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Laurel & Hardy: "Quote, Unquote"
25 full-color and 20 b&w photos. 7 1/2 x 9 3/4.
- GenresFilm
80 pages, Hardcover
First published July 3, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2022
Laurel and Hardy are comedy legends and Neil Grant in this delightful and funny book shows why that is and as I have been an admirer of them since a young age I always enjoy reading about their lives and times.
This book looks back on their films, short two- and three-reelers to begin with to the feature films that they made in the later stages of their careers. And, after both having solo careers to begin with and both having worked with some of the major comedians of the day, they began as a partnership with the quirkily titled 'Putting the Pants on Philip' in 1927. They made four films in that first year and this escalated to 11 in 1928 and 13 in 1928. Thereafter there were films every year through to 1945.
As the book title suggests with its series name, "Quote, Unquote', there are plenty of comments from the two of them. Oliver, for instance explains how he became to beknown as 'Babe', which came about in his early days as a solo artist when he worked for the Lubin film studio and had his hair cut by an Italian barber. He had a thick foreign accent and took a liking to Oliver so after he had finished shaving him 'he'd rub powder into my face and pat my cheeks and say, "Nice-a-bab-ee. Nice-a-bab-ee". The other actors always kidded him about this and started to call him "Baby", which was eventually cut down to "Babe".
Stan, always the thinker of the two, concentrated on other things such as, 'Like everybody else, I was interested in making money. This stems from my vaudeville days [in the UK], when I was making very little of it.' And 'A friend once asked me what comedy was. That floored me. What is comedy? I don't know. Does anybody? Can you define it? All I know is that I learned how to get laughs, and that's all I know about it.' Having said that it is well known that Stan was the comedic genius behind many of the Laurel and Hardy situations and gags.
And quotes litter every page, interspersed between the historical background to the Laurel and Hardy partnership, plus Stan and Ollie's reminiscences of their time touring as solo artists of which Stan recalls, 'it ended up with three or four of us sharing a room' and Ollie rembers his early views, 'I saw some of the comedies that were being made [around 1910-13] and I thought to myself that I could be as good'. He gave up the movie theatre as it was and went to Jacksonville, Florida, and started to work for Lubin Motion Pictures where he made five dollars a day, with three days work a week guaranteed.
And so when they were a duo they continued making films each year with a first feature film coming in 1931 with 'Pardon Us' (1931) and, of course, when the talkies came in, they adapted accordingly after at first having doubts whether they could transfer successfully from the silents. After occasional feature films through the early 1930s they began making only feature films at the end of 1935 with 'Bonnie Scotland' and from then on they made a further 18 further features. The author does admit that their feature films did not quite match up to their shorts and between 1941 and 1945 most of them were when they were loaned out to the Fox Studios. And the boys themselves were not too happy with that arrangement. Their last film together, which they made after a five year hiatus in 1950, was 'Atoll K' and of it was not a great success as evinced by Stan commenting, 'Johnson [the director] is funnier than the picture, although that's not saying a hell of a lot ...'.
They toured the United Kingdom twice, the first time thinking that they were going on a golfing vacation but the public response was such that they did not get chance to even have a round and that was disappointing to them as they were in Scotland much of the time. Their two other tours were just as manic and their popularity in England was immense.
They both had mixed success in their private lives, both having married a number of times but it is their professional careers that attracts the fans and the final word should go to Ollie whose last curtain call comment was 'Stan and I have had a lot of fun appearing before you. Thank you, goodbye ... and GOD BLESS!'
There are plenty of great illustrations in the book, both from the films and from their private lives and it is a must for those Stan and Ollie fans out there.
This book looks back on their films, short two- and three-reelers to begin with to the feature films that they made in the later stages of their careers. And, after both having solo careers to begin with and both having worked with some of the major comedians of the day, they began as a partnership with the quirkily titled 'Putting the Pants on Philip' in 1927. They made four films in that first year and this escalated to 11 in 1928 and 13 in 1928. Thereafter there were films every year through to 1945.
As the book title suggests with its series name, "Quote, Unquote', there are plenty of comments from the two of them. Oliver, for instance explains how he became to beknown as 'Babe', which came about in his early days as a solo artist when he worked for the Lubin film studio and had his hair cut by an Italian barber. He had a thick foreign accent and took a liking to Oliver so after he had finished shaving him 'he'd rub powder into my face and pat my cheeks and say, "Nice-a-bab-ee. Nice-a-bab-ee". The other actors always kidded him about this and started to call him "Baby", which was eventually cut down to "Babe".
Stan, always the thinker of the two, concentrated on other things such as, 'Like everybody else, I was interested in making money. This stems from my vaudeville days [in the UK], when I was making very little of it.' And 'A friend once asked me what comedy was. That floored me. What is comedy? I don't know. Does anybody? Can you define it? All I know is that I learned how to get laughs, and that's all I know about it.' Having said that it is well known that Stan was the comedic genius behind many of the Laurel and Hardy situations and gags.
And quotes litter every page, interspersed between the historical background to the Laurel and Hardy partnership, plus Stan and Ollie's reminiscences of their time touring as solo artists of which Stan recalls, 'it ended up with three or four of us sharing a room' and Ollie rembers his early views, 'I saw some of the comedies that were being made [around 1910-13] and I thought to myself that I could be as good'. He gave up the movie theatre as it was and went to Jacksonville, Florida, and started to work for Lubin Motion Pictures where he made five dollars a day, with three days work a week guaranteed.
And so when they were a duo they continued making films each year with a first feature film coming in 1931 with 'Pardon Us' (1931) and, of course, when the talkies came in, they adapted accordingly after at first having doubts whether they could transfer successfully from the silents. After occasional feature films through the early 1930s they began making only feature films at the end of 1935 with 'Bonnie Scotland' and from then on they made a further 18 further features. The author does admit that their feature films did not quite match up to their shorts and between 1941 and 1945 most of them were when they were loaned out to the Fox Studios. And the boys themselves were not too happy with that arrangement. Their last film together, which they made after a five year hiatus in 1950, was 'Atoll K' and of it was not a great success as evinced by Stan commenting, 'Johnson [the director] is funnier than the picture, although that's not saying a hell of a lot ...'.
They toured the United Kingdom twice, the first time thinking that they were going on a golfing vacation but the public response was such that they did not get chance to even have a round and that was disappointing to them as they were in Scotland much of the time. Their two other tours were just as manic and their popularity in England was immense.
They both had mixed success in their private lives, both having married a number of times but it is their professional careers that attracts the fans and the final word should go to Ollie whose last curtain call comment was 'Stan and I have had a lot of fun appearing before you. Thank you, goodbye ... and GOD BLESS!'
There are plenty of great illustrations in the book, both from the films and from their private lives and it is a must for those Stan and Ollie fans out there.
November 21, 2010
This is a very well done book on two unique gentlemen that brought a lot of laughtre to a lot of people. Filled with great photographs from their films and off times, readers will learn the history that brought these two together, their work, and how they ended their career.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews