Stan Laurel Movies
Actor, screenwriter, and producer Stan Laurel was born to British stage performers. He started acting on stage in his mid-teens in music halls and theaters before touring the U.S. in 1910 and 1912 as Charlie Chaplin's understudy. He remained in the States to perform in vaudeville and, in 1917, supplemented his stage work by appearing as clownish misfit types in comedy shorts often spoofing dramatic films of the period. One of these was a two-reeler called Lucky Dog (1918), in which he appeared totally by accident with Oliver Hardy. The two would not appear together again until 1926, when they both found themselves working for comedy producer Hal Roach. Laurel, who had been hired by Roach as a gagman/director, was persuaded to appear in front of the camera and, thus, auspiciously again with Hardy. It soon became obvious that the two men had a certain comic onscreen chemistry, and they ended up starring together as an incredibly popular comedy team in more fifty films in the 1930s and early '40s, with their 1932 three-reeler The Music Box winning an Oscar for Best Short Subject. Laurel, the creative member of the team, had numerous run-ins with producer Roach; the actor wanted the team's films to aspire to the higher quality productions of their contemporaries, while Roach was firmly content with maintaining a low-budget norm. Laurel had a few short-lived victories, serving as producer on the team's Our Relations (1936) and Way out West (1937). The team left Roach in 1940 to seek more artistic control over their work, but were given even less at Fox and MGM. In the late '40s and early '50s, they enjoyed touring English music halls while continuing to make films. After Hardy's death in 1957, Laurel stopped performing but kept active. He died from a heart attack in 1965. ~ All Movie Guide- 1923
In 1923, Stan Laurel signed a five-year contract with producer Hal Roach (in reality he would be there for only a year before moving over to Joe Rock). Laurel's comic shorts were meant to alternate with those made by Paul Parrott. This one-reeler, which was a parody of Under Two Flags only in title, was the first comedy Laurel made under the new contract. A stranger (Laurel) makes his way to an outpost in the middle of the Sahara and joins the Foreign Legion. Cheroot, the "daughter of the regiment" (Mae Laurel, Stan's common-law wife), falls for him, as does Princess (Katherine Grant). To please Princess, the stranger whittles a set of dinner knives for her. The Commanding Officer (William Gillespie) slices his mouth on one of the knives and angrily orders Stan to be shot at sunrise. A grave is dug for him, but Cheroot manages to come to his rescue, and the officer falls into the grave instead. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
Not one, but two epic documentaries about the wilds of Africa were released in 1923 (Hunting Big Game in Africa and Trailing African Wilds). It had been some months since Stan Laurel had made any parodies -- something he was famous for before he teamed up with Oliver Hardy -- and a safari seemed like a good subject to spoof. The two-reel Roughest Africa turned out to be a winner, with Laurel playing Stanislaus Laurello, an adventuresome professor, and James Finlayson as Hans Downe, Laurello's cameraman and sidekick. There's not much plot to speak of, and much of the action revolves around Stan chasing or being chased by a variety of wild animals, from lions to an ostrich to a porcupine. Laurello proves to be less than capable in the wild. He has a hard time shooting and hitting an elephant, even after drawing a target on the beast's head. Some sources falsely claim that future famed director George Stevens was the cinematographer on Roughest Africa; the credit actually goes to Frank Young. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1923
During his early days working for the Hal Roach studios, the plots to Stan Laurel's comedies were as interchangeable as their titles -- Pick and Shovel, Collars and Cuffs, Gas and Air, and this one, Oranges and Lemons. They all seem to involve Laurel as a laborer who spends more time flirting with a pretty girl (usually Katherine Grant, who plays Little Valencia here) instead of working, and who constantly annoys the foreman (this time around it's Eddie Baker, going by the unlikely name of Orange Blossom). Laurel's character here is known as Sunkist and, as might be guessed by both the characters' names and the film's title, he works in a citrus grove. The foreman, fed up with Sunkist's behavior, chases him into the packing plant, where much mayhem ensues. There's some funny business on a conveyor belt before Sunkist traps his antagonists (the number has grown as he has wreaked havoc) and breaks for lunch. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1923
