Another Fine Marathon

Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 3:13 AM

Turner Classic Movies is offering up close to 24 solid hours of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy on Tuesday. Any Laurel and Hardy is better than no Laurel and Hardy but some Laurel and Hardy is better than some other Laurel and Hardy. Here's a handy-dandy guide to what they're showing, complete with my recommendations. These are all Eastern times so consult whatever you need to consult to make sure the times match up with when you can see/record these films on your TV…

  • 8:00 PM — Thicker Than Water (1935) – Stan and Ollie spend Ollie's inheritance on a Grandfather Clock, a move which does not delight Mrs. Hardy. This was their last starring short comedy before moving exclusively into features and is most notable for its odd ending where Laurel turns into Hardy and Hardy turns into Laurel. This one's about a B+.
  • 8:30 PM — The Fixer Uppers (1935) – Stan and Ollie try to help a woman who feels her husband has been neglecting her. The plan is to fake an affair between Hardy and the lady to make hubby jealous. This is not a good idea…and also not one of their best shorts.
  • 9:00 PM — Tit For Tat (1935) – Stan and Ollie operate an appliance store and quarrel with their neighbor, Charlie Hall. Something of a sequel to Them Thar Hills…the only time The Boys referenced one film in another. Last time TCM did one of these marathons, this weblog convinced them to run these films in the proper sequence. This time, I didn't notice until it was too late to say anything about it. Watch Them Thar Hills before you watch this one.
  • 9:30 PM — The Live Ghost (1934) – Stan and Ollie get stuck on a ship that's supposed to be haunted. The Boys didn't do a lot of this kind of storyline but when they did, it was always very funny.
  • 10:00 PM — Them Thar Hills (1934) – Stan and Ollie escape to mountain country to soothe Ollie's frazzled nerves and wind up drunk and in a spat with a jealous husband played by Charlie Hall. You should watch Tit for Tat after you watch this one.
  • 10:30 PM — Going Bye-Bye (1934) – Stan and Ollie testify in court against a thug, then try to get out of town before he can beat the tar out of them. Kind of a witless protection program. Pretty good film.
  • 11:00 PM — Oliver the Eighth (1934) – Ollie prepares to marry a woman whose previous seven husbands have all been named Oliver and who all died under mysterious circumstances. Probably just a string of coincidences. This one was kind of a C+.
  • 11:30 PM — Dirty Work (1933) – Stan and Ollie play chimney sweeps who get mixed up with a mad scientist and I don't think this is among their best ones.
  • Midnight — Busy Bodies (1933) – Stan and Ollie work in a construction shop of some kind…and that's the entire plot. They just work there and screw things up. Very funny.
  • 12:30 AM — Midnight Patrol (1933) – Stan and Ollie are policemen. Why are they policemen? Who put these two clowns on the police force? That premise alone should have made for a funnier film than this one.
  • 1:00 AM — Me and My Pal (1933) – Stan and Ollie each, in their own ways, manage to screw up Ollie's wedding day. With a superb performance by the great foil, Jimmy Finlayson, who was always worth watching. A quiet film but a good one.
  • 1:30 AM — Twice Two (1933) – Stan and Ollie play each other's wives in a dual-role romp that, to me, doesn't work at all. The only laughs come from how stupid they look in drag.
  • 2:00 AM — Towed in a Hole (1932) – Stan and Ollie decide to become fishermen so they buy and start refurbishing a boat. They're about as good at that as they ever are about anything and the result is one of their best short comedies.
  • 2:30 AM — Their First Mistake (1932) – Stan and Ollie arrange for Ollie to adopt an orphan. This was by no means the first mistake these guys made but it was a pretty big one. This one had some heart in it but not a lot of laughs.
  • 3:00 AM — Scram! (1932) – Stan and Ollie are ordered by a judge to leave town for vagrancy and somehow wind up breaking into his home. You get the feeling their screen characters weren't the brightest bulbs in the batch? Pretty good.
  • 3:30 AM — County Hospital (1932) – Stan and Ollie deal with Ollie's hospitalization and Stan's attempt to drive him home through the streets of Los Angeles and past a bad rear-screen projection. One of my least favorite of their films.
  • 4:00 AM — The Chimp (1932) – Stan and Ollie attempt to remake Laughing Gravy (made earlier but airing later today) but with a chimpanzee instead of a dog and a marital infidelity angle tossed in. Another of my least favorite of their films.
  • 4:30 AM — The Music Box (1932) – Stan and Ollie attempt to deliver a piano to a house atop a very long flight of steps. This was their big Academy Award winner and Stan's pick as the best short they ever made. Every step is a joy.
  • 5:00 AM — Helpmates (1932) – Stan and Ollie attempt to clean up the Hardy home before Mrs. Hardy returns from a trip. This film is highly educational in that it shows you why you should never ask Stan Laurel to help you clean your home before your wife returns from a trip. I like this one up until the unpleasant ending.
  • 5:30 AM — Beau Hunks (1931) – Stan and Ollie join the Foreign Legion, as they tended to do from time to time. This was either a very long short or a very short feature but whatever it was, it's exactly the right length for the material. A fine film.
  • 6:15 AM — One Good Turn (1931) – Stan and Ollie try to assist an elderly widow they think (wrongly) is about to be evicted from her home. This is the only film they made where Stan, in essence, turns on Hardy and gets mad at him — an odd twist in their relationship but quite satisfying.
