Sons of Desert (1933) * FIRST TIME WATCHING * reaction & commentary
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Laurel and Hardy were life long friends in real life. Laurel's nickname for Hardy was Babe. At the end of his life Hardy lost his ability to speak, side-effects from a stroke, but the two had worked together so long that they could still communicate. Laurel visited Hardy every day. After Hardy died, Laurel never preformed again, although his did write gags for other preformers. Their friendship has always made their comedy better to me, knowing just how much they loved each other for real.
I grew up watching Laurel and Hardy, but didn't know anything about their real lives. That's so sweet!
There's also a story about Laurel 's last words that's bitter-sweet:
Minutes before his death, he told his nurse that he would not mind going skiing, and she replied that she was not aware that he was a skier. "I'm not," said Laurel, "I'd rather be doing that than this!" A few minutes later he died quietly in his armchair.
Laurel and Hardy were friends, workmates, but did not do much socially together during their glory years. The closer friendship came later in life, so I've read.
@@thomastimlin1724 I believe that. Vaudeville was a tough job. I imagine it would be hard to be with someone so much. It's why Penn and Teller don't socialize. I just know that by the end of Hardy's life Laurel was there for him.
Stan Laurel was offered a lot of money to appear in the movie " It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" but turned it down. He refused to do any performances without his friend.
"Y'all are making this so much worse for yourself" - pretty much the plot of every Laurel & Hardy story. These two were the definition of slapstick comedy.
Well here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!
Best Stan Laurel quote EVER ---" You can lead a horse to water ,but a pencil must be led" !!
‘Any bird can build a nest, but it isn’t every one who can lay an egg.’ (Way Out West)
Stan Laurel was a huge influence on Dick Van Dyke and Johnny Carson. These guys were geniuses. Also, pay attention to the physical aspect of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. Tremendous athletic skills. The timing of these early guys was perfect, studied by all the greats who came after them.
He was also a genuinely nice guy who would personally answer all his fan mail. Plus his name was in the phone book and he would happily speak with his fans.
I noticed the entrance to his apartment looked like the one on the Dick Van Dyke show. When he would come in and that step was there to step down.
The Skipper and Gilligan are also based on Laurel & Hardy.
Yes yes Yes ur 100 % right whith out tham god only none where Commedy would be day. can i add Charlie chapin to that list he tramp was just brilliant just as a on screen character not as a human as a human Charlie chapin was a dick. but as a character the tramp wow. as for laurel and hardy thay was massive Stars of silent and talking films and we would not have some of the great Commedy we have today with out tham two Commedy geies rip u two legends
It's called 'Physical comedy'. Matthew Perry from 'Friends' did good performances of this kind, but not enough.
You need to see The Music Box (1932). It’s incredible and was the first short film to ever win an Academy Award. It’s just Laurel & Hardy trying to move a piano up an incredibly long flight of steps and it’s peak physical comedy.
The piano! that was a laugh riot! 🤣🤣🤣
Fun fact: Hal Roach who made these films had "Honolulu Baby" written just for this movie, and it accidently became a hit. I used to be a member of the worldwide Laurel & Hardy Fan Club called Sons of the Desert. Each chapter (or "tent") of the club was named after one of the boy's films, descriptive of the location. For example, a L&H club on a military base might be named, "Great Guns", or a chapter in the mountains might be named "Them Thar Hills". We also had real conventions modeled after the one in this movie where fans could get together and celebrate L&H by watching their films and having dance girls. We even had the same sashes and fez caps. The club president was called the "Exhausted Leader" (not Exalted Leader).
Ironically, the sons of the desert in the movie are a parody of fraternal orders. Particularly the Shriners. That's why the Arabians aspects and cultural theming
I'm guessing it is a gone society. :(
'Be Big!' was my tent.
Oasis 26 of The Sons of the Desert in sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
@@scottmcnulty70 Not at all. Each chapter of the society is called a Tent. I am a member of "The Blockheads" Tent which is made up of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus clowns. My favorite tent is one made up of prison inmates in Montana (I believe). It's called, "Pardon Us".
is it true that Hal Roach contract with the duo was pretty unfair and the majority of the money made from their success went to him. they were paid a fixed salary. They had to work long into their old age just to make ends meet?
Laurel and Hardy appeared together in 34 silent shorts, 45 sound shorts, and 27 full-length sound feature films. The Marx Brothers appeared in 14 motion pictures. The U.S. Motion Picture Production Code also known as The Hays Code was adopted in 1930 but didn't come in to force until 1934. Prior to the code movies portrayed nudity, sex, adultery, LGBTQ characters and so much more.
