"Life isn't short enough . . ." — Laurel in Sons of the Desert (1934) By Dan Callahan
There are some performers who were meant to be together on screen. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers balance each other so perfectly that watching one of their dances is akin to a religious experience; everything works, everything shouts "Kismet!" William Powell and Myrna Loy already had long careers behind them playing mostly villains before she literally fell into his lap in Manhattan Melodrama (1934), whereupon they started up a dry repartee that lasted through many years and movies; again, it was "Kismet!" But the biggest "Kismet!" of them all took place in the mid-twenties at the Hal Roach Studio, when two jobbing comedians, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, gradually came together to create their own world on screen, aided at the beginning by the story-writing talents of Leo McCarey and the camerawork of George Stevens. Thus, two of our best directors learned their trade under the unbeatable auspices of Laurel and Hardy, known the world over as an image of unbreakable friendship pledged to love through all disaster. After borrowing John McCabe's useful Laurel and Hardy biography from the library, I placed it on a counter to be checked before I left; the very young checkout girl glanced at a photograph of the boys on the cover and instantly started laughing, warmly, affectionately. I asked her if she'd seen their films. "No," she said. "They just look funny together."
Read the rest at:
Bright Lights Film Journal :: Nuts and Nice Messes: Laurel and Hardy
Indeed. : )
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