree” (in hands up - or not ) or “When the mouse is out of the house, the cats dance on the table” (in helpful hands ).
  • Surreal Abilities of Stan : Stan has extraordinary talents in several films, e.g. B. His hand can be used as a lighter by snapping his fingers ( Way Out West ) or by adding tobacco and using the thumb as a mouthpiece even as a pipe ( Blockheads ).

Some of these plot elements of the Laurel & Hardy films developed into running gags over the years due to the sequences that were repeatedly used in variations .

Final gags

To build a comedy that includes a crescendo of gags, an effective "final bang" is important. The films by Laurel & Hardy used very different means for this, ranging from the more melancholy to the drastic. A typical film end of the duo was a chase by police officers or angry wives or the destruction of larger objects, cars or apartments.

Some films developed a “running gag” to a surprising conclusion. At the end of Beau Hunks it turns out that the captured Arab warrior also carries a picture of the heartbreaker who made Ollie join the Foreign Legion. At the end of Pardon Us , Laurel's whistling tooth sounds for the last time, which has been causing problems throughout the film and is now enraging the prison director.

Laurel had a weakness for so-called "freak endings", to the displeasure of Hal Roach, who couldn't do anything with them. In Come Clean , for example, Stan disappears through the drain of a bathtub. At the end of Dirty Work , Ollie's transformation into a chimpanzee takes place, in The Flying Deuces he is reborn as a horse. At the end of The Bohemian Girl , the duo is seen stretched or compressed through torture and skinned alive in The Bullfighters . At the end of Midnight Patrol , the two are shot dead by an angry police chief.

prohibition

The beginning of Laurel & Hardy's film career partially overlapped with alcohol prohibition in the USA , which ended in the mid-thirties. Some of the duo's films contain references to Prohibition or even draw their gags from it. In “Love 'Em And Weep” (1927), Laurel is sniffed at a “flag” by a suspicious porter after falling down a flight of stairs in the entrance of the “Pink Pup”. In “Pardon us” (“Behind lock and bolt”), Laurel and Hardy start out as illegal brewers and have to go to jail for it.

In "Them thar hills" a gang of black markers is shot at by the police and arrested shortly afterwards. The schnapps distillers manage to dispose of some of their fusel in a well, from which Laurel and Hardy draw their “good old mountain water” shortly afterwards, which Hardy was recommended to enjoy by the doctor. This not only leads to a whip, but also to a tangible argument with Charlie Hall , who appears as Mae Busch's husband in the film. All the characters in the film seem to have no idea of ​​the taste of alcoholic beverages, except for Hall, who spat out the "mountain water" in disgust.

The clearest reference to Prohibition can be found in the film "Blotto". Stan Laurel speaks explicitly of a bottle of schnapps that was "put aside before Prohibition". It is smuggled by the two of them into a club, where they want to get in the mood - only Stan's wife ( Anita Garvin ) got wind of the matter and the bottle was filled with "peppered soapy water" (in the original version only "cold tea") ) filled.

supporting cast

Especially with Hal Roach, Laurel and Hardy worked regularly with a few supporting actors, so actors like Charlie Hall or Sam Lufkin appeared in more than every third film by the comedian duo. Stan Laurel always emphasized the influence of the supporting actors, for example her long-time co-star James Finlayson had as much part of the success of Laurel and Hardy as she did. The comedian duo were also friends with many of the actors.

While most of the supporting actors remained unknown to the audience and mostly only had minor supporting roles in other films, some of them later became famous. Thus came about Lou Costello , Jean Harlow , Peter Cushing , Alan Ladd and Robert Mitchum in front of their successes in Laurel and Hardy. Occasionally popular comedians like Ben Turpin or Charley Chase , the latter also under contract with Hal Roach, had guest appearances in supporting roles.

In the following list, the number in brackets refers to the number of times an actor has appeared together with Laurel and Hardy. The films don't have to be Laurel and Hardy films, however.

