tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post2879034657110489542..comments2024-03-27T10:50:17.270-05:00Comments on Rough Edges: Overlooked Movies: Stan & Ollie (2018)James Reasonerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-40726811123198807832019-07-22T20:26:11.864-05:002019-07-22T20:26:11.864-05:00Stan Laurel did receive an award from the Writer&#...Stan Laurel did receive an award from the Writer's Guild of America in 1963. Charlton Heston took the award to Laurel to present it personally to Laurel in the small ocean-view apartment where Stan spent his last 8 years with his wife (not in the motion picture retirement home at Woodland Hills, CA). Heston wrote in his diary for November 12, 1963: "I was touched by my visit to Stan Laurel. He's living in a tiny apartment in Santa Monica with his wife and the flotsam left behind by the high tide of his career. I had the feeling he's more or less content, though his poor healthy must color his reactions to his life now. It contrasts sharply to the clipping he showed me of the triumphal reception they had in London in '32. He seems happy about the award, but I doubt he'll have the strength to accept it in person." He wasn't able to accept the award in person (the first given by the WGA) but Danny Kaye accepted for him.Richard Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770090814220403413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-57835649218852515432019-07-21T10:33:29.915-05:002019-07-21T10:33:29.915-05:00Mike,
That would have been a good thing to do at ...Mike, <br />That would have been a good thing to do at the Academy Awards although, yeah, a little awkward. Reilly's performance was certainly one of the best in recent years.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-73352101450927437362019-07-21T02:16:40.493-05:002019-07-21T02:16:40.493-05:00This is the most recent movie that I have actually...This is the most recent movie that I have actually paid my way into a theater to see.<br />It may well be the last …<br /><br /><i>Stan & Ollie</i> was in and out of theaters in about the time it took me to type this sentence.<br />That is the way of things in AD 2019, with movies that aren't made up of CGI, MMA, and fart jokes.<br />I'm learning to live with this, but no one can tell me that I have to like it.<br /><br />Earlier this year, when they were having the kerfuffle about who would host the Oscars, I had the notion that maybe they might persuade Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly to come on in character as L&H and read the rules - but that would have been asking a lot (especially of Reilly), wouldn't it?Mike Doranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427528138598549103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-57748542328919968482019-07-19T16:14:35.168-05:002019-07-19T16:14:35.168-05:00Mention should be made of John Connolly's rece...Mention should be made of John Connolly's recent L&H biographical novel he (note the lower case). A great read!Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-19505535846153823802019-07-19T11:51:55.352-05:002019-07-19T11:51:55.352-05:00I know this is picky, but, in the picture above, t...I know this is picky, but, in the picture above, the hat on the actor playing Stan is too big. The boys were always very careful about their bowlers.Matthew Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13430232044031108705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-17039982131712377422019-07-18T11:17:08.331-05:002019-07-18T11:17:08.331-05:00Laurel and Hardy are our favourite comedians and w...Laurel and Hardy are our favourite comedians and we rate the duo higher than Charles Chaplin or anyone else. Their slapstick comedy is full of childlike simplicity and innocence, and so much fun. I have not seen this movie though I have heard some really good things about it.Prashant C. Trikannadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16079354501998741758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-75932908986273956812019-07-18T08:19:37.777-05:002019-07-18T08:19:37.777-05:00I just received the DVD of this film yesterday. I...I just received the DVD of this film yesterday. I was a L&H fan from childhood as their movies were often on one of the stations we received. Now I have most of them on DVD and watch them often. James I agree with you on Hardy in John Wayne's "The Fighting Kentuckian".He also had a very funny cameo in Frank Capra's "Riding High." Wayne met Hardy while both were performing in a charity production of the play "What Price Glory" a fundraiser for The Military Order of the Purple Heart" that was directed by John Ford and featured many of the Ford regulars including Ward Bond and Maureen O'Hara. The play toured five California cities and Hardy stole the show with his comic flair. James Cagney saw the play with his buddy Roland Winters and said "It was the funniest thing I think I have ever seen. Roland Winters and I had to hang on to each other, we were laughing so much." After the play Wayne recruited Hardy for Kentuckian but Hardy only agreed after getting approval from Stan Laurel. Richard Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770090814220403413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-58476291389193298292019-07-17T10:29:41.999-05:002019-07-17T10:29:41.999-05:00Good film! We were lucky to catch it on the big sc...Good film! We were lucky to catch it on the big screen.Elgin Bleeckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08417587392887691664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-23155464046234428332019-07-17T06:34:28.858-05:002019-07-17T06:34:28.858-05:00Loved it, too. Amazing performances all around, an...Loved it, too. Amazing performances all around, and it really brings the time and places alive.Peter Brandvoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12008419428583093754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-20137920727031140552019-07-16T13:41:01.752-05:002019-07-16T13:41:01.752-05:00Lifelong L&H fan here. I've been meaning t...Lifelong L&H fan here. I've been meaning to check this out. Thanks for the review, Jim!Deucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00240457596421236288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-10146551643059086362019-07-16T10:30:54.575-05:002019-07-16T10:30:54.575-05:00This is a wonderful movie! I missed it at the thea...This is a wonderful movie! I missed it at the theater (I don't think it even played here in our little town) but wanted to see it badly -- and finally did, on cable. It was everything I hoped for and more ... the cliched "I laughed, I cried, etc." It is, as you said, James, a sad film yet still somehow uplifting in that the boys got in a final great performance. The tag-on about Stan continuing to write skits for him and Ollie, while in the Hollywood veteran stars old folks home, was heart-wrenching yet inspirational. As a youngster, I, too, was probably more caught up by the broader comedy of the 3 Stooges and Abbot & Costello. But even back then I think I always knew at some level that the work of Stan and Ollie had a bit more depth and car3eful planning.<br />Did you know that Jerry Lewis named his character Stanley in his first solo effort The Bellboy and that he consulted with Mr. Laurel on the some of the bits used in the film? Stanley was widely recognized as a comedy legend.<br />And, finally, John C. Reilly's performance in this film is so spot-on perfect that his failure to wind an Academy Award for it is nothing short of a crime and one more reason I don't watch the flippin' Oscars any more!<br /><br /><br />wayne d. dundeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12468818760811792020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-56532951985448426412019-07-16T07:55:09.030-05:002019-07-16T07:55:09.030-05:00I missed this movie as well, but I will look for i...I missed this movie as well, but I will look for it. We have cable, but not Starz, so I won't be seeing it tonight.Adventuresfantastichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16907562789681407416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-70501850370877738192019-07-16T07:30:22.996-05:002019-07-16T07:30:22.996-05:00Well, that was good timing. I didn't know, bec...Well, that was good timing. I didn't know, because we don't have cable of any kind. Thanks for the heads-up, Jeff.James Reasonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-44414900128161359562019-07-16T06:12:20.206-05:002019-07-16T06:12:20.206-05:00For those who have Starz, the movie is on tonight....For those who have Starz, the movie is on tonight.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.com