Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the first great comedy team in motion pictures, and many still consider them the best of all time.
In the early days of silent films, Laurel and Hardy began separately as actors, and Laurel was also a writer and occasional director.
They initially worked together quite by accident, as both were employed by the Hal Roach studios and found themselves in a film together. But eventually Laurel & Hardy became a formal team and gradually developed the now-familiar persona of the skinny and fat best friends who were extremely dumb, though Hardy thought he was smarter.
They found great success in silents, but a real turning point came in the late 1920s when they managed to translate their chemistry and graceful knack for physical comedy to sound films as well, adding amusing verbal byplay with voices that perfectly matched their characters.
At a time when many film actors were deathly afraid of the microphone, this was no small achievement. And their sound films proved even more popular as they flourished throughout the 1930s, starring in both features and short films.
L&H films include a great deal of intricately choreographed slapstick and knockabout routines, often building on each other until they reach a sort of chaotic crescendo. But "The Boys" — as they came to be affectionately referred to by fans — also get big laughs from their quiet, gentle, childlike relationship.
Sometimes it's verbal, as when Laurel offers a suggestion, then, when he's asked by Hardy to repeat it, he does so by getting it all wrong.
Sometimes it's physical, with Hardy twiddling his tie and grinning sheepishly or Laurel crying like a baby after some disaster has ruined an upright piano or blown up a house.
L&H features and shorts have been under-represented on DVD for far too long, but now a pair of new multiple-disc sets have shown up, hopefully the start of a trend.
Both sets are titled "The Laurel & Hardy Collection," but the one from Warner and TCM Archives is by far the best, with two of L&H's finest feature films. It comes out next Tuesday.
The other is from Fox, with three L&H films made in their later years when they lost control over the material. Two of these pictures are OK, but all three are far from their best work.
"TCM Archives: The Laurel & Hardy Collection" (TCM/Warner, 1933/1935, not rated, b/w, $39.92, two discs). The first film here is "The Devil's Brother (Fra Diavolo)," one of several operas that L&H tailored to their talents, and it has quite a few hilarious routines, including a pair of signature bits, "kneesie, earsie, nosie" and "finger-wiggle." The plot has them becoming reluctant servants to a bandit, played by singer Dennis King, while the great Thelma Todd and James Finlayson lend support.
The second is "Bonnie Scotland," with L&H in Scotland, then India, joining the Scottish army, with one hilarious routine after another, including one of their wonderful dances as they're supposed to be picking up trash around the compound, but instead get carried away with the army band's music.
Also included is a documentary about the history of Hollywood's short films, along with L&H clips from three films in which they made guest appearances — "The Hollywood Revue of 1929," "Hollywood Party" and "Pick a Star."
There's also a color clip of L&H from a lost film, "Rogue Song." (And an interesting and entertaining pair of audio commentaries by Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann, as well as an introduction by TCM host Robert Osborne.)
While I greatly enjoyed this set, I couldn't help but wonder why there isn't more on these discs — say, a couple of L&H's many short films. There's certainly room.
Extras: Full frame, audio commentaries, introduction, documentary on short films, excerpts from trailers, subtitle options (English, French), chapters.
"The Laurel and Hardy Collection" (Fox, 1941/1942/1944, not rated, b/w, $34.98, three discs). The three films here are "Great Guns," an Army farce; "Jitterbugs," in which they fend off swindlers who've targeted Vivien Blaine; and "The Big Noise," in which they play would-be detectives. The latter is often cited as the team's worst movie.
Extras: Full frame, audio commentaries (historian Randy Skretvedt), featurette, newsreel, photo gallery, trailers, subtitle options (English, Spanish), chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com