  • Jimmy Aubrey (3) was a teammate Laurel in Fred Karno and then star of his own short film comedies, in which Hardy mimed his opponent around 1920. He later made his way through small roles, also alongside Laurel and Hardy. In That's My Wife he was the drunk who flirted with "Magnolia" (= Stan) and poured soup over Ollie at the end of the film.
  • Harry Bernard (25) played small roles, mostly police officers. In Any Old Port! he had a slightly larger speaking role than Ellie's friend, boxing manager Harry. Among the films counted are the Charley Chase short film On the Wrong Trek and the long-lost feature film Banditenlied , in which Bernard, Laurel and Hardy appeared.
  • Mae Busch, 13, was an Australian-born actress whose star career in 1920s film stalled before it really got started. She then played Xanthippen, greedy sluts, and other dubious female characters alongside Laurel and Hardy. Her best-known roles included Mrs. Hardy in The Sons of the Desert and the bloodthirsty spouse killer in Oliver the Eighth .
  • Charley Chase (4), also a star at Hal Roach at the time, played a joke box brother in The Sons of the Desert . Laurel and Hardy appeared in two of his short films, once accidentally (pre-teaming) in Now I'll Tell One and once as a cameo in On the Wrong Trek . All three together were also seen in Call of the Cuckoo , a film directed by Max Davidson .
  • Dorothy Christy (2) played Betty Laurel in The Sons of the Desert and had an extra role as a nightclub guest in Laurel and Hardy: This is my wife . She also appeared as a partner of Buster Keaton in his sound film Parlor, Bedroom and Bath and briefly played Leon Errol's wife in his short films in 1943 .
  • Dorothy Coburn, 12, played mostly attractive and quick-witted female characters in early Laurel and Hardy films, like the nurse in The Finishing Touch .
  • Baldwin Cooke (30) was an old friend of Stan Laurel and, like Harry Bernard, often played policemen, waiters or bartenders. This includes the Hollywood Party .
  • Richard Cramer (6) played villains like the escape in Saps at Sea or other bad-tempered opponents like the judge in Scram! . This also includes the Hollywood Party .
  • Kay Deslys, 6, appeared mostly in the early films, including twice as Mrs. Hardy. Above all, she will be remembered as the flirtatious boxer lover from We Faw Down who plays playful games with Stan.
  • Bobby Dunn (11) was a veteran comedian from the Keystone era and star of several low-budget short film comedies in the first half of the 1920s. He then found work as a small actor before he died at the age of 46. His most memorable role in the Laurel and Hardy films was the always friendly greeting thief in Tit for Tat , who gradually clears out Ollie's electrical shop.
  • James Finlayson (32) is the most famous supporting actor of Laurel and Hardy, with whom he initially formed a comedian trio. The thin Scot with the mustache played the role of the opponent and was known for his quickly losing his temper, hectic characters and villain caricatures. He had parade roles z. B. as a contentious " doorstep customer " in big business and as a creeping saloon owner in Way Out West . Call of the Cuckoo (Max Davidson) and Pick a Star are included in the number of films.
  • Anita Garvin (11) played attractive but characteristically difficult female characters, e.g. B. Mrs. Laurel twice in Blotto and Be Big! . With Marion Byron she formed a duo for three short films as the female version of Laurel and Hardy.
  • Billy Gilbert (11) usually played quick-tempered, pompous and self-loving characters, e.g. B. the piano smashers in The Music Box or the supposedly horned big game hunter in Blockheads . To Sons of the Desert , he contributed his voice. Also counted is the short film On the Loose by the female comedian duo Todd & Pitts , in which Laurel and Hardy could also be seen.
  • Charlie Hall (47) played poison dwarfs and generally unpleasant contemporaries, e.g. For example, the jealous husband of Mae Busch in Them Thar Hills and Tit for Tat or the hard-hearted landlord in Laughing Gravy . No other supporting actor has starred in more films with Laurel and Hardy, Call of the Cuckoo (Max Davidson), On the Loose (Todd & Pitts) and Pick a Star included.
  • Jack Hill (34) mostly played police officers, servants or bouncers. Including: The Stolen Jools , On the Loose (Todd & Pitts), On the Wrong Trek (Chase) and Pick a Star .
  • Jean Harlow, 3, made short appearances in two silent films with Laurel and Hardy before she became a sex symbol in the 1930s. She also played a not inconsiderable role in Beau Hunks , in which she was only present as a photograph.
  • Fay Holderness (3) played Mrs. Laurel (or Mrs. Pincher) and Mrs. Hardy once and was also in Max Davidson's Call of the Cuckoo .
  • Arthur Housman (5) was subscribed to the role of the comic drunk in Hollywood (due to his full experience in real life), including in his films with Laurel and Hardy. In scram! and The Live Ghost he played key roles.
  • Isabelle Keith (2) played Mrs. Laurel and Mrs. Hardy once each.
  • Edgar Kennedy (12) was an omnipresent supporting actor in US comedies from the 1910s to the 1940s and also had his own long-lived comedy series for RKO Pictures between 1931 and 1948 . Specializing in the unlucky ones who were slowly seething ("Slowburn"), he had one of his most grateful roles as a cop in Night Owls in the Laurel and Hardy films, for which he also directed twice.
  • Lucien Littlefield, 2, was the crazy professor in Dirty Work and the helpful veterinarian in The Sons of the Desert .
  • Walter Long (5) played grim villains similar to Richard Cramer, but more memorable and even more threatening, e.g. B. the prison fright in Pardon Us or the vengeful escapee in Going Bye-Bye! . Including: Pick a Star .
  • Sam Lufkin (39) played police officers and a number of other small roles. His best role was probably the grim cop in The Music Box , who beat the comedian duo with a club. Including: Pick a Star .
  • Charles Middleton (4) played commanders of the Foreign Legion in two Laurel and Hardy films and otherwise made a name for himself as the heartless bespectacled welfare officer in Pack Up Your Troubles .
  • James C. Morton (12) was a supporting actor and with his powerful voice at Roach was often cast as a policeman, for Laurel and Hardy z. B. as the one to whom the final gag of Tit for Tat is dedicated. At Way Out West , he was the bartender handing Ollie the mallet. Including: Pick a Star .
  • Vivien Oakland (6) mostly subscribed to respectable women, including in the Laurel and Hardy films. She played Mrs. Hardy twice and had her best part in Scram! as the judge's wife accidentally made drunk by the duo.
  • Daphne Pollard (4) played, among other things, twice the quarrelsome wife of Oliver Hardy. The film career of the Australian-born short comedian spanned essentially only ten years, after which she returned to her vaudeville roots. Like Edgar Kennedy and Charley Rogers, she later appeared again in a Laurel and Hardy film of the post-Roach era.
  • Viola Richard (8) was often seen in the early films of Laurel and Hardy in the role of the attractive young lady or lover.
  • Charley Rogers (9) often played butlers because of his British origins. He was particularly important for Laurel and Hardy as a screenwriter, gag writer and director.
  • Tiny Sandford (24) played because of his brawny figure mostly authority figures and police officers, like the one in Big Business , who watches the destruction orgy of Laurel, Hardy and Finlayson in disbelief. Sandford also worked with Charlie Chaplin several times , so his best-known role is that of the assembly line worker and department store thief Big Bill in Modern Times .
  • Thelma Todd (6) played the attractive, flirtatious blonde in the films of the comedian duo. B. Lady Pamela in The Devil's Brother , as well as Mrs. Hardy once. Laurel and Hardy also appeared at the end of On the Loose , a short film from the Roach series in which Todd with ZaSu Pitts (and later Patsy Kelly ) offered a female counterpart to them (Todd in the Hardy role). Her last film was The Bohemian Girl before she died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 29.
  • Ben Turpin (2) was one of the most popular film comedians of the silent film era, who mostly limited himself to well-paid short appearances in talkies. With his squint (Turpin's trademark) he caused hardship for Laurel and Hardy on two occasions: in Our Wife he accidentally married Ollie to Stan as a justice of the peace, while as a plumber in Saps at Sea (his last film) he did poorly functioning work.
  • Noah Young (5) was one of the most important supporting actors in the Roach Studios and is known as such from the films of Harold Lloyd . For Laurel and Hardy, he was very effective as the killer in Do Detectives Think? and as Stan's fearsome boxing opponent in The Battle of the Century .

Laurel and Hardy in Germany

In Germany, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had been known individually since 1925, as they appeared in numerous short films as supporting actors, such as Hardy in films by Larry Semon . Their first film as a duo was released in 1928, and even during the Nazi era they were seen in the cinemas as fat and dumb until the Nazis imposed a general ban on imports of American films in 1938. After the Second World War, their films were shown again, and Laurel and Hardy became more and more popular over time, thanks in no small part to the ever increasing spread of television. In the synchronized versions, Laurel was spoken by Walter Bluhm , with a few exceptions , Hardy by Will Dohm in the 30s, Arno Paulsen in the 50s and 60s, Hermann Pfeiffer in the 50s, Gerd Duwner in the 60s, Bruno W. Pantel in the 50s, 60s and 70s and Michael Habeck in the 70s and into the new millennium.

The television series

Thick and stupid

From July 17, 1970 to May 18, 1973, Laurel and Hardy could be seen early Friday evening at 6:35 pm on the ZDF evening program in the 98-part series “Dick und Doof” with greatly altered versions of their films. The short films were often coupled with solo films by Stan Laurel and once by Oliver Hardy, or with cut scenes from joint silent films, in order to adapt them to the 25-minute broadcast schedule of ZDF. The feature films were cut and then split into 25-minute episodes. In several episodes, scenes from up to six films were combined into completely new actions. The silent film episodes received a comment from the off , which was spoken by Hanns Dieter Hüsch . In the sound films and some silent films that were dubbed like sound films, Stan Laurel was spoken again by Walter Bluhm and Oliver Hardy now by Bruno W. Pantel. The synchronization for many of these films was created in Munich at Beta-Technik . For some films, however, older theatrical versions were used. Heinz Caloué and Gert Mechoff were responsible for the series. Fred Strittmatter and Quirin Amper Jr. provided the music, especially the thick and goofy theme. The opening credits were cut from scenes from the short film The Music Box ( The grueling piano transport ), the credits are excerpts from Busy Bodies ( On the Edge of the Circular saw ).

Two guys fat and stupid

From March 7, 1975 to October 3, 1980, 24 silent films and three early sound films edited as silent films were shown in 27 episodes in the series “Zwei Herren dick und stupid”, first on Fridays at 6:35 p.m., later at 6:20 p.m., each together with Men without nerves . In this series, too, the films were commented on by Hanns Dieter Hüsch . Fred Strittmatter and Quirin Amper Jr.'s music was mainly borrowed from Fathers of Clothes . The dance interlude from the film Way Out West - Zwei ritten nach Texas was used for opening and closing credits . The broadcast time was no longer 25, but only between 15 and 18 minutes, whereupon the films had to be shortened to a greater or lesser extent. In the episode The Night Goat Wash , two films were merged as the only exception. It begins with the cake battle, the only available fragment of the early silent film The Battle of the Century at the time , and then moves on to the main film Angora Love .

Have a laugh with Stan and Ollie

More serious, on the other hand, was the television series Lachen Sie mit Stan and Ollie , moderated by Theo Lingen , which comprised a total of 21 feature films, initially in the evening program from September 3, 1975 to December 29, 1980, and from 1978 in the afternoon program of ZDF. During these adaptations, the films were re-dubbed with Walter Bluhm as Stan and Michael Habeck as Oliver and presented as true to the original as possible. For most of the adaptations, old dialogue books that were already used in the cinema adaptations were used and processed by Wolfgang Schick . Each feature film was introduced with information on the respective film production in a studio with film posters and props for the film shown by Theo Lingen. In one of his presentations, Theo Lingen had distanced himself from the designation Dick and Doof , but there was an insider gag in the film On the High Seas , the last Hal Roach production from 1940, in which Ollie Stan as Doof and Stan Ollie respectively called Dick . During the course of the film, the theme song of the series Dick und Doof can be heard on the radio.

Master scenes

From September 7, 1979 to December 19, 1980, another series was shown in 30 episodes called Master Scenes. These were 15-minute episodes. In this series, no complete or slightly shortened films were shown, as in the previous series Dick and Doof , Two men thick and stupid or Laugh with Stan and Ollie , but highlights of one or two thematically summarized films, such as child rearing, married life or just destroying a chimney in some kind of best-of presentation. The transitions were again spoken in the series by Hanns Dieter Hüsch , the background music came from “Laugh with Stan and Ollie”. The synchronizations were partly from the theatrical versions of the films, and occasionally from the TV versions, so that Hardy's voice sometimes changed within an episode. When it was first broadcast, the series was shown on Fridays at 6:20 p.m., later at 6:35 p.m. together with repetitions of men without nerves . From 1982 reruns ran at 6 p.m. together with westerns from yesterday . The opening credits consisted of a book with pictures from films or information on German editing on each page. It was used from 1981 in a modified version for the series Meisterszenen der Klamotte .

Super 8, collecting pictures and documentation

From the 1960s to the 1990s, her films were marketed on Super 8 and Normal 8 (narrow film) for home theater, with a rare color short film available. Only later was the evaluation on videos and DVDs added.

In the 1970s the Americana company had collector's pictures with Laurel & Hardy motifs that could be glued into an album.

In 2011, German author and director Andreas Baum commissioned ZDF / ARTE to create an international, 90-minute documentary entitled “Laurel and Hardy: The comical love story of 'Dick & Doof.') About the life and work of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy '”(English title:“ Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic ”), which in addition to numerous film clips and a. contains many previously unpublished photos, interviews, documents and private recordings of the two and has also been available on DVD since 2012.

Filmography

Feature films are highlighted in bold.

Initial release Original title German titles (cinema, TV, Super 8, DVD) Remarks
October 1921 The Lucky Dog The happy dog ​​/ a happy dog Laurel Solo Film; first film in which both (not yet as a duo) appear together
December 26, 1926 45 minutes from Hollywood Fathers of Clothes: This lady is a guy Laurel in extras and Hardy in a major supporting role
March 13, 1927 Duck Soup Easy loot first use as a duo
0April 3, 1927 Slipping wives Unstable women / the uptight seducer
June 12, 1927 Love 'Em and Weep Love her with tears Hardy only as an extra
July 17, 1927 Why Girls Love Sailors Why girls love sailors
August 28, 1927 With love and hisses With love and noise / fate in uniform / cheese with garlic
September 10, 1927 Sugar daddies Sugar daddies
September 25, 1927 Sailors, Beware! The lady with the long fingers / sailors watch out! / The lout in the stroller
0October 8, 1927 The Second Hundred Years Escaped the Executioner / The Second Hundred Years first film in which the comedians were officially announced as a duo
0October 9, 1927 Now I'll tell one Guest appearance at Charley Chase ; only received second role, not available on DVD in Germany
October 15, 1927 Call of the Cuckoo The call of the cuckoo / The house of a thousand joys Guest appearance at Max Davidson
November 15, 1927 Hats off hats off In 2016, the missing short film and the original from The Music Box were reconstructed using photos of the scenes and film fragments that appeared.
November 20, 1927 Do Detectives Think? Do detectives use their heads? / The meat knife on the throat (TV) / The vengeance of the robbery (TV)
0December 3, 1927 Putting Pants On Philip Pants for Philip
December 31, 1927 The Battle Of The Century All in whipped cream / The battle of the century Thanks to the third role found again, the short film is almost complete again; the cake fight is completely included again. It now has a running length of approx. 20 minutes.

The second role, with the scene of the insurance agent ( Eugene Pallette ), is still considered undetectable.

There are three roles in total, the first and the third completely existing, the second role is only preserved as a fragment.

February 12, 1928 Flying Elephants Flying elephants
February 25, 1928 The finishing touch The unfinished prefabricated house / The finishing touches / The finishing touches / The ideal weekend house
February 28, 1928 Leave 'Em Laughing Make them laugh
March 24, 1928 From soup to nuts From soup to dessert
April 21, 1928 You're darn tootin ' I whistle to you! / The offended wind player
May 19, 1928 Their Purple Moment The greedy ones / your finest hour
0September 8, 1928 Should Married Men Go Home? Should Married Men Go Home?
0October 6, 1928 Early To Bed To bed early
0November 3, 1928 Two tars Two sailors / The dismantling of motor vehicles
0December 1, 1928 Habeas corpus Habeas corpus
December 29, 1928 We Faw Down We fall on our noses / In the whirlpool of the gutter / Fat and stupid going astray
January 26, 1929 Liberty Freedom / The thing with the pants
February 23, 1929 Wrong Again Wrong again / blind rage / wrong again
March 23, 1929 That's my wife This is my wife
April 20, 1929 Big business Big business / Big business / Surrounded by madness
0May 4, 1929 Unaccustomed As We Are The burning neighbor / untrained as we are First sound film , previously all silent films
May 19, 1929 Double whoopee The prince in the elevator shaft / double joy Silent movie
0June 1, 1929 Berth Marks In a bed / night quarters Sound film
June 29, 1929 Men O 'War Thick and stupid as sailors / Thick and stupid, the able-bodied sailors / Warships / As sailors / Blue boys in trouble Sound film
August 10, 1929 A perfect day Fat and stupid make a country party / The sport on Sunday / A perfect day / A country party Sound film
September 21, 1929 They go boom The damp hotel bed / To drive you mad / An explosive sick bed Sound film
October 19, 1929 Bacon Grabbers Schnorrer Silent movie
November 16, 1929 The Hoose-Gow Innocent behind bars Sound film
November 23, 1929 The Hollywood Revue of 1929 The Hollywood Review in 1929 Guest appearance, sound film
December 14, 1929 Angora Love Cuddle love Last silent film, then only sound films
04th January 1930 Night Owls Thick and stupid as a burglar / night owl / as a burglar / give me the hammer
0February 8, 1930 Blotto Tipsy / tipsy / hail of stars / scandal in the rainbow club / thick and stupid as night owls
March 22, 1930 Brats Happy childhood / tots / father joys / the child in the tub
April 26, 1930 Below zero Fat and stupid as musicians / Below zero / undercut notes
May 10, 1930 The rogue song Bandit song Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have important supporting roles in this film. The completely preserved English soundtrack is available on CD and proves that they not only have guest appearances.

Using photos of the scenes and the previous film fragments (approx. 30 minutes), the film was reconstructed with the English soundtrack that was preserved. Like the audio track, this is approx. 104 minutes long.

The German rental version Banditenlied is, like the English original version, lost.

