Stan and Ollie From Soup to Nuts

Laurel & Hardy Meet the Pink Panther and other escapades

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by Jordan R. Young

Type

Stories

Subject

Actor > Laurel & Hardy

Keywords

Laurel & Hardy

Publishing date

2019

Publisher

Past Times Publishing

Collection

Past Times Film Close-Up

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 77 pages
8 ½ x 11 inches (21.5 x 28 cm)

ISBN

978-1-79458-193-7

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Book Presentation:
In “Stan and Ollie From Soup to Nuts: Laurel & Hardy Meet the Pink Panther and other escapades,” film and show business historian Jordan R. Young gathers together a group of unique pieces about his favorite comedy team, offering revealing anecdotes and little known facts about the duo. The author, who served as editor for the first edition of Randy Skretvedt’s acclaimed “Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies,” as well as research associate, has written about the team since the 1970s.When Young interviewed Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini for The New York Times about “The Pink Panther” films, he discovered to his delight all three were Laurel and Hardy fans, and happy to talk about them as a source of inspiration. The comedians often came to his rescue as a filmmaker, noted Edwards. “If there’s a moment where I need a physically humorous perspective, I seem to revert to Stan and Ollie. And that seems to save me.” The director also discussed the influence of Leo McCarey, who teamed Laurel and Hardy at Hal Roach Studios in the 1920s.In “They Played the Pantages,” George Burns shares memories of Stan and Mae Laurel’s vaudeville days. The iconic comedy team of Burns and Allen was still waiting in the wings when George and his partner Billy Lorraine found themselves appearing on the same bill with Stan and Mae. “The Laurels seemed to be fighting day and night. And with the thin-walled dressing rooms on the Pantages circuit, they could easily be heard all over the theater,” he recalled.In “Directing Laurel & Hardy,” George Marshall offers vivid reminiscences about working with the team, whom he directed in “Pack Up Your Troubles,” and two short subjects. “Babe Hardy was the fidgety kind, he’d come in, he’d listen, he’d see the pattern of what you were doing and during that time you were talking he’d suddenly come up with some very good gag…and he’d say, ‘Well, I’ll see you all later,’ and he’d be gone, off to the golf course.” Marshall is apparently the only director to discuss working with the beloved comedy team in an in-depth interview, conducted by Young in 1974; this section also includes an overview of Marshall’s lengthy career.In “Laurel & Hardy Meet Samuel Beckett,” the author asserts “Waiting for Godot” would have provided a fine vehicle for Stan and Ollie. After all, the avant-garde play—the most widely analyzed and discussed of the 20th century—was largely inspired by the popular comedy team, or so it seems. Estragon’s attempts to pull off a boot in the play’s opening scene recall Hardy’s belabored efforts to do likewise in “Be Big,” while the tramps’ talk of suicide suggests L&H’s attempts in “The Flying Deuces.” Literary scholars have been digging for the roots of “Godot” for more than 60 years. The intersection where Stan and Ollie met the esteemed playwright, figuratively if not literally, is as good a spot to dig as any. What happens when Laurel and Hardy’s long-lost 1927 short subject, “Hats Off,” the Holy Grail of comedy aficionados around the world, is discovered in a Cuban film archive? “Hats Off to Pordenone” follows an international group of real-world film scholars and historians in a fictitious adventure as they gather at an annual silent movie festival in Pordenone, Italy, for an eagerly anticipated screening of the film (the blueprint for the team’s Oscar-winning short, “The Music Box”) and attempt to avert certain disaster when a major problem arises.Jordan R. Young is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. His books include Spike Jones Off the Record: The Man Who Murdered Music, Reel Characters: Great Movie Character Actors, and The Laugh Crafters: Comedy Writing In Radio & TV’s Golden Age. He has written special material for the Grammy Awards and acted as a consultant for BBC Radio.

See the complete filmography of Laurel & Hardy on the website: IMDB ...