Tribute to the Boys (1992) Reviews

A Tribute to the Boys is a well-intentioned salute to the comedy genius of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Dom DeLuise hosts this 90-minute gushfest, while celebrities ranging from John Landis to Johnny Carson offer their affectionate memories of Stan and Ollie's best films. The team's silent work is given short shrift with a brief snippet from Two Tars (1928); the bulk of the clips are gleaned from the talkie era. Unfortunately, these precious black and white vignettes have been computer colorized, and none too attractively (wait until you see the horrendous color scheme of Oliver Hardy's apartment in the "new" version of 1938's Block-Heads). In addition, Dom DeLuise's narration is often wildly inaccurate: to quote one example of many, DeLuise claims that Oliver Hardy died with Stan Laurel at his bedside, when in fact Laurel was himself so ill at the time that he was forbidden even to attend Hardy's funeral.. A Tribute to the Boys is enjoyable enough, but given the subject matter, it could have been infinitely better. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi