‘Another fine mess you’ve gotten me into’

LAUREL and Hardy were the typical American comedy duo from the early years of cinema.
They rank up there with Abbott and Costello and the Marx Brothers. They may have appeared typical American but  Stan Laurel was born in England and Oliver Hardy’s parents were Scottish and English immigrants.
Hardy was born in Georgia and at 18, he abandoned his study of law to run a movie theatre. He joined a stage company in Florida and the first of his over 400 films was Outwitting Dad in 1914. He worked at various jobs in the film industry for a number of years both as an actor and director.
His star rose when he teamed up with Stan Laurel and they became one of the most popular acting duos in the world. The first film in which both appeared was The Lucky Dog in 1921. This starred Laurel but Hardy had a small  part. They went their separate ways after that and did not appear together again until Forty Five Minutes from Hollywood in 1926. This was what was known as a ‘two reeler’ – a full feature film would have been four or five reels.
The two reeler was what might be described as a “ medium”  more that just a short but not the full item. They continued to produce those short films and From Soup to Nuts in 1928 was the first one in which they were given  star billing. Then in 1931 came their first feature length film Pardon Us. They became the best-earning stars for the Hal Roach Studios particularly with films such as Way Out West and Sons of the Desert.
Most of their films were based on the same formula. Laurel was usually the simple fellow who caused various different problems and Hardy considered himself the superior one who sorted things out – his favourite line being “This is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into”.
Because of  the predictability of their scripts, they did not appeal to everybody but they starred in 106 films together, were voted in the Top 50 Movie Stars of All Time and were featured on one of five US postage stamps honouring great comedians.
They did actually despair at the lack of creativity in their scripts so they really made no films after the end of the war, concentrating instead on their stage shows. They toured and twice visited Ireland. In 1952, they played for two weeks in the Olympia opening on May 27. They next moved on to Belfast.
They were not scheduled to play in Ireland the following year but Hardy could not get a work visa for the UK until October when their tour was due to start. They landed in Cobh on Sept 9, 1953 and held their rehearsals in Dublin. During their time here, they wrote Birds of a Feather and before they left Dublin for their UK tour, they gave a charity performance of their new act in the Olympia. The proceeds were donated to The Polio Fund.
That was their last tour as Hardy suffered a heart attack in 1954 and his health deteriorated. Two strokes followed in 1957 leading to his death.
Ollie Hardy, the big guy of the Laurel and Hardy duo, died  on August 7, 1957, 53 years ago this week.