May 31, 1930 Hog Wild Panic on the ladder / Like the wild swine / The antenna
0September 6, 1930 The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case Without fear and blame / The Laurel & Hardy murder case / Haunted at midnight / Thick and stupid on a ghost hunt / The night in the murder house The original title alludes to the then popular Philo Vance series by Paramount , all of whose films were titled The [...] Murder Case .
November 29, 1930 Another fine mess Thick and stupid as apartment agents / Another mess / Two cuckoo eggs / Apartment agents / End of the line Villa Bockschuß Remake of Duck Soup
0February 7, 1931 Be big The torment with the boots / Be great! / Be a man / thick and stupid, the heavy hitter / men's party
February 21, 1931 Chickens Come Home The lady on the shoulder / Whoever digs a pit ... / Something like that comes from something like that / The lucky ones don't have an hour / The model husbands Remake of Love 'Em and Weep
0April 4, 1931 Laughing Gravy All dogs love Stan / The Laughing Sauce / A dog weather / Got the dog
May 16, 1931 Our Wife The bride is stolen / Our wife / Our wedding / Wrongly married
August 15, 1931 Pardon Us Under lock and key / We ask for mercy / Mutiny behind bars The duo's first full-length feature film with a running time of over an hour
September 19, 1931 Come clean Lured into the trap / Pants down / Stand clean / Thick and stupid as a lifesaver
October 31, 1931 One good turn Savior in need / A good turn / Surrounded by dangers / Thick and stupid with Aunt Klara
December 12, 1931 Beau Hunks In the desert / Lümmel / Laurel and Hardy in the desert / Duel with the sons of the desert
December 26, 1931 On the loose Guest appearance at Thelma Todd & ZaSu Pitts
January 23, 1932 Helpmates We're in a tight spot / Helpful hands / As floor engineers
0March 5, 1932 Any old port Dick and Doof drop anchor / Some old port
April 16, 1932 The Music Box The grueling piano transport / The crazy piano / The music box Remake of Hats Off ; Awarded an Oscar for best short film comedy
May 21, 1932 The Chimp Fat and stupid in the ring / The chimpanzee / The gorilla under the covers
June 25, 1932 County Hospital Fat and goofy in the hospital / District hospital / In the hospital / In the frenzy of drugs
September 10, 1932 Scram! Laughter in the night / Disappear! / On the run
September 17, 1932 Pack Up Your Troubles The devil brothers / Forget your worries
0November 5, 1932 Their first mistake Dick and Doof adopt a child / their first mistake
December 31, 1932 Towed In A Hole Fat and stupid buy a ship / Pulled into a hole / Buy a ship / Fresh fish / Sailors, ahoy!
February 25, 1933 Twice Two Thick and stupid as husbands / Twice Two / Happy women's hearts
April 22, 1933 Me and My Pal As a dowry hunter / I and my friend / Played millions
0May 5, 1933 The Devil's Brother The morons / hands up - or not After the opera Fra Diavolo
0August 3, 1933 The Midnight Patrol Thick and stupid as police officers / The midnight patrol / As police officers
0October 7, 1933 Busy bodies On the edge of the circular saw / hardworking hands
October 28, 1933 Wild poses Spanky at the photographer Guest appearance with the little rascals
November 25, 1933 Dirty work As a chimney sweep / dirty work
December 29, 1933 Sons Of The Desert The sons of the desert
January 13, 1934 The Private Life of Oliver The Eighth Big and stupid on free feet / The private life of Oliver the Eighth / As a marriage candidate
0June 1, 1934 Hollywood party Hollywood party Guest appearance
June 23, 1934 Going bye bye The big catch / we slip away
July 21, 1934 Them Thar Hills Those distant mountains / Blessed camping joys / Those distant hills
November 30, 1934 Babes in Toyland Revenge is sweet / the dear little ones in toy land Operetta with singing and dancing
0December 8, 1934 The Live Ghost Ghost on board / The real ghost / The ghost ship
0January 5, 1935 Tit for Tat The defiled honor / As you me, so I you
0February 9, 1935 The Fixer Uppers Thick and stupid as a reason for divorce / The brownies / The mediators
March 16, 1935 Thicker than water Soft pear for dessert / thicker than water
August 23, 1935 Bonnie Scotland We're from the Scottish Infantry Regiment / The Brave Scots
February 14, 1936 The bohemian girl The girl from the Bohemian Forest / The girl from Bohemia / The gypsy life is funny / Comedian blood / Fat and stupid become dad Operetta with singing and dancing.

In the German dubbed version, Ollie's "unfaithful wife" became, in the original, "the sister".

Unfortunately, the same synchronization error was made when editing the ZDF (laugh with Stan and Ollie).

April 18, 1936 On The Wrong Trek Guest appearance on Charley Chase
1936 Galaxy Of Stars Promotional short film for MGM films; Rediscovered in 2005
October 30, 1936 Our Relations The doppelgangers / Our relatives / The dear relatives / The doppelgangers of Sacramento
April 16, 1937 Way Out West Knights without fear and blame / Fat and stupid in the Wild West / Two rode to Texas / Lola and her host + the host at the chandelier (2 × 50 min, ZDF) / Out in the west
May 21, 1937 Pick a star Shooting stars / Pick yourself a star! Guest appearance
May 20, 1938 Swiss Miss As a Salontiroler / Swiss Miss / Das Schweizermädel
August 19, 1938 Blockheads The block heads / long line
October 20, 1939 The Flying Deuces In the Foreign Legion / Flying Devil Brothers Much of a remake of Beau Hunks ; produced by Boris Morros Productions.
February 16, 1940 A Chump At Oxford In Oxford / A fool at Oxford / Geniuses at Oxford / Dick and goofy at school / Dick and goofy as students The first third is a remake of From Soup to Nuts .
0May 3, 1940 Saps At Sea On the high seas / idiots at sea Last film for Hal Roach Studios
October 10, 1941 Great Guns Big and stupid, horror of the company / large cannons / large caliber Produced by Fox
August 17, 1942 A-Haunting We Will Go Thick and stupid as secret agents / We're going magic / Thick and stupid on a secret mission / Lazy spell / The secret agents Produced by Fox
0April 4, 1943 Air Raid Wardens Air raid guards / horror of all spies / bomb guys Produced by MGM
May 1943 The Tree In A Test Tube Produced by the US Department of Agriculture; Educational film in color on Kodachrome 16 mm (length approx. 5 min. UK / length approx. 6 min. USA)
June 11, 1943 Jitter bugs Thick and stupid and the miracle pill / The miracle pill / Jitterbugs Produced by Fox
November 19, 1943 The Dancing Masters Dick and Stupid, the dance masters / the dance teachers Produced by Fox
September 22, 1944 The big noise The big bang / The big crash Produced by Fox
0December 6, 1944 Nothing But Trouble His Majesty's personal chefs / Nothing but trouble Produced by MGM
May 1945 The Bullfighters Bullfighters against their will / The bullfighters Produced by Fox
17th October 1951 Atoll K / Utopia Dick and Doof inherit an island / atoll K Produced (1950) by Les Films Sirius (France)

Special language versions

At the beginning of the sound film era, it was not yet common to have films dubbed for foreign countries, although this technology already existed. Hal Roach had some Laurel and Hardy films shot in multiple language versions at that time. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy learned the text in Spanish, French, German and possibly in Italian with the help of a language trainer. The latter has not been clarified for sure. In addition, during the “takes” they read these foreign-language sentences phonetically from boards that were off camera. Much of the supporting cast has been replaced by foreign actors in these phonetic versions. These films are partly cut differently and partly contain longer sequences of well-known scenes as well as additional scenes that are not available in the original American versions. Therefore, these versions are considered to be films in their own right. Many of these language versions are lost. However, some have been preserved or have recently been found again. Here is an overview of the language versions, sorted according to the (partly presumed) premiere dates. Here, too, "-" means that the film was NOT released on DVD in Germany.

  • January 4, 1930 Ladroni (Italian language version of NIGHT OWLS?) (-) [ questionable whether produced ]
  • January 7, 1930 Ladrones (Spanish language version of NIGHT OWLS) (-)
  • February 1930 Une Nuit Extravagante (French language version of BLOTTO) (-) [ only preserved in fragments ]
  • February 14, 1930 Happy Childhood (German language version of BRATS) [ lost ]
  • March 1930 Les Bons Petits Diables (French language version of BRATS) [ lost ]
  • April 19, 1930 La Vida Nocturna (Spanish language version of BLOTTO) (-)
  • June 27, 1930 Tiembla Y Titubea (Spanish language version of BELOW ZERO) (-)
  • July 19, 1930 Radiomanía (Spanish language version of HOG WILD) [ lost ]
  • July 1930 Pêle-Mêle (French language version of HOG WILD) [ missing ]
  • October 16, 1930 Noche De Duendes (Spanish language version by BERTH MARKS / THE LAUREL & HARDY MURDER CASE) (-)
  • March 19, 1931 De Bote En Bote (Spanish language version of PARDON US) (-)
  • March 1931 Sous Les Verrous (French language version of PARDON US) [ lost ]
  • March 1931 Muraglie (Italian language version of PARDON US?) [ Questionable whether produced ]
  • October 1930 Feu Mon Oncle (French language version of BERTH MARKS / THE LAUREL & HARDY MURDER CASE) [ missing ]
  • April 1931 Les Carottiers (French language version of BE BIG / LAUGHING GRAVY)
  • April 19, 1931 Los Calaveras (Spanish language version of BE BIG / LAUGHING GRAVY)
  • May 1, 1931 Politiquerías (Spanish language version of CHICKENS COME HOME) (-)
  • May 21, 1931 Spuk Um Mitternacht (German language version by BERTH MARKS / THE LAUREL & HARDY MURDER CASE) (published 2010 - from Russian film archive)
  • April 23, 1932 Under lock and key (German language version of PARDON US) [only preserved in fragments]

Awards

Others

  • The largest organization of Laurel and Hardy fans worldwide are the Sons of the Desert , named after the lodge of the same name in the film of the same name , which was founded in 1964 and organizes fan meetings to this day and preserves the duo's cultural heritage.
  • Laurel and Hardy museums exist in Laurel's hometown of Ulverston as well as in Hardy's hometown of Harlem, Georgia and Solingen , Germany.
  • The Beatles used images of Laurel and Hardy alongside those of numerous other 20th century personalities on the cover of their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band .
  • In the Asterix band Obelix GmbH & Co. KG , Laurel and Hardy have a brief cameo appearance as idiot legionnaires in Obelix 'Menhir Quarry.
  • The Guinness Book of Records mentions Laurel and Hardy as the longest-running comedy partnership.

