Laurel and Hardy

Filmer Paradise

murpho999 wrote: »

Sorry to correct you but it was Enver Hoxha in Albania and not Ceaușescu in Romania.

Zaph wrote: »

Actually it was Albania that he was big in. Enver Hoxha reckoned that Wisdom's proletariat worker standing up to his capitalist boss in most of his films was similar to the class war that the communists had fought.

Sorry lads. My bad.

I'm always getting my Iron Curtain dictators mixed up.

Posy

Wibbs wrote: »

+1. Could never get the whole Chaplin thing at all TBH.

"He's as funny as a vegetable that's grown into a rude and amusing shape."


The Royal Marine in Dun Laoghaire has 'Hardy's Bar and Bistro' and 'Laurel's Bar' since the boys stayed there in 1953.

I was just reading about Stan Laurel, after seeing this thread- his number was in the phone book. Fans could just ring him, and he'd answer and speak to them!

Rothko

Very surprised at the amount of people in here who don't like Charlie Chaplin.

Grandeeod

From 2006. A BBC drama based on Stan Laurel visting Ollie on his death bed. I found it to be decent enough even though it had artistic license. This is EP 1. follow the episodes after that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_HubxC-Ip8

The Golden Miller

OU812 wrote: »

New biopic just after being green lit starting Steve Coogan & John C Rielly, doc using on their UK tour.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/berlin-eone-jumps-aboard-steve-866616?mobile_redirect=false

Dunno what to make of this news

OU812

The Golden Miller wrote: »

Dunno what to make of this news

Looking forward to it. Looks like inspired casting & I'd say it'll be extremely interesting, hopefully have some flashback stuff also

The Golden Miller

OU812 wrote: »

Looking forward to it. Looks like inspired casting & I'd say it'll be extremely interesting, hopefully have some flashback stuff also

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to anything with or about L&H. I think Reilly could pull off Ollie as Ollie was funny mainly due to his exasperation of Stan, but I don't see how Coogan will pull off playing Stan and his facial expressions. But we'll see I guess. BBC are normally pretty decent with this sort of thing

J Cheever Loophole

Yamanoto wrote: »

My Dad recalls being completely star-struck as a kid, on spotting Stan & Ollie strolling along on O'Connell St. during their long visit to Dublin in the early 1950's.

Bit of background here:

http://www.broadsheet.ie/tag/laurel-and-hardy/

I remember my own father talking about seeing them in the Opera House in Belfast. Frank Carson used to recount a story from that time about meeting them in the street in Belfast City Centre, stopping them to say hello and telling them about how much he enjoyed their work. The subsequent conversation then went along the lines of;

Olly - "What a nice young man, Mr Laurel."

Stan - "He certainly is Mr Hardy."

Olly - "Shall we shake his hand?"

Stan - "Let's."

Olly shakes Frank's hand, then Stan shakes Frank's hand, and then they turn and shake each others hands before starting to slap each others hands down in pretend anger / disgust.

Looking back on their career, the term 'comic genius' is probably the most apt description.

OU812

Grandeeod wrote: »

From 2006. A BBC drama based on Stan Laurel visting Ollie on his death bed. I found it to be decent enough even though it had artistic license. This is EP 1. follow the episodes after that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_HubxC-Ip8

Just watched all four parts. Wonderful production

Ice Maiden

They could write a frying-pan gag that'd really make you think.

rubadub

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Loved Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd & the 3 Stooges. Charlie Chaplin no. Couldn't see why he was seen as such a genius. Totally lost on me..

+1, never got chaplin, watched it hoping and hoping. Conversely thought Harold Lloyd was meant to be the knock off version but was amazed at the stunts and was laughing.

I am surprised that most TV stations still shut down at night, they must be able to show this stuff for next to nothing, and should be able to get some advertising revenue.

The Golden Miller

Hopefully this film will mean younger people will at least know who Laurel and Hardy were. Looks decent, Coogan and Reilly look like them on stage, less so up close off stage.

decky1

was 'Stan' Clint Eastwood's dad? W C Fields another of that era, very funny guy.

gormdubhgorm

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Back in their days, it would have been utterly scandalous to get lost in a lingerie section.

And they weren't even priests....

lonewolf1961

And Here,s There Best One .

lonewolf1961

Here it is .

lonewolf1961

sorry it won,t upload :ermm:

gormdubhgorm

This is my favourite one.

It reminds me of something the D'Unbelivables would do.

PS it is great to see a thread on AH without any bitching, whinging, and or moaning in it.

bodhrandude

They also had hit in the UK charts, as I remember they held the spot for a considerable number of weeks on Top of the Pops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trail_of_the_Lonesome_Pine_(song)

The Golden Miller

Never bump a thread, but I think in this case it's fine. Putting comedies greatest duo in the forefront of people's minds once again should be acceptable. What isn't acceptable, is them being forgotten by the next generation

Relikk

https://youtu.be/ZujoJaR2ERY

griffin100

I watched the Steve Coogan and John C Reilly movie about Laurel and Hardy only a few days ago and was saying to my wife that it's mad you don't see any of their stuff on TV anymore. When I was a kid I loved them, and would still happily watch their stuff and laugh out loud. My elderly parents also love them. Maybe it's a generational thing.

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118920391#Comment_118920391

My daughter still finds them funny. She's 6. When the box set was released, the company pulled most of the international rights to drive sales. Seemed to backfire as they went out of public consciousness. And due to that, BBC say no demand to show reruns. If they did, I think they'd take off again.

For anyone under 30 they don't really know who they are. The circa 30 generation would know them, a household name until pulled from BBC due to rights issues.

Transcend time and black and white movies. They didn't remain a household name for decades for nothing until pulled. Real shame. The only real act in black and white, in which one could say they are genuinely funny to this day. They nailed it.

As a kid I watched them as I would a cartoon or something like Mr. Bean. The fact they were black and white wasn't noticed. I'm 32 and all my mates and peers watched them, nothing thought of how old they were, just funny. Were loved by every generation and remained one of the most popular shows until pulled

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118920391#Comment_118920391

Is the movie worth a watch?

VG31

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118920391#Comment_118920391

I'm in my 20s and watched Laurel and Hardy when I was younger. I still have the box set. My grandfather introduced my brother and I to them. I would say the vast majority of people my age have never seen them though.

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118928854#Comment_118928854

I think circa 28 was the age for this generation they ceased to be household names. I'm 32, think they were pulled circa 2002, when I was 12/13. Anyone from two years below me and upwards, see them as household names, anyone below no clue generally.

Up to this point, every generation grew up with them.

My girlfriend from Moldova and asked a Polish mate. They had them in their countries growing up. Seemed to have been pulled across the world at the same time when the box set came out

Grandeeod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118928841#Comment_118928841

Deffo worth a watch. Takes liberties with dates and has to fill in some assumptions but still great.

I'm a massive fan but at 50 I always saw them on TV as a kid. DVD killed any long lasting exposure. A pity. They were pure genius. Precursors.

griffin100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118928841#Comment_118928841

Definitely. It just covers a small part of their lives but interesting, especially the dynamic with and between their wives.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118920391#Comment_118920391

Weirdly, there's a massive following for Charlie Chaplin in Cuba to this day. I think the everyman idea of the Tramp appeals there, and that the comedy is silent gets over the language barrier.

In Vietnam the old 30s and 40s Tom and Jerry cartoons are still shown. Saw them being shown on the on board entertainment on a train there.

L&H, Marx Bros. etc were standard Xmas fare on RTE up until the late 80's/early 90's.

interlocked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSHfJohUN0&ab_channel=PhamXuanPhuong

This is The Music Box, their only Oscar in 1932.

I'd seriously recommend "He", a novel by John Connolly, the Irish crime author, which is about Stan Laurel, reflecting at the end of his life. It's incredibly well researched and written, about the movie industry at the time and Stan's amazingly complicated love life. Connolly just adores the lads though, and you can feel the affection throughout. He's like many a Irishman of a certain age, that grew up watching them on Saturday mornings on RTE.

interlocked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKTT-sy0aLg&ab_channel=Movieclips

Much as I love Laurel & Hardy, i still think this is one of the funniest three minutes ever. I'll always remember my late Dad watching this with tears running down his cheeks, unable to speak, he was laughing so much, it's nearly 90 years old, and it's still brilliant

El_Duderino 09

You can't take them out of the context in which they were culturally relevant, transport them to a completely different context and expect then to be interesting to a modern audience.

Working as day labourers during the great depression, joining the French foreign legion to forget a woman, these are outdated references and don't mean anything to a modern audience. The comedy was relevant to the time it was made. That's one aspect that made it so good.

Another thing is that it it influenced so many modern comedians and writers that the jokes have been updated and presented to modern audiences in numerous forms in modern contexts. So going back an looking at the original joke, in an alien context, isn't very funny.

It's not some kind of failure of young people that they haven't heard of L&H. They're just not relevant to modern audiences (but they were obviously very funny and relevant to the time they were set)

Laurel and Hardy are shown regularly on Talking Pictures TV on Sky channel 328. Tuesday at 6.30 and Saturday at 5 are the next showings.

Montage of Feck

Haven't seen a Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplain etc. film in years, RTE used to show them early morning over christmas back in the day. Now it's just infomercials for steam cleaners on during the morning.

SouthWesterly

I introduced my kids to them recently.

There was also abbott and costello, Harold Lloyd and the 3 stooges.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118937841#Comment_118937841

What did they think?

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938115#Comment_118938115

They loved them

Jellybaby_1

I'm in my seventies now, and one of my life-long sayings is 'I fell off the chair laughing'. This stems from the time when I was about 10 or 11 years old watching Charlie Chaplin on TV when I actually fell off the chair laughing! At that particular moment I was watching CC ice skating!! I loved, and still love Charlie Chaplin to this day, also Laurel & Hardy, but don't forget Buster Keaton either, he hit me with his tickling stick as well on that train ride! He was on so many trains but I think that film was 'The General'. My own personal opinion is that I just can't see much rib-tickling comedy today although it does have its moments now and again but not often.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938882#Comment_118938882

Yeah, comedy changes over time. That's why the things you found funny 70 years ago aren't considered very funny now. Wouldn't it be unusual if 70 year old jokes were still considered cutting edge today? It would suggest a stagnation in creativity if that happened.

bazz26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1zpFUK1pDE

He died of a Tuesday!

Jellybaby_1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118938943#Comment_118938943

I wouldn't consider 70 year old jokes as 'cutting edge'. But if they can still make me laugh then I'd just consider them funny.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118941242#Comment_118941242

That's fine that they might make you laugh 70 years on. But it's unlikely that 70 year old jokes will resonate with a modern audience.