Like Sisyphus pushing that big, old rock up that big, old mountain for all eternity, Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy carted a piano up a long, long flight of stairs in their Oscar-winning short, The Music Box. As comedy imagery goes, it ranks right up there with the shots of Harold Lloyd hanging off the clock hands, Buster Keaton riding his newly-launched ship to the ocean's bottom, Charlie Chaplin dining on shoe in The Gold Rush, and a whole bunch o' Marx Brothers crammed into a teensy stateroom. The stairs Stan and Ollie climbed in that film — and also in an earlier silent called Hats Off — were and still are located at the intersection of Vendome and Del Monte Streets in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles. In the film, empty lots were visible on either side. Today, there are buildings there…but the stairs remain somehow recognizable. (Should you wish to visit them, here is a Mapquest link to the location.)
All of this is a way of mentioning that the great City of Los Angeles has finally gotten around to taking note of this vital landmark. A street sign has recently been erected on the premises, as proven by the above photo. And by the way, that photograph was taken by Harry Marnell, who operates a nice little Laurel & Hardy site at this address. If you can't visit the stairs, at least visit Harry's site. A lot of good stuff there…and not as much walking.