Am I embarrassed that I NEVER got that? Yes. Yes, I am.😊
Yes, talkies from 1929 to 1933 could be quite risque .
@@FloridaMugwump No love for the two decades plus of silent movies?
This is also an era directly after Vaudeville/Burlesque. The "Roaring 20's" were a wild time, and THIS is a very MILD rendition of the costumes, and activities. During the time PASTIES were used to allow a woman to expose here breasts in a show, and VERY skimpy costumes were the fad.
@@promiscuous675 if Ashleigh goes into silent, I would suggest she start with comedies. Chaplin and/or Keaton.
Laurel & Hardy are probably the most successful and famous comedy team of all time. Stan Laurel started as understudy to Charlie Chaplin in England before they both movie to the United States to make silent movies. Hal Roach originally put them together for a film and they stayed together until Ollie's death. They were the very best of friends. This particular film is about a men's fraternity, and both of them were Freemasons, so this was sort of a tribute to that organization, although it appears (by the hats) to be more based on the Shriners (an elevated degree and organization of Masonry). Interesting fact: Almost all of the famous silent comedians were Masons, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd. The breaking of the fourth wall was a consistent act in all of their movies. Stan wrote much of the material and was a true creative genius, so he did most of the physical goofiness while Ollie just watched and got frustrated. "The Music Box" is considered by many to be their greatest film and you would love it. Another hysterical one is "Brats" where they play their own children on a giant set. They are relatively short, so you ought to give them a watch! Fun stuff, Ashleigh ... well done, as always.
Sad but true: Stan continued to write brand new Laurel & Hardy material after Ollie's death right up until his own passing.
@@drakocarrion I would have loved to read some of it. I have actual autographs from them, and quite a collection of memorabilia. I've always loved them.
There were a bunch of other similar clubs as well, e.g. the Ancient Order of Druids. The mystical names and dressing up were just a bit of fun; they were basically social clubs where a lot of drinking took place.
I would counter that the 3 Stooges were just as successful as Laurel and Hardy and probably more well known. The Stooges started in 1922 and were still making movies and TV shows until Larry had a stroke in 1970, whereas Laural and Hardy teamed up in 1926 and their last appearance together on film was a 3 minute long silent film in 1956, after which Hardy was unable to continue because several strokes.
Brats is great.
The toothbrush moustache was popular in the 20s and 30s. Charlie Chaplin had one (at least in his Little Tramp persona). It fell out of popularity because of Hitler.
They started enforcing the Hays Code in 1934, so movies before then could be more "adult." Things were pretty heavily censored from 1934 through around 1960, when the Hays Code started falling out of favor. They stopped using the Hays Code entirely in 1968.
Laurel and Hardy won an Oscar for best short subject for The Music Box (1932), which is a masterpiece of physical humor. Towed in a Hole (1932) is another really good short Laurel and Hardy movie.
Right. This was 1933. Hitler wasn't even named "Hitler" yet.
There are quite a few GREAT and HILARIOUS Laurel & Hardy movies. Babes in Toyland, Way Out West, etc. In my opinion, there were a few of their later movies that weren't as good.
There is some that believe the "Hitler" mustache came about because of WWI and the poison gas that was used. Before the war, long "handle bar" staches were the fashion with men on both sides but they prevented the gas masks from making a good seal to the face. Men did NOT want to remove completely their symbol of manhood so they cut off the sides of the stach leaving the middle under the nose. Hitler was actually gassed in WWI as a mater of fact.
I've heard that the Hays Code didn't get completely big till the next year, but I wonder if it's the reason the hula dancers are dressed so "conservatively."
where are we as a society when a normal adult doesn't know who Laurel and Hardy are? How will you ever "extend a Laurel and Hearty Handshake"? 😂
😂
Damn your eyes!
@@mideon84 Too late.
I weep for the children
Well you did contradict yourself, a normal adult would 😉
My parents saw them on stage in 1953, they came on stage, did the railroad doors sketch, never said a word and the audience was on the floor laughing, a pair of geniuses .
I grew up watching laurel and hardy because of my dad. He has every film they ever made. 1 of the greatest comedy duo's ever.
Fun facts: the lighting has a wobbly look because they didn't have lamp stands, so they had men holding large heavy mirrors.
