Hello, Laurel and Hardy fans, and after some long (and I do mean long) contemplation over whether or not this website should be continued, I have come to the conclusion: Why not? So, my plan for this website is to report Laurel and Hardy news and all of that good stuff, while at the same time (trying) to review all of the 107 Laurel and Hardy movies. The schedule for that reviewing of the films will hopefully be one a day.
And I know I already reviewed the first three Laurel and Hardy films on this website, but I think I am just going to review those films again because, if I'll be so honest, those reviews aren't exactly accurate. I mean, a 10 out of 10 for Duck Soup (1927)? So, anyways, I hope you enjoy this new remodeling of this website! The Lucky Dog's review will be out either today or tomorrow!
Friday, August 26, 2016
Friday, November 14, 2014
L&H Reviews: Slipping Wives
Today, I'll be reviewing the second Laurel and Hardy film, Slipping Wives. I've heard that Laurel and Hardy aren't really a pair in some of the early silent shorts, and this one no exception. Well, I guess I'll have to see. Here's a video of it:
Slipping Wives is...... uh.... well.... something..
The plot of this is that a man is married to a girl, except the man forgets the girl's birthday... The girl decides it's about time to make him jealous with another man so that the man will appreciate her even more. So, she picks a paint seller ( Stan Laurel.) Of course, when they try to make the girl's husband jealous, it of course doesn't work.
The plot is definitely too complicated at some times, and doesn't work at some times. I noticed some really funny gags, though.
In this film, Oliver Hardy plays a butler. When Stan knocks on the door trying to sell paint, Oliver notices it. He says, " Hello!" and they get into a little fight. Stan drops some paint, notices it, escapes from it, except Oliver doesn't. He ends up getting a face full of paint.
There's also another funny gag where Laurel is supposed to take a bath, by Hardy's request, and Laurel doesn't want to do it, so they get into a fight, where Oliver falls into the tub and gets a face full of water.
And, that's about it for the hints of actual Laurel and Hardy comedy we see in this film.
The supporting cast is pretty decent, but they could've chose better ones. There's one person in this film that looks kind of like Stan Laurel from an angle, and does many of his characteristics, which does not help.
I'm probably being a little bit too nit-picky, but there are a whole lot of nits to pick about this movie. For one, how does Hardy get a black eye by the end of the movie?
Man, this plot was a bit confusing for me! In some spots in this film, my mind rushed off to other places, so maybe that's why I don't get this film.
Just saying, they could've easily replaced James Finalyson with one of the guys that's in the film. Hopefully, there's a better movie to come tomorrow. I rate this movie a 8.5 out of 10. That's only because I like the scenes I mentioned above. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!
The plot of this is that a man is married to a girl, except the man forgets the girl's birthday... The girl decides it's about time to make him jealous with another man so that the man will appreciate her even more. So, she picks a paint seller ( Stan Laurel.) Of course, when they try to make the girl's husband jealous, it of course doesn't work.
The plot is definitely too complicated at some times, and doesn't work at some times. I noticed some really funny gags, though.
In this film, Oliver Hardy plays a butler. When Stan knocks on the door trying to sell paint, Oliver notices it. He says, " Hello!" and they get into a little fight. Stan drops some paint, notices it, escapes from it, except Oliver doesn't. He ends up getting a face full of paint.
There's also another funny gag where Laurel is supposed to take a bath, by Hardy's request, and Laurel doesn't want to do it, so they get into a fight, where Oliver falls into the tub and gets a face full of water.
And, that's about it for the hints of actual Laurel and Hardy comedy we see in this film.
The supporting cast is pretty decent, but they could've chose better ones. There's one person in this film that looks kind of like Stan Laurel from an angle, and does many of his characteristics, which does not help.
I'm probably being a little bit too nit-picky, but there are a whole lot of nits to pick about this movie. For one, how does Hardy get a black eye by the end of the movie?