Although this Stan Laurel one-reeler is based on a very simple premise, it's quite funny. Adding to the mirth is the presence of James Finlayson, who always worked well with Laurel, and became an even greater comic antagonist when Laurel teamed up with Oliver Hardy. Laurel plays a none-too-bright young man who is riding a streetcar. When he asks the conductor how to get to his destination, the conductor suggests that he follow a young woman who is going the same way. The problem is that Stan winds up following a different woman wearing a similar dress. As a result, he winds up all over town, part of the confusion being that there are a lot of women who are wearing that very same outfit. During his travels, Stan goes into a department store and is pursued by the store's detective (Finlayson), who finds his behavior suspicious. The lady Stan is following also thinks he's a suspicious character and sets a cop on him. Stan finally gets away from both the detective and the cop and is about to leap onto a waiting streetcar -- except as his head is turned to bid adieu to his pursuers, the streetcar leaves and a paddy wagon pulls up. He leaps on the back of the wagon and the cops pull him inside. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
Stan Laurel stars in this one-reel Hal Roach comedy, which seems to be based on a similar premise as Buster Keaton's classic two-reeler, The Boat, and, in its own way, is nearly as surreal. Stan takes his wife (Marie Mosquini) and in-laws out sailing on a strange little raft -- a tent is pitched on one side and vegetables are growing on the other. There are the expected mishaps: when casting a fishing line, Stan catches the seat of his pants and nearly throws himself overboard, then he runs afoul of both his mother-in-law and some flying fish. When he starts shooting a gun in order to catch one of the latter, he causes the little craft to sink. The family is rescued by another boat; Stan and his father-in-law (Mark Jones) are relegated to a lifeboat, which is pulled behind. Because of a fire started by the father-in-law, the lifeboat sinks. Stan continues to play solitaire as everything around him goes under (the cards remain on the water's surface). Finally a swordfish pierces his lifesaver, ending his game. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1923
In the early '20s, comics would pump out one and two-reel films based on the slightest of plots but rich in gags. Such was Short Orders, a one-reeler made by Stan Laurel for Hal Roach. Stan works at a small café, doubling as waiter and as assistant to the chef (George Rowe). Stan and the cook have to deal with very out-of-the-ordinary food -- bread that must be cut with a cross saw, leaping Limburger -- and the barely edible results are served to an evermore-disgruntled clientele. The cashier (Katherine Grant) starts crying and Stan pays so much attention to her that he accidentally serves a customer a shoe's sole instead of a steak. The diner is so infuriated that Stan has to quit. As he's leaving, he raises his umbrella to bang his boss on the head and silverware comes raining out of it. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
Early on in his new contact with producer Hal Roach, Stan Laurel shot a comic short that had much of the same material as a two-reeler he made the year before, The Egg. Since The Noon Whistle was only one reel, however, the superfluous subplot about the company president being blackmailed was dumped. Most of this picture involves the slapstick antics between Laurel, as Tanglefoot -- the worst employee at a lumberyard -- and the foreman, O'Hallahan (James Finlayson). O'Hallahan has been told to get the lazy workers off their cans and his biggest problem is Tanglefoot. Eventually, Tanglefoot and his irascible boss get involved in a battle of nerves that escalates until one of them gets fired -- O'Hallahan. This was the first of countless times Finlayson and Laurel would work together. In fact, when Laurel formed a comic team with Oliver Hardy, Finlayson would become their most well-remembered onscreen victim. The Noon Whistle bears some resemblance to a later Laurel and Hardy short, 1933's Busy Bodies (which did not feature Finlayson). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