-This was a *pre-code* (Hays code of 1934) movie, so you see a lot of what you wouldn't see after 1935; such as nudity & sex... Even if implied.
-"Pinky and the Brain" was supposed to be an animated "Laurel & Hardy" but after seeing what the Brain looked like, Maurice LaMarche said that he looked more like Orson Welles and suggested that he be played as such.
Explains why Brain would say "Another fine mess you've gotten us into".
Hitler hadn't ruined that style of moustache for all of history yet
ohhhh valid.
Even after the start of WW2 Oliver Hardy kept the moustache as it became his look
The guy with the squirting flower, and who shared drinks with Stan and Oliver at the nightclub, was Charlie Chase. He was a comedian in his own right. He made a number of movies.
he also had a mouth full of dental fillings ...wow
Laurel And Hardy are the kings of slapstick comedy 👑
The American version of The Office was based on the UK version created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Ricky, Stephen, and Martin Freeman (who played Tim, the 'Jim' character in the UK version) were all huge Laurel and Hardy fans and heavily influenced by them...hence the 4th wall breaking.
The “D’oh!” In The Simpsons is based on one of their frequent co-stars James Finlayson.
Pretty much all the silent film comedians broke the fourth wall. And Groucho was famous for it.
Theres one thing you kinda forgot about the Office... the UK office is a mocu/docu-mentary style show (the US version is as well, or was at the start), the camera crew is implied to actually be there interviewing and filming 'real' people at their jobs... so any fourth wall breaking and looking at the camera isnt actually fourth wall breaking, since their is no fourth wall in this instance as the camera and audience are known to the people being filmed.
@@NZBigfoot Good point
When she saw the water spraying flower and said “the oldest trick in the book.” I was thinking this movie is 90 yrs old, I think this IS the book…..
Haha, I was thinking the same thing :D
Laurel and hardy are simply the best. Grew up in the early 80's watching these pair thanks to my dad
I can't remember a time when I didn't know who Laurel and Hardy were.
Even in the nineties people were dressing as Laurel and Hardy for Halloween.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the absolute kings of slapstick for me. I'm now approaching 60, but these films have been with me since I was a child, and I always find it absolutely sensational.Stan Laurel was a genious writer and also actor and with Oliver Hardy he has found an absolutely brilliant counterpart.
I think you will love them too 😂😂.
I love all L&H stuff but if I had to pick a favourite it would have to be one of their shorts 'The Music Box'. 30 minutes of pure genius and laughs.
My mom loved them and I love them a lot too. I regularly visit their graves and thank them
Before the hays code of 1934, movies were raunchy, violent, and a lot of things happened on screen.
After the code things got way more G rated. It took decades to get rid of the hays code.
Yup, pre-code hollywood was really interesting and daring. Then it became "safe" and nowdays it's just grotesque and bland.... like unflavored porridge.
There was recently a movie based on their lives called 'Stan and Ollie' featuring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly. You need to see more of theirs but their short format work is what I prefer. 'Tit for Tat' and 'County Hospital' are faves of mine. That Horn in the attic was a common type used on cars at the time.
fantastic movie
Many years ago I attended a 15-hour Laurel & Hardy marathon at a revival theater, including this movie. I've never laughed so much in a single day before or since.
Oliver Hardy actually was a shriner. Those shriners are famous for two things: helping people and wild parties. And driving around in tiny cars.
About to watch the reaction. Just jumping in first to say that what made Laurel & Hardy so great and set them apart from 3 Stooges, Abbott & Costello, etc was how much they cared about each other. In those other groups they were always pitted against each other, but with Laurel & Hardy it was always them against the world.
They're both extremely talented, and their effect on comedy is still felt today (Example: The scene of OJ in the hospital bed in Naked Gun? Laurel & Hardy did it first)
That being said, I prefer Way Out West, Block-Heads, and a lot of their short films to this one. But hope you like it and either way, thanks for giving it a chance!
Oooon the mountains in Virginia stands a lonesome pine...
My Grandma had all kinds of 1930's and 40's comedies on VHS that we would watch any time we had to stay at her house. Laurel and Hardy was one of my favourites!
Same...!
"Saps at Sea" is an absolute classic, so much going on.
I'm a little sad that someone doesn't know Laurel & Hardy, but there it is. They are most famous for their short films.
Stan Laurel (the thin one) was a Lancashire lad, like me, and was born near my home town. He was hired by Fred Karno to be a understudy to Charlie Chaplin. The entire troop saile to America to tour and Stan Laurel decided to stay. After about 50 short silent films he was officially teamed in 1927 with Oliver Hardy, who came from Harlem, Georgia.
Stan Laurel was the brains of the outfit and did most of the writing and designing the stunts. Together they made 75 shorts and 27 films between 1927 & 1951. I think their shorts are where they are at their best where story is pretty much secondary to the comedy, but Way Out West is a must watch
This reaction was fun, Ashleigh. Thanks for giving older movies a shot.
Ashleigh's the best at this, most if not all other reaction channels out there would never go as far back in movie history as she dares to go... As for L&H, their best films were their classic shorts and not their feature length movies where the studios had too much control and didn't quite understand the characters, their comedy was much better suited for the shorter running time because it was so physical and slapstick, not so dialog driven.
Wait till you see these 2 guys in “Saps at Sea”.
@@eliasshaikh2065 My favourite is "The Bohemian Girl" with Laurel & Hardy, made me pee my pants from laughing when i was a kid.
@@mrnobody043 my favorites among the “shorts” are:
Scram, The Music Box, Dirty Works, and Towed in a Hole. Especially the latter two of those.
@@eliasshaikh2065 Towed in a Hole is really great, the Three Stooges did a remake of it that was pretty decent.
Laurel and Hardy are icons, saw great success in the silent movie period with their slapstick comedy, but they also managed to be equally successful in the early years of "spoken pictures".
Every movie comedian, stands on the shoulders of Laurel and hardy, The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton, they laid the foundations.
And even though it is dated, their comedy still works because it is slapstick and they themselves are basically always the targets of their own jokes.
The old classics are a must watch, because their influence is far reaching and you'll notice many elements in modern movies, that directly relate to that early era of comedy.
Easiest example has to be Jackie Chan's (dangerous) physical comedy stunts, that is all directly out of the playbook of Buster Keaton. (and it's not a secret that Jackie is a big fan of Buster)
When I was a kid, on Sunday mornings local TV stations would show Laurel and Hardy shorts. They were like 7 minutes long each. Laurel and Hardy made many of them in silent movie days so no talking just background music.
I loved them!
When I was in elementary school my school had a Halloween contest every year.
When I was in 1st grade my mother dressed me up as Oliver Hardy...I was a -pudgy- -big boned- fat kid.
My mom coached me to fiddle with my tie like Hardy does.
I won 1st place 😊
My favorite Laurel and Hardy short is Chickens Come Home (1931). It cracks me up every time.
This was such a fun reaction! I highly recommend Laurel and Hardy’s short “Them Thar Hills” where they accidentally get effed up on moonshine in the mountains.
Laurel and Hardy are simply LEGENDS
i used to watch Laurel & Hardy all the time with my grandfather when i was young, we always had a good laugh. Brings back some memories, I just might rewatch a couple of them... they don't make'm like that anymore. (edit- You might want to look up some movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, they make a good pair and are a good laugh)
As a 50+ year old, I simply love Stan and Ollie.
When I was a kid, we watched all their stuff, despite it being in b/w and over almost 50 years old at that time already.
That didn't matter. The humour, the slapstick,...it just works.
Same goes for movies with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Snub Pollard or the series "Our Gang"/"The Little Rascals".
That stuff is timeless.
It's not only 50+ but actually 90 years old. So we are getting closer to 100 years.
@@agffans5725
Nowadays. But when I watched it as a kid...
@@o.b.7217 ..Well do not mind me, I'm of the ancient tribe of Angles.
Laurel and Hardy go back to the silent era. Together they appeared in 34 silent shorts, 45 sound shorts, and 27 full-length sound feature films.
The Marx Brothers started out in talkies, but was very big in Vaudeville and on Broadway. Of all the great comedy teams, The Marx Brothers are my favorite. If you go back to The Marx Brothers, I would highly recommend “Duck Soup”
For Laurel and Hardy, I recommend “Way Out West”.
I love "Way Out West"! And I also highly recommend "Duck Soup". My only gripe there is that neither Chico nor Harpo play their musical instruments.
You need to check out "The Court Jester" (1955) starring Danny Kaye! “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!” - Danny Kaye
Anything with Danny Kaye is fabulous!
I thought that was Malice in the Palace.
When Ashleigh said she doesn't know if it's a murder mystery, or what, visible cartoon question marks shot out of my head. I thought just about everyone had some kind of almost innate knowledge of Laurel and Hardy. They were the most popular film comedians of the 1930s, and Stan Laurel thought up a great many of the gags that are still used in comedies to this day. He had a remarkable understanding of what was funny and why, and how to best exploit comedy in film. He really was a genius. So funny that he looked like a complete moron in character.
And now, Ashleigh needs to watch Stan and Ollie, a beautiful valentine to these two immortals.
The greatest comedy double act ever. glad you have seen your first and hopefully first of many laurel and hardy movies. keep on going with them and also the marx brothers and abbott and costello
I loved Laurel and Hardy as a kid. I haven’t seen this in ages. Thanks for giving it a go, Ashleigh.❤
Laurel & Hardy! That's Olympic-level reactor viewing. Their short The Music Box is hilarious.
There's a very good and recent movie about their later years, Stan and Ollie. It was so good. Laurel and Hardy were my mom's favorite, and their old movies were on TV when I was growing up. They were hugely popular.
Hi Ashleigh! A suggestion possibly for HalloBeans this year, give Abbat and Costello meet Frankenstein (1949) a look. You may enjoy it.
I love Abbott and Costello.
Hi Ashleigh! Nice reaction!
Lauren and Hardly were immensely popular in Italy too, up until the '70s I'd say. We know them as "Stanlio e Ollio".
Now something really interesting about them... they started in the silent film era of course, and lived the transition to sound movies first hand. At the beginning, dubbing hadn't been invented yet, but the studios wanted to capitalize on their popularity in other countries. So they would reshoot scenes with dialog multiple times, with the main actors reading lines in a phonetic transliteration of the target language, and supporting cast sometimes replaced by different actors who could speak the language.
So Lauren and Hardly would actually speak Italian in some movies, of course with a super thick Englsh/American accent.
By the time studios introduced dubbing (that is, separated audio recordings for sound/effects/music and speech, so that the latter could be replaced with voice acting) Lauren and Hardly were so popular and their accent so integrated with their characters that all voice actors involved in dubbing their movies were forced to speak with (a resemblance) of their accent. This went on for their entire career, with tens of different dubbers taking the mantle over the years, and putting the accent on.
A great comedy duo whose personalities inspired Gilligan and skipper, Steve urkel and Carl Winslow, Kenan and kel and so forth
Jesus, they did one film called The Music Box that's just non-stop hysterical. Thoroughly recommend.
Next to Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton it was Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy who were to top act comedians of their time in the 1920's and 1930's, way before the Marx Brothers.
For me, they never get old. Thanks for watching this classic!
Because they were so iconic, most of their movies can be summed up in a single setup sentence. The Boys work in a mill, the Boys deliver a piano, Stan visits Ollie in the hospital, etc. The setup were simple and the situations unraveled. The magic was in their characters.
Whew!!!!! - - - So, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the FIRST Great Comedy Duo, going back to the Silent Movie Era!! They started separately as film comics, and after they started working together they were 2 of the most famous people in the world! They were already world famous when this was made. This film was so popular, their official fan club (which had international chapters) is named "Sons of the Desert". According to what I read on their site, they still have close to 100 chapters! Lodges were men only groups that were like adult fraternities, they all had their special hats, handshakes, and were super popular during the 20th Century in America. There was the Order of the Water Buffaloes in the Flintstones, ones in The Honeymooners, Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, up to All in the Family. The closest thing left are The Shriners, who survived by devoting so much to charities. As for Laurel and Hardy, their shorts (about 20 mins.) and films are still shown pretty frequently on channels like AMC and TCM.
Ashleigh, you have one hell of a Laurel & Hardy journey coming up if you decided to watch more. As a newbie to their work, I'd certainly recommend their shorts over their features. e.g. The Music Box, County Hospital, Busy Bodies, Oliver The Eighth . . .
The "wild guy with the glasses" seen with all the practical jokes at the Chicago convention was Charley Chase, who was another master of slapstick comedy and farce. He was very popular in both silent films in the 1920s and talkies in the 1930s, but only had supporting roles in a couple of feature films; his starring roles were all in comedy shorts, some of which he also directed. He later directed five classic Three Stooges shorts, but sadly, he died (due to long-term depression and alcoholism, which weakened his health) shortly afterward, in 1940, at the young age of 46.
The best Laurel and Hardy short is The Music Box. It still holds up as absurdly funny.
Enjoyed this. Sons of the Desert, along with Way Out West, is probably the team's funniest feature. Their short films, however, are some of the funniest stuff anyone's ever done. Hope you'll do some silent films soon too!
Laurel and Hardy are one of the OG (look at me using that term!!!) movie partnerships. My father, born in 1929 in Spain, loved them, and could go into hysterics watching them with us. They perfected that tit for tat and slow burn reaction. One of their great directors, Leo McCarey, had the camera hold for Hardy (the larger one) for several seconds longer than you'd think, and the result was spectacular. The two men were close friends, and Laurel never recovered from Hardy's death. Here are two family favorite moments, from "Way Out West": czcams.com/video/LXCwlO2jnYU/video.html
czcams.com/video/B13QoA59tA4/video.html
The duo often had trouble resisting the siren call of music.
Way Out West is a favorite!
@@magnificus8581 It's got everything that made L&H great and charming!
It's really clear how much influence Laurel & Hardy had on "The Honeymooners." They even re-use the plot of sneaking off to go to a convention, and the "king of the castle" line.
Oliver Hardy (born Norvell Hardy in 1892) is from my hometown of Harlem, GA! We hold a festival every first Saturday of October in his honor that draws fans from all over the world. It's in its 34th year this year!
They practically invented breaking the fourth wall. Those two are the most copied comedians of our age.
The all-time classic must-watch Laurel and Hardy short is "The Music Box" - it's the one where they're trying to deliver a piano. Countless cartoons and live-action comedy shows have paid homage to it. Another of their most influential films was the much earlier silent comedy "Liberty" - that's the one with the skyscraper construction site which, again, set the pattern for *so many* cartoons in later decades.
love laurel and hardy, best physical comedians of all time. they just show up at a place and break everything possible.
By 1933 there had already been a long tradition of movie comedies, begining with silent movies. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd masters of early comedy.
My grandpa showed me Laurel & Hardy when I was a kid. Stan was the one who labored over writing all their material while Ollie just lived la dolce vita which is really kinda perfect. Actually, the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup was the funniest movie from 1933 and honestly, still probably on the short list of all time because I really think it aged quite well. As chaotic as A Night at the Opera was, Duck Soup is pure anarchy.
Laurel and Hardy are historically important. While they aren't the most famous, they, along with the Marx Brothers, represent a period where Hollywood was learning how to take people who had been performing on stage in Vaudeville or in silent films nd use them in "talkies." Laurel, the skinny one, was once employed as an understudy for Charlie Chaplin. You NEED to watch Chaplin films!
Glad you watched this!
oh wow. this is very interesting.
@@awkwardashleigh watch the "Flying Deuces" it's better!
@@k.j.uptegrove3876 The Great Dictator. It's his masterpiece.
I can recommend Laurel and Hardy's ...County Hospital and the Music Box both about half an hour each!...enjoy!!
@@awkwardashleigh yes to watching Charlie Chaplin movies. Buster Keaton as well. The Bio Pic of Chaplin is outstanding.
Movies came from a background of live theater, where, particularly in comedy, the fourth wall is hard NOT to break. An actor can look out across the audience and express emotion, or do an "aside" where they speak to the audience. In a musical production, each number would be followed by applause and if it was loud enough, they would do an encore, continuing a direct connection with the audience. So breaking the fourth wall was a tradition from the START of movies.
Ollie breaking the 4th-wall is the Seventh Infinity Stone.
The Laurel and Hardy fan club is also called Sons of the Desert. Individual chapters are named after various L & H films. San Diego chapter is Saps at Sea. I was a member back in the 1980s and we would watch movies and host special events. One time we had Henry Brandon (the actor who played the evil Barnaby in the film March of the Wooden Soldiers, also known as Babes in Toyland) as our special guest!
Ashleigh, I'd definitely try another Laurel and Hardy film - "Way Out West" with their comic dance to a Sons of the Pioneers song, followed by a wonderful duet "On The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" (a UK No2 hit in the mid 70s) which I guarantee you'll be singing along with. Or "Chumps at Oxford" with the ghost in the maze scene. Oliver Hardy was a real "Southern Gentleman" always trying to act dignified, no matter what Fate, or the writers, threw at him, His little habit of fussing with his tie or "Drilling" with his finger or the way he'd sign his name with a little flourish came from his Aunt Suzie who had the same mannerisms that the young Oliver found amusing.
Very influential movie. It inspired the Royal Order of Raccoons on The HONEYMOONERS and the Water Buffalo Lodge on The FLINTSTONES. Laurel & Hardy were internationally beloved in their time, and their fan base continues to this day. Almost 50 books have been published about the team. ❤
These should be on TV every day. The original genius along with Buster Keaton
Stan and Ollie from 2018 is a great story of their lives!
Congrats on your first Laurel and Hardy movie. Such influential physical comedy. Alan Hale's portrayal of "The Skipper" on the TV show Gilligan's Island (1963-1967) is such an homage to the comedic work of Oliver Hardy.
I've always thought that. Gilligan & Skipper were just a redo of Laurel & Hardy. The Skipper even did the little flourish with his fingers that Hardy did.
John C. Reilly played Ollie in the recent biopic "Stan and Ollie", it's a marvellous film about the boys.
When I was a kid in the 60's we would go to the library and check out Laurel and Hardy films. My dad had an 8mm projector which was popular at the time before video tape machines. The library had DOZENS of films you could get including pretty much EVERY film Laurel & Hardy did, including the silent ones. It's also how I became a fan of Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, The Little Rascals, and many more. We'd get 4 or 5 films most weekends, make popcorn, and watch them on the screen set up in the living room... It was a GREAT TIME to be alive!!
Years later when cable brought us RE-RUNS, most of these films were played on late, late night t.v. to fill up time. Probably where I got my habit of staying up all night!!
And YES, "The Music Box" is still one of my all time favorites!!
I’m an enormous L&H fan. I don’t know that I would have picked this one. Maybe “Block-heads” or “Way Out West” or “Our Relations”. I grew up watching these with my mom every Sunday morning. I love these boys.
County Hospital!
@@ajivins1 Yeah don’t get me started on the shorts. I could go on all day about them.
@@shakycam3 I felt the same watching The Dukes of Hazzard as a kid...
@@ajivins1 I was much more into Little House. Lol.
@@shakycam3 No shorts in that.
Laurel and Hardy developed their physical comedy routine from the time the were first appeared in a 1920 silent The Lucky Dog. They did a lot of "2-reeler" (25 minutes or so) during both the silent and talkie eras. The Marx Bros., on the other hand, developed their physical comedy style on Vaudeville and Burlesque theater stages in live performances.
Yes, Laurel and Hardy were a recurring comedy team from this era.
I think it's awesome that you are reacting to something like this, to at least have a sense of the history of film.
I am so glad I grew up watching Laurel and Hardy, Chaplin and Buster Keaton....!!! Yes I am that old.
My grandfather was a big fan of Laurel & Hardy.
You should check out "Babes in Toyland" from 1934. One of their best. (It was re-released under different titles, so if you can't find it under "Babes in Toyland," you might find it listed as "March of the Wooden Soldiers" or under "Laurel & Hardy in Toyland, Revenge is Sweet.")
But be careful not to get the Frankie Avalon version
@@vincegamer Or the Keanu Reeves/Drew Barrymore version
Laurel & Hardy definitely did a few more films together 😉 Fun Fact A Great Uncle of mine was in the same entertainment troop which Stan Laurel started out in and traveled to America with him & Charlie Chaplin around 1910 or 1912. They toured the US in the Karno troop and then my relative ended up in Hollywood as an actor & stunt man in silent movies with Mary Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks (who were like the Julia Roberts & Tom Cruise of their day). Before he ended up injured in a stunt gone wrong, got addicted to Laudanum (basically morphine) and was shipped back to the UK.
That's fascinating history of an unknown actor who worked with the greats before they became "the greats." Absolutely amazing. Oh the stories some of us have. My blind cousin went to the Michigan school for the Blind in Lansing Michigan, my original home town. one of his classmates was singer/musician Stevie Wonder. Never got to meet him...
I just adore Stan Laurel,he also wrote their stuff
Just a 'few' recommended classic L&H shorts, no particular order; Men O' War, Perfect Day, They Go Boom, The Hoose-Gow, Night Owls, Blotto, Brats, Hog Wild, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, Another Fine Mess, Laughing Gravy, Any Old Port, The Chimp, County Hospital, Scram, Their First Mistake, Oliver the Eighth, Towed in a Hole, Beau Hunks, The Midnight Patrol, Dirty Work, Going Bye-Bye, The Live Ghost, Thicker than Water. Many of them are here on CZcams. As for features no particular order, I'd recommend The Flying Deuces, Pack Up Your Troubles, Pardon Us, Nothing but Trouble, The Devil's Brother, Babes in Toyland, Block-Heads, Bonnie Scotland, Swiss Miss, Saps at Sea, A Chump at Oxford, The Bohemian Girl.
