Director
Jon S. Baird
Cast
John C. Reilly - Oliver Hardy
Steve Coogan - Stan Laurel
Nina Arianda - Ida Kitaeva Laurel
Shirley Henderson - Lucille Hardy
Rufus Jones - Bernard Delfont
Danny Huston - Hal Roach
John Henshaw - Nobby Cook
When I heard that the movie Stan & Ollie was in production and set to be released in theaters back in 2018, I thought it was about time. There really aren't any biopics about the comedy team, Laurel and Hardy.
The only other one I know of is a 2006 TV movie called Stan, based on a radio play of the same name. It tells the story of Stan Laurel's last visit with Oliver Hardy as he's on his death bed.
Jim Norton plays Stan Laurel alongside Trevor Cooper as Oliver Hardy.
It's a warm story that's certainly worth watching if you can find it.
There's also a reboot (of sorts) from 1999 called The New Adventures of Laurel and Hardy: For Love or Mummy. I haven't seen it. Maybe I will at some point. Anyways, it's certainly no biopic from what I can tell. But it's the only other movie I know about that has actors playing Laurel and Hardy. Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) plays "Stanley Thinnius Laurel" and Gailard Sartain (Ernest Saves Christmas, Ernest Goes to Jail) plays "Oliver Fattius Hardy."
When first watching the trailer for Stan & Ollie back in 2018 when it first aired, my initial impression was that it looked like the long-overdue biographical movie the famed comedy pair needs so new audiences could be introduced to these pioneers of comedy.
I'm very familiar with these two. Having seen the majority of Laurel and Hardy movies - silent and talking - produced through the Hal Roach Studios (one exception being the 1939 movie The Flying Deuces in which Hal Roach loaned them to RKO Radio Pictures) I've recently turned my attention to another comedy duo, Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts (the latter was replaced by Patsy Kelly) who made shorts for Hal Roach during the same period. They're not as well known nowadays. With the research I'm doing on these women of comedy, with actual books and watching as many, if not all, of their movie shorts as I can find, that post will be up later in the year.
But Laurel and Hardy play a huge role in the movie watching part of my life. They laid the foundation for my appreciation of the classics.
During my teenage years, my dad and I even attended regular Laurel and Hardy movie showings over in San Francisco, put on by the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society "The Sons of the Desert." Once a month, they would play a string of Laurel and Hardy films, and other movies from the Hal Roach Studios in a San Francisco theater. Those were a lot of fun to attend..
And on my writing desk at home sit two cold cast music boxes of these guys.
When it comes to biographical movies, I think it's generally better and safer if the film focuses on a certain aspect or event of the subject's life or career rather than cover their entire span or the majority of their life.
Some films do a good job covering a subject's entire life. Others turn out convoluted and boring
The 2004 film Ray about rhythm and blues singer Ray Charles covers a majority of his life. However, having been a blind musician, there's a human interest element in his life story. The movie shows the audience how he managed to rise to his level of fame as a piano player and musician without having sight. The focus is certainly on his music.
It's a great movie, and one I recommend.
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| Steve Coogan (left) as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly (right) as Oliver Hardy |
The 1992 biopic, Chaplin, covers the entire life of silent film comedian Charlie Chaplin. As a result, it looses focus of the reasons Chaplin became as legendary as he is. The movie focuses on so many aspects of his public life. It also focuses too much on his private life, starting from his boyhood all the way to his Academy Award in 1972. Too much is covered. I'll save that review for another time.
The film Stan & Ollie starts off in 1937 as Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C. Reilly) are in the middle of making their feature film, Way Out West. The attention to detail in this opening scene is remarkable.
During production, Stan refuses to renew his contract with Hal Roach (Danny Huston) as he believes neither he nor Oliver are being fairly compensated for being as successful as they are.
Oliver, meanwhile. is still under contract with Hal Roach Studios.
With that being the case, the studio pairs Oliver with another one of their star comedians at the time, Harry Langdon (Richard Cant). Together, they star in a feature comedy film called Zenobia.
Laurel and Hardy join together again after the production of Zenobia. But Oliver skips out on a meeting with Fox Studios which Stan is present for. This results in the pair loosing out on a deal with Fox. And Stan holds a grudge against Oliver for years after.
Sixteen years go by. Laurel and Hardy haven't made a movie since Atoll K, released in 1950. So, they set out for a tour of the U.K. and Ireland's music halls.
During this time, Stan is trying to get them roles in a comedy adaptation of Robin Hood.
As the tour begins, audience attendance to their stage appearances is dismal thanks to poor publicity on the part of their producer, Bernard Delfont (Rufus Jones).
But the more promotional public appearances Laurel and Hardy make, the more interest grows among the general public.
Soon, they're performing in front of sold-out audiences.
At one point, old bitter emotions bubble over inside Stan, and the pair have a fight to the point where they won't speak to each other.
During an appearance to judge a beauty contest, Oliver has a heart attack and is forced to stay in bed.
Delfont attempts to have Stan carry out the rest of the shows with another comedian, Nobby Cook (John Henshaw). Stan initially agrees, but moments before the first show without Oliver, he can't bring himself to do a performance without his old partner. After their U.K. tour, Laurel and Hardy never perform together again.
Even after Oliver Hardy died in 1957, Stan continued writing material for themselves until his own death in 1965.
My dad owned a collection of Laurel and Hardy movies on VHS, distributed by Video Treasures.
