Laurel and Hardy

Identification American comedy film acting team

Stan Laurel

Oliver Hardy

After formally joining forces in 1927, Laurel and Hardy went on to become the first significant comedy team of the silver screen. While enjoying a highly successful film career from the late 1920’s through the 1940’s, the duo also performed on stage across America and Europe.

The first time Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were on screen together was in the short 1921 comedy Lucky Dog. However, they did not perform as a team, and five years would pass before they appeared together again. In 1926, they filmed thirteen silent “All-Star Comedies” for Hal Roach Studios before officially becoming a team in 1927. The pair quickly became the studio’s most recognizable and profitable stars. In 1929, the Boys, as they were popularly known, successfully made the transition from silent to sound films with the short Unaccustomed as We Are. Their popularity continued to grow.

Success

During the early 1930’s, Laurel and Hardy shorts were commonly billed over feature presentations at theaters around the United States. The stars’ tremendous success allowed them artistic freedom with Hal Roach as they moved to feature-length films. The pair’s first full-length feature, Pardon Us, was released in 1931. The next year, they were rewarded with the first Academy Award for a live-action short film for The Music Box, in which they played two dimwits delivering a heavy piano to a house at the top of a seemingly endless set of stairs.

As double features and cartoons became more popular in theaters in the 1930’s, Roach canceled the production of many of his short comedy productions, including those of Laurel and Hardy, who made their last short for him in 1935. However, Roach had no intention of canceling the production of the team’s feature films, which included Sons of the Desert (1933), Bonnie Scotland (1935), The Bohemian Girl (1936), and Block-Heads (1938). For their 1937 film Way Out West, Laurel and Hardy sang “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” which became the number-two song in England.

Moving On

By 1936, the artistic freedom that Roach had once offered Laurel and Hardy was beginning to wane. Laurel, the primary force behind the team, grew frustrated with Roach’s demands. Roach believed that all feature-length comedies should include musical numbers or some other break in the comedy, fearing the audience would get bored otherwise. Laurel disagreed, and throughout the latter part of the decade, he and Roach often were at odds. At times, Roach threatened to partner Hardy with another actor; the producer always had kept Laurel and Hardy under separate contracts, minimizing their bargaining power.

Throughout the decade, Laurel typically earned twice as much as Hardy, as he did twice the work. Laurel did much of the writing for the act, while Hardy was primarily a performer. In 1938, in a dispute over salaries, the pair split from Roach. Hardy, however, was still under contract and was obligated to perform when Roach carried out his threat to cast Hardy alongside another performer. In 1939, Roach released Zenobia and cast Harry Langdon as Hardy’s new partner. Laurel fought back, and it was announced that he had signed with Roach’s rival, Sennett Pictures Corporation, for several comedy features. The dispute with Roach resolved quickly, however, and Laurel did not make any films for Sennett. Laurel and Hardy produced two more features for Roach Studios in 1940, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea.

The new agreement with Roach was not exclusive, and in 1939 Laurel and Hardy starred in the feature film The Flying Deuces, produced and released by RKO Radio Pictures. This marked their first work as a team away from Roach Studios.

Throughout the decade, Laurel and Hardy also continued to give live performances, including a show at the 1939 World’s Fair in San Francisco. There they performed Laurel’s skit The Driver’s License, in which Hardy plays a man who is unable to write but applies for a license with the aid of his assistant (Laurel), who cannot read. The two toured the nation with the skit from 1940 to 1942.

Seeking more freedom, Laurel and Hardy left Roach Studios in 1941 and signed with Twentieth-Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Although their films were financially successful, the Boys did not receive the artistic freedom they had sought and were not pleased with the films being produced. In 1945, they released their last American film, The Bullfighters. In 1951, while in France, they filmed their last feature, Utopia.

Impact

Relying heavily on well-choreographed slapstick and witty dialogue, Laurel and Hardy made the transition from silent film to talkies appear effortless. Much of their comedy revolved around one situation that provided the opportunity for numerous missteps and nonsense, often leading the story in unexpected directions. Laurel and Hardy not only were the first successful comedy team on film, they also were two of the biggest film stars of their day.

Bibliography

Everson, William K. The Complete Films of Laurel and Hardy. 7th ed. New York: Citadel, 2000. Collection of chronologically arranged articles on all ninety-nine Laurel and Hardy comedies, from their early silent shorts to their features. Fully documented with cast lists, film credits, plot summaries, and more than four hundred images from the films.

Guiles, Fred Lawrence. Stan: The Life of Stan Laurel. New York: Stein and Day, 1980. Sympathetic biography of the English actor who became one of the most brilliant American film comedians.

Harness, Kyp. The Art of Laurel and Hardy: Graceful Calamity in the Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2006. One of the fullest biographies of Laurel and Hardy, with close attention to how the two worked together as an acting team.

Louvish, Simon. Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy—The Double Life of Laurel and Hardy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001. Affectionate yet objective dual biography offering one of the deepest looks into the lives of Laurel and Hardy.

Mitchell, Glenn. The Laurel and Hardy Encyclopedia. 2d ed. Richmond, England: Reynolds & Hearn, 2008. Comprehensive reference work with more than six hundred entries on all aspects of the actors’ lives, films, and nonfilm work. Well illustrated.

Skretvedt, Randy. Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies. 2d ed. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Past Times, 1994. Meticulously researched and often revealing joint biography that explores how Laurel and Hardy made their films and offers insights into general comedy filmmaking. Lavishly illustrated, with complete filmography.