I love Laurel & Hardy! I do think they were funnier in their shorts but my favourite feature-length film of theirs is 'Way Out West' (1937), which is their most famous one! So happy you reacted to them!!
Agreed. The one in the sawmill is hilarious. 👍
They had almost zero creative control of their movies which is extremely sad. Their shorts are where they did the writing. With that said, I agree that from the movies "Way Out West", and for me "March of the Wooden Soldiers" are the two that stand out the best.
@@flea1972 "Busybodies."
Laurel and Hardy are a legendary comedy duo
I’m must be weird because I assumed Laurel & Hardy were famous. When she saw the poster, I was reminded modern folks wouldn’t be aware of these legends. Thank you Ashleigh for being the rare person to review these movies!
They were more than famous
and what's more they were
loved. Clips of their tours show
huge crowds and in Rome a
stern Pope Pious XII sent an
envoy to request a very private
meeting being a long time fan
If you recall Blazing Saddles, the mayor offered "A laurel...and hearty handshake!" which was a play on the names of these angels.
When I watch Laurel and Hardy all my stress bleeds away, and I just get to laugh. Love this reaction!
In my opinion Laurel and Hardy were at their best in their 20 minute shorts. Films including The Music Box, Towed in a Hole and Big Business showed them at their best.
"March Of The Wooden Soliders" is fantastic, but they don't have to carry the entire movie. But I love that feature. I do love their shorts though, agreed.
There's no doubt that the shorts are a better introduction for context.
In Bohemian Girl, the boys interact with a real story, so that it is a series of short films combined into a feature length.
@@GarthKlein Thanks, I'll look out for that film.
My grandfather loved L&H and I have happy memories of watching and laughing along with him.
YES! LAUREL AND HARDY! *Everybody* needs to watch their films. I’m heartbroken that so many people these days aren’t familiar with them. Please keep on watching their movies; I highly recommend Way Out West, a comedy masterpiece in every sense of the word!
I am more of an Abbott & Costello fan, but Laurel & Hardy were also cool. Their most famous film is probably the holiday classic "March of the wooden soldiers", which is usually shown on tv at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Hopefully, you'll give Abbott & Costello a try. Most notably the 1948 film "Abbott & Costello meet Frankenstein". 1946's "The time of their lives" was also great. I hope you watch them. I think you'll enjoy them.
Abbott and Costello's Who's on First.
Hold That Ghost is one of my favorite Abbott and Costello movies. A comedy Gothic Whodunit.
@@littletee3649 YES! Another great one!
@@chrisbrown3907 Also a classic! Along with 7 into 28 equals 13! Ashleigh, if you read this, these are not movies. They are 5 minute skits.
I love these old movies! Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Bros, the Three Stooges, Keystone Cops, Little Rascals/Our Gang, Abbott and Costello, keep em coming!
In "Blazing Saddles," they welcomed the new sheriff with "a laurel and hearty handshake" (a clear reference to this classic comedy duo of yesteryear).
Laurel & Hardy are possibly best known for their silent film career, which was heavy on physical comedy ... because it was silent. Just like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
You wouldn't believe how much comedy is based on these guys, the deadpan look to camera being right up there.
Laurel & Hardy were the masters of physical comedy period.
R2-D2 and C-3PO were based on these two comedians
Actually they were based on two characters from a movie by Akira Kurosawa (The Hidden Fortress), but Stan & Ollie defnitely had some influence on them.
In reality it was also quite the other way around, Laurel had to watch out for Hardy a lot, because he was allegedly the 'dim' one.
Not that it makes a difference, but I LOVE that you’ve been exposed to Laurel and Hardy. There’s another film of theirs that is a special treasure to my heart: March of the Wooden Soldiers aka Babes in Toyland. It’s very much a kids movie, but the charm of the film carries it.
I strongly recommend that you give it a chance.
One of my all-time favorite holiday movies!
Fun Fact: Stan Laurel (the skinny guy) gave one of his 'Bowler Hats' to another working member of Hal Roach Studios....STYMIE BEARD, one of the original Little Rascals. That Bowler Hat became his trademark.
My first exposure to Laurel and Hardy was “March of the Wooden Soldiers” from 1934. Definitely a good watch during Christmas time.