Remembering STAN LAUREL

 

Stan Laurel along with his partner Oliver Hardy, were the greatest comedy team ever to grace the silver screen and on this date, I always honor Stan's memory by listening to the music from his films and watching several of his best shorts and long features. I've been repeating this ritual for several years and I never get tired of admiring Stan's artistry and comic genius, over and over again!

OLIVER HARDY remembered on his birthday.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:

As 2021 slowly but surely steps in, and in the aftermath of the sad and shameful events that transpired on January 6th at Capitol Hill, I feel the need to review some of the things that, for me, make life worth living. These favorite things still bring a smile to my face and give me a sense that, in spite of all the idiocy and brutality in the world, there will always be a reason to be thankful and keep my hopes high!

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

Buster Keaton

 

Harold Lloyd

Sean Connery

Cary Grant

Frank Sinatra

Marilyn Monroe

Steve McQueen

Barbara Feldon & Don Adams in GET SMART

Benny Goodman                                            THE PINK PANTHER

 

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR

Mort Drucker

The first 40 years of MAD Magazine

HAVE A MERRY LAUREL & HARDY CHRISTMAS!

 Many years ago I had these Xmas cards printed and sent out to members of the Sons of the Desert, the International Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society to which I belong. As the 21st century rolled along, I digitally colorized them and now every L & h fan around the world can get my best holiday wishes online!

OLLIE!

 Oliver Hardy passed on this date, August 7th, 1957 at 65 years of age. When his on stage and screen partner, Stan Laurel heard the news, he was devastated and from then on, refused to perform on stage or act in another film again. Ever since they became partners in 1927, he thought of himself as half of an entity called Laurel & Hardy and consequentially, without Hardy there couldn't be any Laurel. That's how close they were. Their friendship had blossomed during their fading years when, out of work in movies, they began to tour appearing live before delighted audiences in the U.S. and abroad.  Ollie was by this time, married to Virginia Lucille Jones, a script girl he met while filming THE FLYING DEUCES.  Stan was married to Ida Kitaeva Raphael and the four of them struck a very close friendship during those tours.

Many people think of Hardy as being the perfect straight man to Laurel but in fact, there was no straight man in this team since Ollie shared the comedy equally with Stan.  You could laugh at Stan's fumblings and get another laugh watching Ollie's reaction to his pal's blunders, which did not keep Hardy from committing some equally hilarious bits of slapstick himself!

Here's a link to last year's post on Oliver Hardy:

https://ferllera.blogspot.com/2019/08/oliver-hardy-genius-of-comedy.html

LAUREL & HARDY : The Definitive Restorations

Finally, after a long wait, the Laurel & Hardy Definitive Restorations DVD and Blu-Ray discs were released on June 30th and a joyous occasion it was for the countless fans who were eagerly awaiting for this event!

And it was everything it was supposed to be.  The films look better than ever. The sharpness, detail and sound are exactly like they must have been when first released, almost 90 years ago.

I won't go into any details here because every Tom, Dick and Harry have posted their opinions on the social networks and I will not be adding my comments to them as I'm not interested in being a critic or reviewer, but mark my words, these films look gorgeous as never before.

The only drawback is that it's not a complete set. Laurel and Hardy appeared in about 106 films together, between 1917 and 1951 and this volume covers a mere fraction of that, which only wets L&H fans' appetite for more restorations.

Hopefully, there will be further volumes coming sometime but for the time being, let's enjoy what we have! Welcome back again, Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy!

For more details on this Blu-Ray and DVD release, check here:

https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Hardy-Definitive-Restorations-Blu-ray/dp/B084P3S7NJ

You can watch the trailer here:

MY TEN MOST-WATCHED FILMS

I've seen quite a lot of films during my 69 years of life but just a chosen few have been revisited by me over and over again for different reasons.  This here is a list of the first 10 films I know I have seen more than a 100 times, although there are more than 50 in my complete most-watched checklist. The question people may ask about this is: why watch a film over and over again when you've already seen it and know every scene by heart? Isn't once enough?
If you have your own MOST-WATCHED FILMS tally, then you know the answer!

And without any further explanation, here we go:

THUNDERBALL (1965)

BULLITT (1968)

GOLDFINGER (1964)

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)

CASABLANCA (1943)

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975)

THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963)

WAY OUT WEST (1937)

THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)

CHARADE (1963)

I'll post 10 more in a later chapter.

REMEMBERING STAN LAUREL

               I consider myself to be primarily a comedian who just happens to perform through cartoons.
                   And among comedians, there's no one standing higher for me than Stan Laurel.

I've always admired his skill in pantomime and the remarkable ability to take a simple everyday situation and transform it into something funny, ridiculous and immensely entertaining. His partnership with Oliver Hardy was a blessing for Stan as it gave him a sounding board and instant feedback to his quiet bits of lunacy. Sadly, most of Laurel and Hardy's artistry is lost in present generations due to a lack of promotion and poor exposure of their films on the streaming services. Still, there is hope that their wonderful shorts and feature films somehow will find a way to be admired and become an inspiration to future generations. As for myself, I am just glad I was born when their comedies were still widely available on television because, to this day, I cherish their friendship and companionship through all the muck and mire of our daily existence.

                                                                 God Bless Stan Laurel!