THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson. Released by
DCA/Fox, 1958.
A groundbreaking documentary
which rekindled public interest in silent comedy, it features scenes
from Habeas
Corpus, The Second Hundred Years,
We
Faw Down, The Battle
of the Century, Two Tars and You're
Darn Tootin', among others. Aside
from Laurel and Hardy, THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY paid just tribute to
Ben Turpin, Will Rogers, Harry Langdon, Carole Lombard and Jean Harlow.
Historians as well and
L&H fans owe an eternal debt to Youngson not only for restoring
Laurel and Hardy to their rightful place as Comedy Kings (at least for
a time), but for rescuing the pie fight sequence from The Battle of the
Century. Youngson found the film deteriorating rapidly,
and his efforts
restored and preserved (albeit in an edited form) a legendary sequence
of silent comedy.
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WHEN COMEDY WAS KING
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson.
Released Fox, 1960.
Buoyed by the success of of
THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY, Youngson created this sequel, which featured
Charlie Chaplin, Charley Chase, Snub Pollard and Laurel and Hardy, who
provided a smash finale for the film with their Big
Business. The
immediate sequel, DAYS OF THRILLS AND LAUGHTER (1961), featured the
Boys only in solo films while the next film, THIRTY YEARS OF FUN
(1964), included only one scene from Lucky Dog, hence their
non-inclusion in this list of compilations
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MGM’S BIG PARADE OF COMEDY
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson. Released MGM,
1964.
At MGM's behest, Youngson
created an overview of the comedy made at the grandest of all studios.
The trouble with this film is that although MGM produced some fine
comedies over the years, most of the classic comedians featured here
did their best work at other studios: Keaton at his own studios, The
Marxes and W.C. Fields at Paramount, Abbott and Costello (and Fields
again) at Universal, the Three Stooges at Columbia and Laurel and Hardy
at Hal Roach. Consequently, most of the scenes chosen to represent
these comedians are far from the cream of the crop. Laurel and Hardy
are represented by the impromptu dance scene from BONNIE SCOTLAND and
the egg-breaking routine from HOLLYWOOD
PARTY, both good scenes but neither of which
captures the Boys at their absolute best.
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LAUREL
AND HARDY’S LAUGHING TWENTIES
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson. Released MGM,
1965.
A superb compilation of some
of Laurel and Hardy's best moments from the silent years, including
clips and scenes from Sugar Daddies, Putting Pants on Philip, From Soup
to Nuts, Wrong Again,
Liberty
and many others. Dominated by the title
stars, with able support from Roach comedians Charley Chase and Max
Davidson.
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THE FURTHER PERILS OF LAUREL AND HARDY
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson. Released by
Fox, 1967.
A companion piece to LAUREL
AND HARDY'S LAUGHING TWENTIES, THE FURTHER PERILS features an equally
fun selection of choice moments from the silent years, highlighted by
sections of You're
Darn Tootin'.
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4 CLOWNS
Written and Produced by Robert Youngson. Released by
Fox, 1969.
The four clowns are Buster
Keaton, Charley Chase, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Laurel and Hardy
appear in solo scenes, short clips from various silent shorts and a
nicely done abridgement of Their Purple Moment.
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THE CRAZY WORLD OF LAUREL AND
HARDY
Produced by Hal Roach. Executive producers: Jay Ward and Bill Scott.
Released by Joseph Brenner, 1967.
With Hal Roach giving them
carte blanche to rummage through his films, Jay Ward and Bill Scott (of Rocky
and Bullwinkle fame) attempted to create their own Youngson-like film,
but with the major emphasis on talkies rather than silents. Even with
some new sound effects and music added to occasionally re-edited
L&H footage, the boys and their humor survive nicely. Gary Moore
narrates, with the films represented including Bacon Grabbers, Beau Hunks,
The Music Box, Going Bye-Bye!
and THE BOHEMIAN GIRL,
among
many others.
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THE BEST OF LAUREL AND HARDY
Produced by James L. Wolcott. Not released to theaters,
1971.
A British compilation that
appeared only on television. THE BEST OF LAUREL AND HARDY may not be an
accurate title, but the film is a representative grab bag of good
sequences from many films including Be Big!, County Hospital, Below
Zero, Our Wife,
PARDON US and OUR RELATIONS.
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LAUREL AND HARDY: A TRIBUTE TO THE BOYS
Produced and Directed by Jeff Weinstock and Gene Rosow.
Written by Gene
Rosow. RHI Entertainment, Inc. 1991.
Originally shown on the Disney
Channel, this hour long tribute has good points and bad points. Bad
points include the use of garishly colorized footage at the expense of
the black and white originals, lack of research (host Dom Deluise
solemnly states "When Oliver Hardy died in the hospital, Stan Laurel
was holding his hand"), and too many pointless quotes from celebrities.
Good points include Laurel and Hardy themselves, who are shown in a
wide ranging selection of good to great scenes. Johnny Carson's
thoughts on the Boys onscreen friendship and Hardy's camera looks are
revealing, and Walter Matthau contributes a memorable quote: "I always
enjoyed Laurel and Hardy. I don't know why - maybe because I'm stupid!"
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