"Stan & Ollie" - Yea Or Nea?

Yes, the earlier Chaplin films are quite funny. I'm very fond of the Keystone and Mutual films in particular!

Derek

 

Yea

 

It's an enjoyable movie, but just go in knowing that a lot of the drama and plot points were created for the movie. For instance,

Spoiler

Stan did not, nor did he ever consider, continuing their tour with a replacement partner while Babe was in the hospital. Also, having Harry Langdon (who was a friend of Laurel's) in "Zenobia" was not the "betrayal" as portrayed in the movie -- Stan's contract was up and Babe made one more movie while waiting until the team could sync up their new deals. It was simply business.

I did enjoy the recreated routines, and the actor playing Stan really has his voice down.

Nitpick alert: One of the movie posters on the Hal Roach studio walls is for a 1950s Monogram reissue of a Little Rascals short. Actually Our Gang, since the name "Little Rascals" wasn't introduced until the 1950s.

 

Yeah, I agree with this. Why did they spend so much time on authenticity in other areas, only to then almost totally make up the story? From Wikipedia:

The film's story differs from real life events. Starting in October 1953, Laurel and Hardy spent eight months on tour. On arriving at Cobh in Ireland on 9 September 1953 and disembarking from the SS America they were given a warm welcome, and this is recreated in the final scene of the film. Following their opening night at the Palace Theatre, Plymouth on 17 May 1954, Hardy had a mild heart attack. Hardy stayed at the Grand Hotel in Plymouth while recovering. The pair sailed back to the United States on 2 June. The remainder of the tour was cancelled, and Laurel and Hardy never performed together on stage again. The character of Nobby Cook portrayed in the film is fictional. There was never a plan to continue the tour without Hardy, as Laurel would have refused to work with anyone else.

The attention to period detail and the great job of the actors could give you the impression that this was a faithful retelling of history... but nay.

 

i really enjoyed it. not knowing a lot of real details may have helped. may have to look for that one again soon.

 

I'll go out on a limb as someone who loves the old original films, and most anything from Hal Roach studios, and call this feature a masterpiece! It was genuinely human, moving and sensitizing!

Knowing Coogan mostly from 24 Hour Party People and 'Alan Partridge', and Reilly from Walk Hard and similar smaller comedic bits, I was surprised and very impressed by how high quality their work here was.

 

I have the disk, and enjoyed it, and was disappointed that I cannot seem to find many quality DVDs of original full length Laurel and Hardy movies.

Interesting to read from some posts that this Stan and Ollie title is some what fictional.

 

I'm was glad that there was finally a "bio-pic" of L&H, and I really liked the location shots. Another nit-pick: "Robin Hood" was not a script that Laurel was unsuccessfully flogging, it was a project to star Sid Field with L&H in support that Stan and Babe dropped out of("Cardboard Cavalier" possibly emerged from the bones of it).

 

May I recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Hardy-Essential-Collection-Stan/dp/B005BYBZKY

https://www.amazon.com/TCM-Archives-Collection-Brother-Scotland/dp/B000E1MXTQ

I would start there. The later 1940s films are also out there, but they are not their best, though still worth checking out.

https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-Collection-Jitterbugs-Century-Malcolm/dp/B01GWDBRO6

https://www.amazon.com/Collection-H...6W7YG3GK212Z&psc=1&refRID=KCHGYKE66W7YG3GK212

Also essential:

https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Deuce...words=The+Flying+Deuces&qid=1611112660&sr=8-6

 

Steve Coogan.

I think they embellished the story to give the film some tension that needed to be resolved. It worked. Most movies do this.

 

Love this film, very affectionate tribute to Stan and Ollie.

 

Thanks, I've ordered this one. BTW I am intrigued that when I checked all those links, I was taken to The Amazon-Ca site.

 

Very much a 'Yea!'. Saw in the cinema, back in the days when we could go to the cinema. Glad I saw it on the big screen. Both actors excelled in their roles.

 

Ha! Wholeheartedly agree.

 

Yeah, I just did a quick search for the Essential Collection and I guess that's where it took me. I do think the Essential Collection is the most "bang for your buck" and while it doesn't have everything, it's got most of their best from the talkie era.

 

Enjoying this very much. Good Covid-era medicine!

Some of the shorts are pretty weak on the story line though. But I've been able to say to my wife several times, "Why don't you try and help me?"

 

Inaccuracies and all, a definite yay