Although this Hal Roach one-reel comedy features two very funny men -- Stan Laurel and James Finlayson -- unfortunately, it's not very funny. Most of the gags had been used before, or would be used in the future more effectively. As they would often be in subsequent films, Laurel and Finlayson are at comic odds here. Stan shows up for his job wearing a top hat and tux, only to change into his real work clothes, which reveal he is a miner. In spite of the film's title, Laurel spends very little time with a pick or a shovel and instead hangs around, flirting with the foreman's daughter (Katherine Grant). This, of course, does not please the foreman (Finlayson) one bit, and his fury becomes ever more apparent (as only Finlayson could do). Stan, however, proves his mettle when the mine floods. He saves the foreman's daughter, winning approval all around. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel, James Finlayson, (more)
- 1923
This one-reel comedy was one of Stan Laurel's early films for the Hal Roach studios (it would be nearly four years before Laurel teamed up with fellow Hal Roach actor Oliver Hardy). Laurel plays a street sweeper who finds himself in deep trouble when he neglectfully grabs a baby stroller instead of his cart. A cop (Marvin Loback) mistakes him for a kidnapper and gives chase. After running himself ragged all over town, the street sweeper finally manages to escape the cop and hides by taking the place of a traveling dentist. He performs a number of successful extractions by knocking the patients out with a hammer at the beginning of the operation (two of his victims happen to be James Finlayson and Mark Jones). But then the cop shows up with a toothache and finds him. It's the street sweeper who gets the hammer this time around, and he's carted off unconscious. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
This one-reel comedy that Stan Laurel made for Hal Roach was basically a remake of a film he did the year before for Gilbert M. Anderson, The Pest. It even begins the same way: Laurel, a door-to-door salesman, is trying to sell his wares in front of an institute for the deaf. He tries making hand signals to a woman (Helen Gilmore), but she takes affront to his motions and charges after him. Stan's product this time around is a patent medicine that supposedly cures just about everything. No one is interested in it, however, except for one drunk (Mark Jones), who wants it because he has run out of bootleg liquor. Undaunted, Stan continues to hound prospective customers; he even proves that his medicine would make a great car wax, but his efforts are futile and the car's owner (Noah Young) turns him down. Finally he comes upon four apartment doors in a row and knocks on all of them. The angry woman from the film's start is behind one of the doors and Stan quickly runs away. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1923
In this Hal Roach one-reel comedy, Stan Laurel and James Finlayson play explorers who happen on a sumptuous Egyptian palace, which they believe to be a museum. Meanwhile, a tourist (Katherine Grant) is captured by a band of Arabs. After a while, the two explorers figure out that not only are they not in a museum, they are in grave danger of being beheaded. The only way to escape is to marry the princess who lives at the palace. Unfortunately, she's anything but attractive, but that doesn't stop Stan and his pal from battling over the right to her hand. In the fracas, the princess is shoved into the pool and the explorers make a frantic escape. They run into the tourist, who has escaped from the Arabs, and she shows the explorers the way to leave the palace. The name Scorching Sands was a play on the title of a sheik film, Burning Sands, which came out the year before and starred Milton Sills. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1922
This slapstick parody of Rudolph Valentino's Blood and Sand really put Stan Laurel on the map as a film comedian. While no Valentino, Stan is quite handsome as aspiring toreador Rhubarb Vaselino. When he enters a bullfight and lays three bulls to waste, his reputation is made. He weds his childhood sweetheart Caramel (Julie Leonard) and at the height of his career he is paired with the greatest bull in all Spain. But before the fight he ruins his marriage by his involvement with a wicked vamp. He goes on to defeat the bull but he is felled at the height of his victory when he's hit by one of the hats thrown into the arena -- a spurned young lovely has put a brick in it. Obviously the plot wasn't much to speak of, and the gags were the thing, along with Stan's inimitable timing. This was one of a series of comedies he made for producer Gilbert M. "Bronco Billy" Anderson -- in 1923, the comedian would move over to Hal Roach's studio where, after a few years, he would team up with another comic actor by the name of Oliver Hardy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1922
