It's good to know that the fame and popularity of Laurel and Hardy endure, when most of the comic acts of their time (and, indeed, later) are now forgotten. Stan and Ollie were the perfect double act, masters of technique, but with a quite extraordinary rapport and a quality of innocent good humour that lifted them to the level of the comedy immortals. The last 'innocent' double act in the Laurel and Hardy sense - to the point of sharing a bed and no eyebrows raised - were Morecambe and Wise. Today's comedy double acts are very different beasts, with no trace of the music hall or silent film tradition behind them - and certainly no innocence (though David Mitchell of Mitchell and Webb can feign it, up to a point). The nearest thing we now have to innocent comedy that is also funny is, I suppose, Harry Hill - no double act he, but very much a one-off. And the great survivor Ken Dodd of course, who, fittingly, has written the tribute for the Laurel and Hardy unveiling.
Meanwhile, as further proof of the immortality of Laurel and Hardy, just look at the frequent use in recent newspaper headlines of the phrase 'Another fine mess'. Oh yes, some very fine messes they've got us into lately...
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Patrick Kurp's blog posting `He Can't Think Without His Hat' is about Laurel and Hardy, and includes a link to a home video of the "duo's final appearance on film," a poem about Stan Laurel, and a reference to Samuel Beckett.
ReplyDeleteOh thanks for that link Dave - the last footage is almost ubearably sad isn't it - and a good poem too...
ReplyDeleteOnce saw Ken Dodd live on stage, he overran, one hour fifty minutes of the most way out, surreal humour it has ever been my pleasure to see. The madness grew and grew, it became manic, pure magic, never repeated.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Adam and Joe? They always seem without malice. But still funny.
ReplyDeleteGood statue wasn't it? As Doddy remarked with some surprise on the news this evening, it even looked like them.
Not quite sure they're up there with Laurel and Hardy, gaw, but Adam and Joe did give us a mention a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteI remember an interview with David Hockney at his London/New York retrospective and when asked what made him move to Los Angeles he said he used to watch the films of Laurel and H' on wet, cold, Saturday mornings in a Bradford cinema. He noticed that there were many shadows in the films, meaning the sun was shining, and that they were made in Hollywood. The rest as they say.......
ReplyDeleteSunny indeed!
Brit: respect.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have heard Stan and Ollie's 6Music show.
of course as a kid I used to groan when ever a laurel and hardy film came on (black & white - it MUST be rubbish!) but I have recently seen a couple and I must say that they did make me giggle.
ReplyDeleteNige, I'm surprised that you made no mention in your list of those titans of postmodern intellectual badinage, Cannon & Ball - most disappointing ;)
Perhaps Brit could write a re-appraisal of their oeuvre?
Indeed Will, an unpardonable omission - also Little and Large.
ReplyDelete