Man, this plot was a bit confusing for me! In some spots in this film, my mind rushed off to other places, so maybe that's why I don't get this film.
Just saying, they could've easily replaced James Finalyson with one of the guys that's in the film. Hopefully, there's a better movie to come tomorrow. I rate this movie a 8.5 out of 10. That's only because I like the scenes I mentioned above. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
L&H Reviews: Duck Soup!
Welcome back to The Laurel and Hardy Fan! Today, I would be reviewing 45 Minutes from Hollywood, but since Laurel and Hardy don't have any scenes together in it, I don't think, I won't. So, we're going to jump straight into Duck Soup, the first official Laurel and Hardy comedy starring the duo made at Hal Roach Studios. Here's a video:
Anyways, the plot of this is that Colonel Buckshot is a rich person and going away. Meanwhile, Laurel and Hardy are unemployed, and are getting chased by recruiters. They immediately run away to Colonel Buckshot's house, and act like Hardy is Colonel Buckshot and Laurel is a maid. 2 people come and see " Colonel Buckshot." But, the real Colonel Buckshot comes, and so does the recruiters, and, as you know, that won't end well.
I'm not one to bore the audience with gags you've already seen, but there's one great gag that occurs when Laurel and Hardy are running away from the recruiters. Laurel and Hardy get on a bike, where Laurel remarks, " I've never been on a bike, before!" Hardy replies, " Me, either!" Then, they go down a huge hill and almost get crushed by buses.
This film is pretty great, better than The Lucky Dog, and we actually see Laurel and Hardy as a team that is working together, unlike The Lucky Dog. We also see Laurel's crying in this, which would later become one of Laurel's main characteristics.
This film is definitely enjoyable, and I highly recommend it. Although I do not know who is in this movie besides Stan and Ollie, the supporting cast is great. They do a great job of acting it out, silent-style.
It's interesting to note that this was a lost film for some 50 years until somebody found it, which is kind of sad because they were really missing out.
I love the bike gag, but my favorite part has to be one of those freak endings that Stan loved; a hose Stan and Ollie is controlling goes wrong, and somebody ( either Stan or Ollie) is on top of the hose in a long-distance shot, looking worried.
This was later reworked 3 years later into Another Fine Mess. This and Another Fine Mess are very similar, in terms of plot.
It's weird how Ollie obviously didn't shave in this movie, and it seems like they were just automatically a team in this movie. I know that Leo McCarey formed the team, but did he just look at their films and go, " Hey, Hal Roach, we should put this Stan Laurel guy and this Oliver Hardy guy together and look at the results!"
I know about the leg of lamb that Ollie cooked which caused him to break his arm which caused Laurel to fill in for him in a movie, but really-- this couldn't have formed a team, right. It was merely just a understudy helping an actor, right?? So, they couldn't just have instantly become a comedy team, as this film suggests. There was some testing out the chemistry between these two characters before they made the film, right?
Well, I won't go in-detail about that, but you should really watch this movie and I rate it a 10 out of 10! It's wonderful, and you should really see it! That's it for today! See you tomorrow!
This is actually a really good movie!! No wonder I like Another Fine Mess! ( I was referring to how Another Fine Mess is a remake of Duck Soup.)Anyways, the plot of this is that Colonel Buckshot is a rich person and going away. Meanwhile, Laurel and Hardy are unemployed, and are getting chased by recruiters. They immediately run away to Colonel Buckshot's house, and act like Hardy is Colonel Buckshot and Laurel is a maid. 2 people come and see " Colonel Buckshot." But, the real Colonel Buckshot comes, and so does the recruiters, and, as you know, that won't end well.
I'm not one to bore the audience with gags you've already seen, but there's one great gag that occurs when Laurel and Hardy are running away from the recruiters. Laurel and Hardy get on a bike, where Laurel remarks, " I've never been on a bike, before!" Hardy replies, " Me, either!" Then, they go down a huge hill and almost get crushed by buses.
This film is pretty great, better than The Lucky Dog, and we actually see Laurel and Hardy as a team that is working together, unlike The Lucky Dog. We also see Laurel's crying in this, which would later become one of Laurel's main characteristics.
This film is definitely enjoyable, and I highly recommend it. Although I do not know who is in this movie besides Stan and Ollie, the supporting cast is great. They do a great job of acting it out, silent-style.
It's interesting to note that this was a lost film for some 50 years until somebody found it, which is kind of sad because they were really missing out.
I love the bike gag, but my favorite part has to be one of those freak endings that Stan loved; a hose Stan and Ollie is controlling goes wrong, and somebody ( either Stan or Ollie) is on top of the hose in a long-distance shot, looking worried.
This was later reworked 3 years later into Another Fine Mess. This and Another Fine Mess are very similar, in terms of plot.
It's weird how Ollie obviously didn't shave in this movie, and it seems like they were just automatically a team in this movie. I know that Leo McCarey formed the team, but did he just look at their films and go, " Hey, Hal Roach, we should put this Stan Laurel guy and this Oliver Hardy guy together and look at the results!"
I know about the leg of lamb that Ollie cooked which caused him to break his arm which caused Laurel to fill in for him in a movie, but really-- this couldn't have formed a team, right. It was merely just a understudy helping an actor, right?? So, they couldn't just have instantly become a comedy team, as this film suggests. There was some testing out the chemistry between these two characters before they made the film, right?
Well, I won't go in-detail about that, but you should really watch this movie and I rate it a 10 out of 10! It's wonderful, and you should really see it! That's it for today! See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
L&H Reviews: The Lucky Dog!
Hello, people! Today, since this is my first official post, I thought I'd kick it off with a review of the first movie in which we see Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy paired together, The Lucky Dog ( 1919? 1921? 1922? Those are all possible dates of when the film was released.) Here's a video of it:
Well, this is a pleasant comedy, but a sort of strange one. This is a Stan Laurel movie, not a Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy movie. Oliver is more of a supporting player.
In this movie, Stan finds himself kicked out of his apartment and is living on the streets. He finds a dog, and likes to think of it as his own, I guess. He then finds Oliver Hardy, who is trying to rob him. Those plans don't work too well, and Oliver gets a kick in the tush, for it. He ends up finding a nice woman with a dog who insists he enter his dog in a dog show. This scene is a bit weird. He then goes inside the nice woman's house, and sits down and talks with the butler. Meanwhile, Oliver is planning a scheme to kill Stan, involving guns and dynamite. The guns do not work, and the dog has dynamite in his mouth. They go outside to get away, but the dog follows. They end up getting blown up.
This one is a pretty funny one, with some great gags. In the beginning, there's a pretty funny running gag where Stan keeps on having near-death experiences with trains and other vehicles. Then, there's ladies dancing around him, except it's all in his imagination.
I like how Oliver has a little sidekick that also hates Stan, so they scheme together and think of evil ways to kill poor Laurel.
There's one part that I mentioned before that I really liked. Oliver's gun scheme is not working on Stan, so Stan remarks, " What have you got in there, rubber bullets?"
One thing film historians could fix though is the title cards. Not that the jokes aren't funny, it's just some of them have wrong spelling and punctuation.
There's a couple of celebrity lookalikes in this film. I notice me a Chaplin look-a-like, and somewhat of a Charley Chase lookalike, who would later work at Hal Roach, like Laurel and Hardy.
As Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies notes, the first line we hear Oliver say to Stan isn't very promising: " Stick 'em up, or else I'll comb your hair with lead!"
Speaking of lead, you may notice how Stan's eyes look weird. Well, Stan had blue eyes, and blue eyes couldn't be captured on film back then, so during the editing process they switched the blue in his eyes to lead, so at least his eyelids would be seen.
Does anybody else think the dog in this film is super cute?
Anyhow, I like this movie, although it is far away from some of Laurel and Hardy's best efforts. It's pretty cool how they encounter together on this film, although the whole idea of Ollie-killing-Stan isn't very true to the Stan and Ollie characters.
But, hey, who can I argue with? This movie was filmed in 1917, 10 years before their official pairing!
I'd recommend watching this video, and a short excerpt of it is featured on this Laurel and Hardy DVD I have, which I can't remember what it's called.
My all-time favorite part in this film isn't very funny to most audiences, but it's when Oliver's sidekick is getting chased in and out of rooms by the dog while all the gun business is going on! You just keep on seeing quick cuts to Ollie's sidekick running in and out of rooms with the dog following him. It's hilarious!
The quality for this could've been better, but it was made almost 100 years ago, so I can't really make negative comments on that..
Overall, I like this video, and out of 10, I would rate it at a 9. Well, that's all for today! I'll see you tomorrow!!!
In this movie, Stan finds himself kicked out of his apartment and is living on the streets. He finds a dog, and likes to think of it as his own, I guess. He then finds Oliver Hardy, who is trying to rob him. Those plans don't work too well, and Oliver gets a kick in the tush, for it. He ends up finding a nice woman with a dog who insists he enter his dog in a dog show. This scene is a bit weird. He then goes inside the nice woman's house, and sits down and talks with the butler. Meanwhile, Oliver is planning a scheme to kill Stan, involving guns and dynamite. The guns do not work, and the dog has dynamite in his mouth. They go outside to get away, but the dog follows. They end up getting blown up.
This one is a pretty funny one, with some great gags. In the beginning, there's a pretty funny running gag where Stan keeps on having near-death experiences with trains and other vehicles. Then, there's ladies dancing around him, except it's all in his imagination.
I like how Oliver has a little sidekick that also hates Stan, so they scheme together and think of evil ways to kill poor Laurel.
There's one part that I mentioned before that I really liked. Oliver's gun scheme is not working on Stan, so Stan remarks, " What have you got in there, rubber bullets?"
One thing film historians could fix though is the title cards. Not that the jokes aren't funny, it's just some of them have wrong spelling and punctuation.
There's a couple of celebrity lookalikes in this film. I notice me a Chaplin look-a-like, and somewhat of a Charley Chase lookalike, who would later work at Hal Roach, like Laurel and Hardy.
As Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies notes, the first line we hear Oliver say to Stan isn't very promising: " Stick 'em up, or else I'll comb your hair with lead!"
Speaking of lead, you may notice how Stan's eyes look weird. Well, Stan had blue eyes, and blue eyes couldn't be captured on film back then, so during the editing process they switched the blue in his eyes to lead, so at least his eyelids would be seen.
Does anybody else think the dog in this film is super cute?
Anyhow, I like this movie, although it is far away from some of Laurel and Hardy's best efforts. It's pretty cool how they encounter together on this film, although the whole idea of Ollie-killing-Stan isn't very true to the Stan and Ollie characters.
But, hey, who can I argue with? This movie was filmed in 1917, 10 years before their official pairing!
I'd recommend watching this video, and a short excerpt of it is featured on this Laurel and Hardy DVD I have, which I can't remember what it's called.
My all-time favorite part in this film isn't very funny to most audiences, but it's when Oliver's sidekick is getting chased in and out of rooms by the dog while all the gun business is going on! You just keep on seeing quick cuts to Ollie's sidekick running in and out of rooms with the dog following him. It's hilarious!
The quality for this could've been better, but it was made almost 100 years ago, so I can't really make negative comments on that..
Overall, I like this video, and out of 10, I would rate it at a 9. Well, that's all for today! I'll see you tomorrow!!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Welcome, Laurel and Hardy fans!
Hello, Laurel and Hardy fans! I will post on this blog on a daily basis, where I will review Laurel and Hardy movies, products, and everything in between! I will also take some time to tell you news in the Laurel and Hardy world, and showcase some truly dedicated Laurel and Hardy fans! Well, see you tomorrow with my first official post!
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