do not use Laurel or Hardy comedy shorts
Special Features: Live musical accompaniment by Ben Model. Introduction by film archivist Rob Stone, author of "Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver 'Babe' Hardy." Books will be available for sale/signing.
Officially paired together for the first time in 1927's PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP and linked in the public's imagination ever since, comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy honed their crafts separately for more than a decade in a variety of roles for different studios. This program features some of each actor's best "solo" work made in the years prior to their duo debut. The program will be presented by Rob Stone, film archivist at the Library of Congress and author of the book "Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver 'Babe' Hardy." Program approx. 105 min.
Copies of Stone's books "Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver 'Babe' Hardy" and his latest, "Pokes and Jabbs: The Before, During and After of the Vim Films Corporation" will be available for sale and signing.
THE SERENADE (1916)
In late 1915, Oliver Hardy went to work making Vim Comedies. The Vim Comedy Company established themselves at the former Lubin studios in Jacksonville, Florida, and continued the POKES AND JABBS comedies started at Wizard Film Company. Hardy, along with longtime vaudevillian Billy Ruge, worked in support of the lead comedians, Bobby Burns and Walter Stull. Hardy and Ruge were more than adequate in their roles, and impressed Burstein so much that they were given their own film series, PLUMP AND RUNT. In THE SERENADE, Hardy and Ruge (as they were often billed) play musicians in conductor Billy Bletcher's band, playing on the streets and bringing not-so-sweet music to the neighborhood. DIR/SCR Will Louis; PROD Louis Burstein. U.S., 1916, b&w, 14 min. NOT RATED
THE RENT COLLECTOR (1921)
At the time of this film in early 1921, Larry Semon was one of the biggest comedy stars in Hollywood, and certainly the most well-known of the Vitagraph Studios comedians. Semon co-directed and co-wrote this short along with a young Norman Taurog, just starting out on his lengthy directorial career. Semon's character has a tough job, collecting rents in the roughest part of town, where he must contend with local gang leader the Big Boss (Oliver Hardy), here at his most fearsome. Semon has ample opportunity to show off his pluck and slapstick acrobatics, but Hardy gets ample screen time in support of the star. The two would become fast friends, with Hardy staying in Semon's employ for the next six years, and it was Semon who introduced Hardy to golf, the sport that would become his obsession. DIR/SCR/PROD Larry Semon; DIR/SCR Norman Taurog; PROD Albert E. Smith. U.S., 1921, b&w, 29 min. NOT RATED
WHEN KNIGHTS WERE COLD
In the years before he paired with Oliver Hardy and codified his now-famous persona within the duo, Stan Laurel tried out a variety of screen characterizations in his solo work, but none with staying power. One area where he found some success was making film parodies, playing off someone else's portrayal of a character: WHEN KNIGHTS WERE COLD (parodying WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER); MUD AND SAND, with Laurel as the great lover Rhubarb Vaselino (parodying Rudolph Valentino's BLOOD AND SAND); and THE SOILERS (parodying THE SPOILERS). Laurel became known for his work in these send-ups, which in their day were known as "travesties," giving a whole different meaning to the review headline that read: "Stan Laurel's new comedy is a travesty." Only the second reel of WHEN KNIGHTS WERE COLD survives, but the extant footage can be fully enjoyed as is. The punning character names and references (which included Rainy Knight, Foggy Knights, Stormy Knights and Knights of Pity Us), and Laurel's playful depiction of the horses in the film will please fans of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. DIR Frank Fouce; SCR Tom Miranda; PROD Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson. U.S., 1923, b&w, 15 min. NOT RATED
DETAINED (1924)
The debate over who gets proper credit for the genius idea to pair Stan Laurel opposite Oliver Hardy will never be fully resolved, with filmmakers Leo McCarey, Hal Roach and Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson all having plausible cases. But Laurel's tenure making films for Joe Rock, starting in 1924, also helped him to perfect aspects of his on-screen persona and double-act skills that would find full flower opposite Hardy soon after. DETAINED is the first of 12 films Laurel made with Rock. A case of mistaken identity lands Laurel's character in prison, where he must use his wits to survive and hopefully escape. Laurel spends much of the film working in tandem with another inmate, and the film borrows from 1918 prison film FRAUDS AND FRENZIES, which Laurel made with Larry Semon, as well as PICK AND SHOVEL (1923). Several gags here would also reappear later in Laurel and Hardy's THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS (1927) and THE FLYING DEUCES (1939). DIR Percy Pembroke; SCR Tay Garnett; PROD Joe Rock. U.S., 1924, b&w, 18 min. NOT RATED
MOONLIGHT AND NOSES (1925)
MOONLIGHT AND NOSES (the title is a playful reference to the popular song "Moonlight and Roses") was directed and co-written by Stan Laurel. The film shows Laurel the filmmaker exploring comedy duo dynamics, here pairing the Australian Clyde Cook, whose patient timing may have been an influence on Laurel's later playing, opposite Noah Young, with Jimmie Finlayson and a young Fay Wray in supporting roles. Would-be burglars played by Cook and Young get caught in the act by Professor Sniff (Finlayson), the owner of the home they're robbing, but rather than turn them in, he recruits them as graverobbers to supply material for his medical experiments. Then things really get weird. Cook receives star billing here, but he and Young play more as a team, with the lead comedian even taking a slightly more subordinate (but not smaller) role, and the contrast between strong and weak is exploited for humor. A similar comedy dynamic would be in effect two years later when Laurel first starred opposite Hardy. DIR/SCR Stan Laurel; SCR Carl Harbaugh, H. M. Walker; PROD Hal Roach. U.S., 1925, b&w, 29 min. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 105 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, November 19, 2022
Genre: Silent comedy