Each tape had a short segment before the feature presentation in which Stan Laurel's daughter, Lois Laurel, would narrate home movies and photos of Oliver and her father.
I was intrigued by these short segments which showcased the pair simply being themselves on-set or at home.
This was all before YouTube and special features on DVDs.
There's one tidbit of information Lois said in one of these short segments that stuck with me.
She said that her dad and her "Uncle Babe" Hardy were such good friends, and that some people who knew both of them well would describe their friendship as being as close as brothers.
So, being as close as brothers, she said they never fought with each other.
Maybe that's true. I still find it hard to believe. Sometimes a verbal fight can strengthen a relationship like fire strengthens steel. Obviously a fight isn't the ideal way to go about it. But arguments occur to some degree or another with the closest of friends. It gives each person a clearer understanding of each other.
In his book The Silent Clowns, author Walter Kerr describes Stan as being stubborn and arrogant when it came to his career.
"At least nominally, Laurel was a star from the beginning. As a star, he was a bantam cock, pushy, agitated, agile," Kerr says.
The fight Laurel and Hardy have in the movie is a crucial scene.
It begins when they're joined by their wives for an opening night party at the Savoy Hotel as their performance at the Lyceum Theater is sold out.
As they meet and greet guests, there's some tension between their wives, Ida Laurel (Nina Arianda) and Lucille Hardy (Shirley Henderson).
Ida references Oliver's "elephant movie" which stirs up old bitter emotions. She's referring to the movie Zenobia.
Soon, he and Oliver get into an argument over the matter as Stan considers Oliver's role in the movie as a betrayal even though it happened 16 years ago.
"We're friends because Hal Roach put us together. And the only reason we stayed together was because the audience wanted it," Oliver says. "I have real friends. And yes, we play golf, and we go to ball games, and we have sauerkraut on our bratwurst."
"People will remember our movies long after you finished your hot dog," Stan says.
Then, Stan spills his feelings out.
It's important to mention that between the two of them, Stan did all the writing for their films. Oliver preferred to play golf rather than write.
"You know something... you're just a lazy ass who got lucky 'cause you met me," Stan continues.
"Lucky? To spend my life with a hollow man who hides behind his typewriter? You're not real, Stan. You're hollow. You're empty."
Stan stares crestfallen at Ollie.
"I loved us," he says.
"You loved 'Laurel and Hardy' but you never loved me."
Stan gets in the last word.
"So what?"
As Oliver walks away, Stan throws a dinner roll at him which hits him in the back of the head.
The pair refuse to talk to each other during the next few public appearances.
The emotions are strong in this scene. And Stan's point of view as far as their career goes is loud and clear. You can see it in the eyes of both Coogan and Reilly.
"I'll miss us when we're gone," Oliver later tells Stan as they're about to go out on stage one last time.
"So will you," Stan replies.
Rather than make a film that quickly showcases them going through the production process of their more well known films, one by one, such as The Music Box, Way Out West and Bonnie Scotland, the movie focuses on their last hurray. That being their final tour together. It's enough of a story to portray how much they depended on each other.
Together, Laurel and Hardy made 107 movies - 32 silent movie shorts, 40 talking shorts, and 23 feature-length films. The 1921 silent movie The Lucky Dog is their first appearance on screen together. Putting Pants on Philip (1927) is their first official "Laurel and Hardy" movie. Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) is their first speaking film. They later used the same premise of this film for their 1938 feature film, Blockheads.
Reilly captures Oliver Hardy's polite, soft-spoken cordial manners and demeaners well. Reilly is such a unique actor, who's versatility is incredible to watch. While watching him perform as Oliver Hardy, I forgot I was watching Reilly. Part of that may be thanks to the body suit and heavy makeup he wore to appear as heavy set as Oliver Hardy was. But most of that is thanks to his acting.
While both Stan and Ollie seemed to be very likeable people off screen, Oliver, being a native of Georgia, certainly possessed that true hospitality southerners are famous for.
And Reilly captures that characteristic of Hardy superbly.
During the tour, Oliver is low on his funds. He turns to horse racing to remedy the problem.
After placing a bet on a particular horse, he later checks the paper to see if he came out lucky.
Sadly, he didn't.
In frustration, he crumbles up the newspaper and slams it into a trash can. He doesn't realize that a group of children are standing a few feet away looking at him in admiration.
He happens to turn towards them and pauses a moment in surprise. Rather than yell at them, he smiles and wiggles his fingers as a wave, and fiddles his tie just as he used to do on screen.
It's a small detail, but there's something charming about this small scene. It captures Oliver's personality well.
In an interview with Dick Van Dyke from November, 1974, TV personality Dick Cavett discusses Stan Laurel's influence on Van Dyke and himself. Cavett mentions how Stan spoke with a bilateral sibilance. That is, he would repeat the "s" sound in some of his words.
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| Stan (Steve Coogan) comforts Oliver (John C. Reilly) as he recovers from a heart attack. |
Both actors play their parts with an apparent amount of respect for these comedians who came before them, and laid foundation for today's comedy.
Stan & Ollie is a well made biopic, produced with a lot of reverence for its subject matter. It balances drama and comedy very, very well. Underneath its great story, excellent casting choices, details, and acting, there's a lot of appreciation and love holding it strongly together. It sets a standard for how biopics ought to be made.
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