Recently, we pointed you to the trailer for the 1934 film starring Laurel and Hardy known as either Babes in Toyland or March of the Wooden Soldiers. This prompted some interesting e-mails, including two from Randy Skretvedt, who is the author of the best book on the making of The Boys' films, and one I highly recommend. In his first message, he writes…
You're right about Mr. Roach not liking Babes in Toyland. I got to do formal interviews with him twice, and on both occasions he launched into the whole grisly saga of his story versus Stan's story before I could ask him my first question — so it was still a hot issue with him. I remember as he told me his idea for the story, I smiled politely while my stomach sank and I thought, "Oh, boy, this would never have worked as a movie!" I don't know if Stan actually told him that they couldn't use his story because it wouldn't allow them to wear the derby hats (that story's in my book) — if Stan did, he was really grasping at straws for a reason to turn down Roach's idea.
As for the colorization of the film, there are two different color versions — a better one came out on DVD last year. Generally I don't like computer-colored versions of movies, but this one is pretty good, and the film certainly lends itself to being colorized. Henry Brandon told me that it was a thrill to walk onto the set every morning, because everything was painted in bright colors, like a child's storybook. And John McCabe mentioned in his liner notes to the soundtrack LP that Stan felt Babes in Toyland had more consistent entertainment values than any of their films, and his one regret was that it hadn't been made in color. Ah, well, three-strip Technicolor was still a year or so in the future in 1934.
I don't recall Mr. Roach's plot as sounding particularly unworkable when he described it to me…but then he didn't go into much detail and the plot may have changed over the years. I suppose we should just be grateful that he gave Laurel and Hardy and their writers as much freedom as he seems to have given them most of the time. Over all, he seems to have been the ideal boss for them, at least in non-monetary ways. I can forgive him the occasional exception, especially since it didn't result in a bad movie.
You make me want to check out that new "colorization" of the film. I recall not minding the first one all that much, especially since the black-and-white copies then available weren't too sharp. Actually, what I minded more in some of the past computer-colored Laurel and Hardy films was someone monkeying with the musical track.
Here's Randy's other message to me…
Just watched the Babes in Toyland trailer and had a couple of trivial notes for you. The announcer at the beginning is Ken Carpenter, who would go on to do hundreds of radio shows, memorably as a straight man for Bing Crosby on Philco Radio Time. The shot of the Town Crier all by his ownsome is unique to this trailer, as is at least one of the shots where Ollie is being "ducked" prior to his banishment to Bogeyland.
A gorgeous new transfer of the film from 35mm materials, in black and white, is now available as part of the 3-DVD MGM Holiday Classics Collection, which also includes The Bishop's Wife with David Niven, Loretta Young and Cary Grant, and Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford. Even though it's listed in the packaging as March of the Wooden Soldiers, the actual film is entirely intact, with the original Babes in Toyland main title — and even including the MPAA Production Code title at the very start.
I shall have to pick that up…which I (or anyone) can do by clicking here. And then you can read this message from my friend, John Tebbel, commenting on my observation that a lot of people recall seeing Babes in Toyland in color when it wasn't…
Other possible explanations for the Babes in Toyland effect…
Just as you can dream in black and white, I think one's perception/memory will sometimes fill in the colors in black-and-white photography. I also think that some sort of colorization takes place when you're in the flow of a black-and-white movie; your brain knows the sky is blue and many other things and colorizes in a meta-conscious way, just trying to be helpful; you couldn't "do it" if you tried. If you "stop to think" you perceive "reality" once again. William Burroughs posits a similar effect about languages, saying we all understand them all, or some such, but we know we don't so we don't. And little kids eat ivy.
Also, Babes is the type of film that most lends itself to today's crude colorization (pace Ray Harryhausen). Someone who's not used to seeing a lot of early Technicolor might think a colorized Babes looks funny because it's deteriorated, or some such nonsense.
And there was this character in a 50's comedy who "saw movies on the back of his eyelids."
Lastly, we have this from Jim Hanley…
I don't know if I ever mentioned this, in response to past mentions of Babes in Toyland on your site, but I was at the Sons of the Desert International Convention in 1986. There, I was at the same table with [cast member] Felix Knight for one of the dinners. After the meal was over, another Son came up to Mr. Knight and told of seeing Babes in Toyland, during its initial release. He asked if he had imagined a scene in a school house. Mr. Knight though for a second and said, "Of course! It was the 'I Can Do That Sum' number. They must have cut that when the film went into wide release."
When asked more about the scene, he said that Stan and Ollie sang the song with some of the Our Gang kids. Have you ever heard of that footage still existing (other than possible mentions I've made in the past)? One of the Founding Tent officers of the time said that he believed that the Roach Studio had all sorts of footage in their vaults that they hoarded, waiting for an opportune moment to release it for maximum financial gain. That's led me to hold out hope for two decades, now. What do you think?
I think that if they have unseen footage and haven't released it, it's probably because they don't know they have it. Any historians who've dealt with almost any company in the home video business have been stunned at how often companies don't know what's in their own vaults and, even when there's serious money to be made off it, aren't all that interested in finding out.
The release of Laurel and Hardy movies on DVD has generally been handled poorly and has led to the erroneous (I think) belief that there's no market out there for their films. And that, in turn, I'm sure has led to not a lot of dollars being expended on searching for lost treasures. I don't know about the missing scene you describe but it wouldn't surprise me if it was filmed. It would surprise me a little if it was still in existence. And it would surprise me a lot if anyone soon made use of it to put together a deluxe, collectors edition DVD of the film with other appropriate extras. Maybe we can start rattling the bars a little here for someone to at least investigate.