Another Fine Message

Speaking of Laurel and Hardy, as we love to do here, several folks have recommended to me a new BBC radio play, about 30 minutes in length, called Stan, by Neil Brand. It's a touching — some might say overly-sentimental — supposition of the last meeting of Stan and Ollie as Ollie was dying. That moment has been dramatized a few times by alleged historians (there was once a TV special hosted by Dom DeLuise that stated, wrongly, that Laurel was at Hardy's bedside holding his hand when the latter passed) but this is the first time I know of where it's been the subject of dramatic speculation.

The author seems to know his history though, and the Stan impersonation by Tom Courtenay is pretty good. You should be able to access it on Real Player by clicking here but if that link doesn't work, go to this page and find the link to listen to last Friday's show.

A couple of quick notes if you're going to do this: First, the bandwidth there seems to be stretched thin so if you try during peak hours, you may experience pauses and delays. Secondly, the "broadcast" starts with some other material and Stan doesn't commence until a few minutes in. Lastly, the link may only be up for a few more days so if you want to listen, listen now.