Speaking of Laurel and Hardy, as we just were: Very early Monday morning, Turner Classic Movies is running Utopia, their last feature. I am not necessarily recommending you watch this, as great comedians' last features tend to be very sad, and this one runs true to form. It was made in Europe by a crew that lacked certain basics, like proper financing and a common language. Both Stan and Ollie (but especially Stan) were sick during the filming, which was supposed to take two months but stretched over much of one year. As a result, you can notice Laurel's weight fluctuate from scene to scene and in some, he looks pretty awful. The film has some clever moments when it almost seems like genuine Laurel and Hardy…but for the most part, it's rough going.
(If you want to watch it on your computer, by the way, Utopia can be downloaded here.)
To redeem itself, TCM is also running two Robert Youngson compilation films later that morning. Mr. Youngson was a filmmaker who liked to take vintage silent movies and cut 'n' paste them into feature films that showcased the great moments. His work was criticized for truncating scenes…or even going in and rearranging or trimming shots…and some faulted the music, sound effects and narration he added. Still, he did preserve and promote what otherwise might have become lost treasures, and his movies are wonderful introductory samplers to that era. If you or someone you know needs that kind of intro to the material, you might enjoy his creations.
TCM is offering two — The Golden Age of Comedy (1958), followed by When Comedy Was King (1960). Both are filled with scenes of Ben Turpin, Will Rogers, Harry Langdon and others, and both derive their best moments from Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Golden Age of Comedy is especially loaded with Stan and Ollie, though it has an unfortunate emphasis on scenes films where they're among large crowds having big, destructive fights in the street. You see them ripping up cars in Two Tars, ripping off folks' pants in You're Darn Tootin', hurling pies in Battle of the Century, etc. It's a bit repetitive but the footage is hilarious.
(An interesting sidelight: The 1927 Battle of the Century features a spectacular pie fight — the biggest one ever filmed until the 1965 film, The Great Race, which wasn't a twentieth as funny. The Laurel and Hardy custard brawl may only exist today because Youngson duped the decomposing negative to include that scene in his compilation. Shortly after that, it was either lost or decayed to the point where the rest of the film was considered "lost." A copy of the first reel eventually turned up but there's no known copy of the second reel in its entirety. All that exists of it is the last few minutes — the pie fight — because Youngson grabbed it for his movie.)
Among the joys in When Comedy Was King are large chunks of several shorts. One is Laurel and Hardy in Big Business, arguably their funniest silent comedy. Another is Buster Keaton's Cops, with Buster being chased all over 1922 Los Angeles by hundreds of policemen. But a special "find" is A Pair of Tights, a 1929 short made by the Hal Roach Studio and starring Edgar Kennedy and Stu Erwin. It's basically a Laurel and Hardy comedy without Laurel and Hardy, and it demonstrates how infectious their style of comedy had become.
And then next Saturday, a week from today, Fox Movie Channel is running The Dancing Masters and The Bullfighters. These are for those of you who watch Utopia and then wonder if you've seen the worst movie Laurel and Hardy ever made. No, sadly, you haven't.