literature

German

  • Rainer Dick: Laurel & Hardy and the women. Foreword: Ottfried Fischer, specialist publisher for film literature Landshut 2015, ISBN 978-3-943127-05-8
  • Norbert Aping: Laurel & Hardy on the atoll. On the trail of Laurel and Hardy's last feature film. Schüren, Marburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89472-436-8 .
  • Norbert Aping: The Dick and Doof book: The story of Laurel and Hardy in Germany. Schüren, Marburg 2004, ISBN 3-89472-356-4 .
  • Christian Blees: Laurel & Hardy: Their lives, their films. 4th edition. Trescher, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89794-022-1 .
  • Christian Blees: Laurel & Hardy - more than fat and stupid. Audio book. Audiobuch Verlag, Freiburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89964-258-2 .
  • Christian Blees: Everything You Need To Know About Laurel & Hardy. Rhombos Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-944101-30-9 .
  • Rainer Dick: Laurel and Hardy: The greatest comedians of all time. Heyne, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-453-09006-3 .
  • William K. Everson : Laurel and Hardy and Their Films. Citadel Movie Books , Ed. Joe Hembus. Goldmann, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-442-10204-9 .
  • Neil Grant: Laurel & Hardy: The Legend Lives! Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-643-2 .
  • Wolfgang Günther u. a .: TWO TARS JOURNAL. The magazine appears once a year and contains articles about Laurel & Hardy and the activities of the "Sons Of The Desert" worldwide. www.laurel-hardy-museum.de
  • Sven Hanuschek: Laurel & Hardy. A revision. Paul Zsolnay, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-552-05506-3 .
  • Sven Hanuschek: "Two Angels of my Time": comedy and catastrophe - Laurel & Hardy. In: Michael Braun (among others) (Ed.): Komik im Film. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2019, pp. 153–169.

English

  • Simon Louvish: Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy. Faber and Faber, London 2001, ISBN 0-571-21590-4 . (detailed double biography)
  • Scott MacGillivray: Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties forward. Vestal, Lanham 1998, ISBN 1-879511-35-5 . (illuminates in detail the career of Laurel & Hardy after leaving the Roach studio in 1940)
  • Glenn Mitchell: The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia. Batsford, London 2000, ISBN 0-7134-7711-3 .
  • Randy Skretvedt: Laurel and Hardy: The Magic behind the Movies. Second edition. Past Times, Beverly Hills (California) 1996, ISBN 0-940410-29-X . (a standard work that provides detailed information on the making of each individual film)
  • Rob Stone: Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy . Split Reel, Temecula (California) 1996, ISBN 0-9652384-0-7 . (dedicated to pre-partnership solo careers)
  • Richard L. Ward: A History of the Hal Roach Studios. Southern Illinois UP, Carbondale 2005, ISBN 0-8093-2637-X . (describes in detail the history of the Hal Roach studio and contains a number of interesting details about Laurel & Hardy)

Biography

The 2018 biopic Stan & Ollie by Jon S. Baird focuses on the late phase of the comedian duo. In 1953 the two (Stan Laurel played by Steve Coogan ; Oliver Hardy by John C. Reilly ) trundled through England with moderate success. Although Hardy's 1937 “betrayal” (meaning that he made the film Zenobia, the Carnival Elephant Without Laurel in 1937 ) still stands between them and Hardy is plagued by health problems, they are very fond of each other.

The cinema release in Germany was May 9, 2019.

Web links

Commons : Laurel and Hardy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b chart data: UK / Gold / Silver database UK
  2. ↑ Norbert Aping: The Dick and Doof Book. The story of Laurel and Hardy in Germany. Stoke 2004, p. 14.
  3. ↑ James Finlayson's biography on wayoutwest.org
  4. ↑ imdb.com: Your great moment
  5. ↑ fernsehserien.de
  6. ↑ EXIT film and television production. Retrieved November 29, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Laurel & Hardy: Their Lives and Magic. Retrieved November 29, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Shop. Retrieved November 29, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Source: Youtube
  10. ↑ Source: Kirch-Gruppe / Filmmuseum München / Arte / Youtube
  11. ↑ Source: Youtube
  12. ↑ Guinness World Records: Guinness World Records 2000 . Demco Media, 2000, ISBN 978-0-606-17606-4 ( google.de [accessed November 14, 2019]).
  13. ↑ Filmstarts: The Filmstarts review of Stan & Ollie. Retrieved May 6, 2019 .