  • 6:45 AM — Our Wife (1931) – Stan and Ollie attempt to engineer the elopement of Mr. Hardy with a lady of similar girth, which means cramming everyone into a tiny car. A cameo by Ben Turpin makes this one a delight.
  • 7:15 AM — Laughing Gravy (1931) – Stan and Ollie attempt to hide a dog from their landlord. They don't do a very good job of this…but then they never did a very good job of anything. Better than the remake which aired earlier today.
  • 8:00 AM — Chickens Come Home (1931) – Ollie is a successful businessman being blackmailed by a floozy from his past. This was a remake of a (then) recent silent short which had Jimmy Finlayson playing the businessman. I liked it better with Fin.
  • 8:30 AM — Be Big! (1931) – Stan and Ollie demonstrate why married men should never try to stand up to their wives. They're trying to go to a convention but spend most of this film trying to get Hardy's boots on and off. Only Laurel and Hardy could make that hilarious for most of two reels.
  • 9:00 AM — Another Fine Mess (1930) – An early talkie that is oddly dialogue-driven. Stan and Ollie are vagrants who wind up inhabiting a mansion with Hardy impersonating its owner and Laurel dressing up as his servants. Somewhere between a B+ and an A-. Based on a sketch written by Stan's father.
  • 9:30 AM — The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930) – Stan and Ollie are in an old house and there are scary things happening around them and it's all very broad but screamingly funny.
  • 10:00 AM — Hog Wild (1930) – Stan and Ollie attempt to install a radio antenna on Mr. Hardy's roof. Guess how many times Mr. Hardy will fall off that roof. Every plunge is a gem.
  • 10:30 AM — Below Zero (1930) – Stan and Ollie are street musicians with no money. They find a wallet crammed with cash and decide to treat themselves to a feast, even inviting a policeman to join them. Turns out, it's the policeman's wallet. A good film, not a great film.
  • 11:00 AM — Brats (1930) – Stan and Ollie play themselves and also, thanks to trick photography, their sons. A cute, funny short. Mr. Hardy, sans mustache, makes an especially adorable toddler.
  • 11:30 AM — Blotto (1930) – Stan and Ollie go out for a night on the town to get drunk…and manage to do so even though, unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Hardy has replaced their booze with tea. One of their funniest shorts. Gleason and Carney did the same bit on The Honeymooners only not as well.
  • Noon — Night Owls (1930) – Stan and Ollie help out a policeman played by Edgar Kennedy, agreeing to break into his superior's home so he can arrest them and score points with the boss. Well, what could possibly go wrong with an arrangement like that? Good but not great.
  • 12:30 PM — The Hoosegow (1929) – Stan and Ollie are not in any hoosegow. They're in a prison work gang and there's this weird gag with putting rice in a car's radiator and throwing it at everyone. It's the only Laurel and Hardy film that feels like a Three Stooges comedy…and not one of their better ones.
  • 1:00 PM — They Go Boom! (1929) – Ollie has a cold. Stan tries to nurse him back to health. Yeah, that'll work. Not much plot but it's a joy to watch the interplay.
  • 1:30 PM — Perfect Day (1929) – Stan and Ollie, their wives and an uncle (played magnificently by Edgar Kennedy) try to go on a picnic. They don't make it. One of their best.
  • 2:00 PM — Men O' War (1929) – Stan and Ollie are sailors who, despite an utter lack of funds, try to pick up some dames and show them a good time. Then they try to go boating on a lake. A good film but the first half is better than the second.
  • 2:30 PM — Berth Marks (1929) – Stan and Ollie try to get to sleep in a too-small upper berth in a railroad car. Much awkwardness ensues. This was probably funny to folks who, unlike me, ever had to try to sleep in one of those things.
  • 3:00 PM — Unaccustomed As We Are (1929) – Stan and Ollie deal with a jealous husband neighbor and one of those farce situations where hubby thinks his wife is cheating on him. This was The Boys' first talkie…ergo, the title. Not bad for a first effort in what was basically a new medium.
  • 3:30 PM — Come Clean (1931) – Stan and Ollie rescue a floozy who was trying to kill herself. She decides that since they saved her, they're now responsible for her, which means they have to hide her from the wives. A bit contrived, plot-wise, but the gags are solid.
  • 4:00 PM — Any Old Port (1932) – Stan and Ollie are sailors on shore leave and they somehow get mixed up in a boxing match and the whole film's kind of clumsy. This isn't one of the better ones on this list.
  • 4:30 PM — Pardon Us (1931) – Stan and Ollie go to prison, get out of prison, wind up back in prison, etc. Their first starring feature started out to be a short but it got padded into a longer film and the patchwork shows. Still, there's much to laugh at, especially if you like dentist humor.
  • 5:30 PM — Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) – Stan and Ollie get involved with another orphan — the daughter of an old army buddy. This is one of their better features though what happens is, again, more charming than funny.
  • 6:45 PM — The Bohemian Girl (1936) – A feature-length "operetta" with many grand moments, even if it all doesn't add up to one of their best films. Actress Thelma Todd died during production and so her role had to be cut down from a major co-starring one to a minor part. The best scene has Stan trying to bottle wine and drinking most of it. Well worth watching.