This two-reel slapstick comedy was one of a half-dozen produced in 1922 and 1923 by Gilbert M. "Bronco Billy" Anderson that starred Stan Laurel (the shorts were released by Metro). A number of its jokes were repeated a year later, in The Noon Whistle, when Laurel moved over to the Hal Roach studios. Overall, the gags were rather old, even for 1922, and while it's a decent enough comic short, Stan doesn't get much of an opportunity to reveal the talents that would make him stand out later on when he partnered with comic actor Oliver Hardy. Here, Laurel's character is called Humpty Dumpty, better known as the Egg. He works at the Rex Lumber Company and through sheer accident winds up holding a letter that contains a plot to stick the company president (Alfred Hollingsworth) with bribery charges. The Egg, however, is more concerned with escaping the wrath of the foreman (Tom Kennedy). While hiding from the foreman, the Egg overhears Gerald Stone (Colin Kenny) blackmailing the president. Finally, he remembers the letter and foils the plot, which wins the admiration of the president's daughter (Drin Moro). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1922
In this two-reeler, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear together for the very first time. However, they're a long way from their famous Laurel and Hardy characters (that pairing wasn't to come until 1927). Laurel, after an up-and-down career in Vaudeville, had just begun acting in films, while Hardy was heavily established in movies already (both literally and figuratively). Laurel is the lead in this film, nevertheless, as an unfortunate who, after being evicted, winds up befriending a stray dog. He stuffs the dog in a decrepit suitcase, but it sticks its legs through the bag's holes and runs away. While Laurel is chasing after the suitcase, he bumps into a hold-up man (Hardy). A chase leaves the big man behind when he gets stuck trying to crawl through a hole in a fence. Hardy also appears later on in the film. Laurel and his dog have made the acquaintance of a pretty girl and her poodle, and her jealous boyfriend enlists Hardy's help to get rid of Laurel. But the dog saves the day by chasing the villains off with a stick of dynamite that was originally meant for Laurel. The film was made in 1919 but not released until 1922. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
Whey-faced star comedian Larry Semon played an involuntary rent collector who gets wise to the schemes of a nasty crime boss (Oliver Hardy) in this 2-reel comedy. Together with a tenement girl (Norma Nichols), Semon manages to capture the Big Boss, but not before the three of them have endured a series of incredible stunt gags, a Semon specialty. A former cartoonist, Larry Semon came close to equalling the popularity of Charles Chaplin, but his extravagant filming methods and sometimes difficult off-screen personality proved his ultimate undoing. The Rent Collector marked the debut of Oliver Hardy as an official member of the Semon stock company. Rumors that Stan Laurel also appeared in the comedy have later been dismissed. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Stan Laurel's first one-reel film for Hal Roach (whose production company at the time was Rolin) never does answer the question asked by its title; in fact, love doesn't seem to factor much into the equation at all. Laurel plays an apartment building janitor who causes a number of domestic spats while performing in the line of duty. In what would become a common theme in Hal Roach pictures, the angry wives give their husbands a very hard time. Although they wouldn't meet again for many years, Laurel's future wife, then known as Lois Nelson, was part of the cast. Also appearing is James Parrott, who would be on Roach's staff, either as an actor or director, for many years (he was also the brother of another, future Roach actor, Charley Chase). Laurel began performing for Hal Roach and Rolin after the producer lost his current star, the famous but highly eccentric circus clown, Toto. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1919
This was the last comedy Stan Laurel made for Hal Roach's Rolin studios (he would return to Roach five years later and eventually team up with Oliver Hardy there). Stan misses the train that's supposed to take him on a vacation, so his friend (Frank Terry) offers to put him up for some rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the friend's wife (Marie Mosquini) is a hardcore suffragette and she gives her husband an angry dressing down for bringing Stan home. A health inspector (Noah Young) orders the friend to clean up his backyard, and Stan is put to work at the chore. He empties the yard by tossing all the junk into the neighbor's yard, and when the wife refuses to make him lunch, he also steals the neighbor's food. The neighbor (Bud Jamison) comes over for lunch, and is none too pleased to discover that he is eating his own food. Stan beats a hasty retreat, but not before flirting with the neighbor's daughter. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
