Hear no evil, speak no evil: silent films come to campus

If anyone mentions silent comedy, Charlie Chaplin will likely be
the first name mentioned along with it. Maybe Buster Keaton. But
there are other dominant figures in early film comedy, including a
duo that developed a unique style, churned out over 100 films and
made a successful transition into talking pictures: Stan Laurel and
Oliver Hardy.

Three of their classic silent films from 1928,
“You’re Darn Tootin,” “Two Tars” and
“Habeus Corpus” are being shown this Sunday at 2 p.m.
in Royce Hall as part of the Film and Television Archive’s
Kid Flicks Program. The program will showcase a variety of Laurel
and Hardy’s specialized buddy comedy, along with two other
shorts by Charlie Chase and Our Gang.

“(They’re) not the standard wisecracking straight
man and goofball sidekick. They’re both kind of inept at life
and so goofy stuff happened to them,” said Rob Stone,
Associate Curator for Collections at the archive, and author of the
filmography “Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel
and Oliver “˜Babe’ Hardy.”

A comparable duo in contemporary comedies is tough to find. Most
modern duos (Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in “Dumb and
Dumber” for one) certainly play up the “inept at
life” part while adding a distinct air of competition.

“The big difference is that Laurel and Hardy really seemed
to have real affection for each other, even if they got in spats
from time to time,” Stone said. Stone cites David Spade and
Chris Farley as one team that made a pretty good match. One’s
fat, one’s thin and though they don’t have the same
intense love-hate relationship found with many of the best known
comedy teams like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis or Abbot and
Costello, they still fit well together.

Unlike most comedy teams, Laurel and Hardy started out with
fairly successful solo careers, in which they starred in over 300
films collectively. Stone suggests their lasting relationship can
be partly attributed to them doing many things in the reverse order
than other comedy teams. While teams like Martin and Lewis started
on the road together and eventually broke off into solo careers
after their success in Hollywood, Laurel and Hardy did the exact
opposite.

“They basically stayed together till one of them
died,” Stone said. “A lot of it had to do with the
contract of the studio. They were kind of just thrown together, but
later in their careers they chose to be together. They did less
films as their careers wound down, but started doing stage tours
and became traveling companions and their friendship
grew.”

In terms of success and popular appeal, Laurel and Hardy were
the best example of a long standing comedy act that made a
successful transfer to sound. Though they are being shown as a part
of the Kid Flicks program, their designation as children’s
entertainment is a fairly modern phenomenon. Their appeal used to
be viewed as more universal.

Many UCLA students aren’t quite sure which comedy group
Laurel and Hardy are, and those that do recognize the name equate
them with childhood television.

“I used to watch it when I was a kid. It used to make me
laugh,” said first-year biology student Ananth Krishnan.
“I used to like the thin guy and act like him and then they
made the cartoons which were even better.”

Yet Stone explains that the films have a family oriented feel
simply because most films made during that era were made for
everyone.

“When they were making their movies in the ’20s and
’30s ““ movies were it. There weren’t G, R, X
rated movies,” Stone said. “Movies had to be geared
toward a mass audience.”

Of the films being shown Sunday, two of them are considered
perhaps the best of Laurel and Hardy’s silent films ““
“You’re Darn Tootin,” in which they play
dysfunctional members of a municipal band, and “Two
Tars,” which depicts chaos caused by the duo in a traffic
jam.

Since all five movies (including those by Chase and Our Gang)
were produced by the legendary Hal Roach Studios around the same
time period, each film has the same all-star cast behind the camera
as well.

“Since they were all made for the same studio, which was
the place for the late silent early sound era, many of the same
people play supporting characters and did things like the
titles,” Stone said. “It was sort of a family affair
over there.”

Kid Flicks hopes this weekend at Royce Hall will be a family
affair, but the screening will also be a great opportunity for
anyone looking for some vintage silent comedy.

Admission: $30 general, $15 students and children 12 and under.
For further ticket and program information for this event only,
call (310) 825-2101.