Happy 126th Birthday Stan Laurel

Today we give tribute to one of the greatest comic minds in the history of film. That is Stan Laurel, who was born this day in 1890. Stan Laurel is of course most associated with the team of Laurel and Hardy and this is where he did his best film work. The Laurel and Hardy films remain some of the funniest comedies in the history of cinema. They are something that every lover of comedy should watch however he had a quite good career before he teamed up with his longtime screen partner.

This is where are first film comes in. It is Stan's earliest existing film. Though Stan had appeared in films before this, all of those are considered lost. So we are going to look at 1918's Just Rambling Along. This film was directed by Hal Roach, who produced many of Laurel and Hardy's best films. This film is the first time Stan worked with Roach. Look for also appearing in this film Noah Young (the bully in many Harold Lloyd films) and Bud Jamison (who would often times appear with the Three Stooges). It is also worth noting how little this character has to do with Stan Laurel's later character. It would be a while before audiences would first see that character. Also this film doesn't exist in it's entirety and parts are missing but we are lucky to have it at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otaFjn7oc3k
Stan Laurel for a short time appeared in a few films of actor/director/writer Larry Semon. What is interesting about this is Oliver Hardy did as well but not at the same time. So the two never worked together on these films. Larry Semon was a very popular comedian during this time. His talents lied heavily in slapstick and stunts, but he often missed when it came to story and characters. Therefore his film output was not very consistent. However this film is one of Semon's best. So also from 1918 here is Fraud and Frenzies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdikSvgU4TY
Next up comes a classic Laurel and Hardy silent short called That's My Wife. Laurel and Hardy teamed up near the end of the silent era, but their contribution to this art of silent film was great. Such films as this, Wrong Again, Big Business and Two Tars are absolute classics of silent comedy. This film was directed by Lloyd French, whose whole career as a director was mostly spent in short subjects (his only feature work was as an uncredited co-director on a Laurel and Hardy feature called Pack Up Your Troubles). He did his best work with Laurel and Hardy directing such classics as Dirty Work and Busy Bodies. One of the writers of this film was Leo McCarey who would later direct such classics as Duck Soup and The Awful Truth. McCarey is also often given credit for the idea of teaming Stan and Ollie. The cinematographer for this film was George Stevens, who would later direct such classic as The More The Merrier, The Dairy of Anne Frank and Shane. This is a fantastic short and I know you will enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6wgHSKvIzk
Next up comes another classic Laurel and Hardy short. The next film is Brats. This film was directed by James Parrott, who was the brother to comedian Charlie Chase. This film features no one but Laurel and Hardy. Though this was done before in Early to Bed, it was very rare. In this film they played their own kids as well as their regular characters. Like many of Laurel and Hardy's talkies multiple versions of this film were made. A silent version, an English langue talkie version (the one you are about to see) and foreign langue versions (for which Laurel and Hardy themselves read off of cue cards with the dialogue written phonetically). This is a great short so enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mxjmf_mIuw

-Michael J. Ruhland