- 1918
Goonish comedian Larry Semon, whose two-reel laughfests were the envy of Hollywood's "comedy colony," celebrated his second year as a Vitagraph star with such hilarious concoctions as Frauds and Frenzies. Seldom bothering with a plot, actor-director Semon was devoted to elaborate and costly sight gags and wild and wooly chases. In this one, he plays an energetic convict who is put to work in a stone quarry. After driving his captors cuckoo, Semon makes his escape, sparking yet another of his frenetic slapstick chase finales. So dominant was the Semon personality that reviewers barely paid any attention to his co-star: 28-year-old Stan Laurel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Semon, Stan Laurel, (more)
- 1918
With this wartime comedy, Larry Semon graduated from one to two-reelers. It was also the first Semon film in which Stan Laurel appeared (Laurel would make just three films with the comic, who at the time was almost as famous as Charles Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle). To impress Vera (Madge Kirby), Larry (Semon) poses as a man of great wealth. In reality, however, he is just the headwaiter at a beer garden. But nothing in this film is as it appears to be -- the beer garden is really a front for a group of German spies, and Vera is an inventor who has created a new gas mask for the U.S. government. Vera and her father come to the beer garden, where she is not thrilled to learn that Larry is just a waiter. She doesn't have much time to stew over this bit of information -- the Germans kidnap her in hopes of stealing her plans for the gas mask. Though the situation looks bleak, Larry comes to the rescue and saves both Vera and her invention. Laurel's role is a small one -- he is merely one of the gang members. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larry Semon
- 1918
Larry Semon's films were never strong on plot, but this two-reeler has even less of a story line than usual. It begins with the premise of two warring rural families, the Cutshaws and the Slawsons. Larry Cutshaw (Semon) is in love with the Slawson girl (Madge Kirby) and he is determined to court her, feud or no. A theatrical troupe is stranded nearby, and a couple of the actors ask the local idiot, Pete (Stan Laurel), to carry their trunks. But the trunks are carrying some unexpected items -- while sneaking off to see his girl, Larry has run into a bear and to escape, he hides in one of the trunks. The bear, meanwhile, climbs into the other one. Pete takes the trunks to the Slawson cabin, and when Larry gets out, he discovers he must not only contend with the bear, but also with a very angry Paw Slawson (Frank Alexander). Both Pete and Larry wind up being pursued by bears. This was the second of three films Laurel made for Semon. Some believe that Semon fired Laurel because he was too good of a comic, and Semon didn't want the competition. This is apparently not true -- Semon was generally willing to share screen time with talented cast members. One of his regulars in the early '20s was Oliver Hardy, Laurel's future partner. More likely, Laurel left to return to vaudeville when Vitagraph (the studio where Semon filmed) was closed because of the deadly 1918 flu epidemic. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1918
Stan Laurel is surprisingly low key in this comic one-reeler, which he made for Hal Roach's company, Rolin. Generally, in his early work, he was hyperactive, very much different from his slow, measured persona later on when he teamed up with Oliver Hardy. Here, Laurel's calmer demeanor makes him quite a likeable hero. Stan has no money, and when he finds a wallet, he thinks he has struck gold. Unfortunately a little boy sees it too, and both of them fight for it until the kid's father -- a policeman (Noah Young) -- shows up. Still without funds, Stan is then lured into a café by a woman, but is quickly kicked out. After managing to get a dime from the kid, he goes back in to order a meal. He sits next to the woman, who switches checks on him and then leaves. Since the bill's amount is more than he has to pay, the chef (Bud Jamison) tosses him out, and he lands on the policeman. This is the earliest Stan Laurel film that is still in existence. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stan Laurel
