STACK Magazine April 2015 Issue 126

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visit EXTRAS
018 APRIL 2015 JB Hi-Fi
as well as the original English. Both Laurel
and Hardy, with the help of a voice coach, had
to learn to speak phonetically in each foreign
language.
Stan, as the brains of the team, continually
burnt the midnight oil by cutting and editing their
completed films, and then choreographing and
writing slick dialogue for the next. However,
Stan's much loved characteristic of scratching his
head in confusion when a simple instruction from
Ollie is inevitably misunderstood, his humorous
determined walk (which he achieved by removing
the heels from his shoes – an old music hall
stunt), and his unique vocal delivery of muddled
dialogue such as "You can lead a horse to water
but a pencil must be lead" all evolved during this
early sound period, which further endeared him
to movie audiences.
Likewise Oliver Hardy, who whilst quite
happy and content to let his partner undertake
most of the creative work while he played golf,
nevertheless further developed the "sound
version" of Ollie all by himself. His precise,
dainty, over-elaborate mannerisms, the fiddling
of his tie, and his frustrated look directly into
the camera as he attempted to educate his
calamitous colleague were now enhanced with
a plethora of Ollie catchphrases like, "Well here's
another nice mess you've gotten me into"; "Why
don't you be careful" and "Come Stanley".
These two court jesters, who perfectly
complemented each other, created a
rambunctious world all of their own whilst
developing their unique comedic and filmmaking
talents into a pure art form. Evidence of this
(if any is needed) is their 1932 classic tour de
force – and arguably the most favourite of all
their sound shorts – The Music Box.
Using the script and the same LA location
of the long lost silent short Hats Off, Stan and
Ollie attempt to deliver a crated piano (rather
than a washing machine) to a house atop an
enormous flight of steps. After crashing to
the bottom several times,
with Ollie either attached
or underneath the crate, they
finally succeed in getting it
all the way to the top. They
are then told by a postman
that they could have driven it
up by just following the road
around the hill. Ollie looks
at Stanley and says "Now
why didn't we think of that
before?". He then motions
to Stan, and they both
pick up the crate and carry
it back down the steps to
load it onto their horse-driven
wagon.
The simplicity of two
adults who are really children
pretending to be adults, and
who inevitably choose the
wrong way of doing things, is why their movies
remain hilarious to this day. The Music Box won
the Oscar for Best Short Subject (Comedy) at the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Awards in November 1932.
In July 1932, with three films in the can
awaiting release, Stan decided to take a break
from filming and visit his father in England.
Hardy, always the inveterate golfer, decided
to join his partner so he could try out the golf
courses in Scotland.
When they arrived in Southampton on board
the Aquitania, thousands of their fans lined
the docks all whistling the "Cuckoo" song. The
boys had to literally battle their way through the
adoring crowds to reach the train to London.
And when they arrived at Waterloo station,
several thousand more of their fans were waiting
there to mob them. The completely unexpected
response and adulation they received wherever
they went in Britain was the first intimation that
Stan and Ollie had of their global fame. Returning
to Hollywood, the boys continued making their
classic sound shorts.
Then one morning in November 1932, whilst
Stan and Ollie were filming Towed in a Hole, Hal
Roach approached them on set and told them
that "our distributors at MGM have asked us to
reduce the number of comedy shorts". Roach
paused, noting the look of disappointment on
both of their faces. He then smiled and
said, "They now want full-length Laurel and
Hardy features instead".
To be continued...
Angry Professor Theodore Von Schwarzenhoffen (played by Billy
Gilbert) watches while Stan and Ollie attempt to deliver The
Music Box up a flight of 130 stone steps.
The classic L&H "look", signifying mayhem ahead (note Stan's white pancake make-up
that he always wore whilst filming – clearly shown in this still from Towed in a Hole).
These two court jesters
created a rambunctious
world all of their own
whilst developing their
unique comedic and
filmmaking talents.