It would appear that Stan Laurel is one of the specialist subjects on Mastermind - Friday 20th Jan, BBC2, 8:00pm

Beau Hunks (1931)
 

Beau Hunks (1931)

The course of true love never runs smooth,something which Oliver Hardy is learning the hard way when he falls in love with Jean Harlow (Jeanie-Weenie ) ,unfortunately for the viewer its just a photograph that we see and not the actual Jean Harlow in the flesh.Ollie all loved up sings a slushy romantic song to a very nonplussed Stan who really does not get it. A knock at the door brings a telegram and the news is not good,Ollie has been ceremoniously dumped by Jean,totally dejected he decides to join the French Foreign Legion to help him forget about his broken heart , naturally Stan has to join up as well. Beau Hunks starts of pretty damn good,Ollie's loved up mushy love song is horrible to the ear but funny as well,and Oliver certainly puts his soul into singing it.Stan on the other hand is for some reason cutting out an advert for fertilizer while also cutting a hole in the cushion,Stan's reply to Ollie's song is a classic,without dropping a beat he asks "what are you getting so mushy about" ,with seemingly no understanding of what Ollie is going through.This is then followed by Ollie's announcement that he is going to get married,to which Stan replies "You don't believe me",a great confusion of words that only he could deliver,this then leads to another great bit of dialogue as Stan asks "who to?" Ollie replies " Why, a woman of course. Did you ever hear of anybody marrying a man? ",its some of the best dialogue they have done.It has to be said that Ollie really knows how to play the love sick chump,while Stan manages to play it the whole scene quite unaware of Ollie's feelings and is more interested in knowing what the word levity means.The first halve of the film has some of the best dialogue and misunderstandings between the duo that has been filmed,the film suffers slightly in the second halve when they join the Legion,I don't think the French Foreign Legion lends itself to well to comedy, as anyone who has seen the film Carry on Follow That Camel,will testify to.It does include the classic where the duo come back from a long march and are sitting on there bunks,Ollie starts massaging his foot only to find he was actually massaging Stan's foot instead.Still apart from some minor niggles its a great short and highly recommended.

January 18th, 1932 - 'The Chimp' goes into production

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Stan as a child

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A young Ollie

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John Wayne visits Stan and Ollie on the set of the film 'Atoll K' in 1951

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Even mega-stars write gushing fan letters!

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The Chimp.(1933)
 

The Chimp.(1933)

What is basically a remake of the classic Laughing Gravy,The Chimp is by far one of the silliest of the duos comedies,but still very funny,even if the plot is preposterous in the extreme.This time the boys are working in a circus,we first see them as a panto mine horse,then as Destructo's helpers in his cannonball act,unfortunately they manage to the blow the big top down and close the circus at the same time.With the circus in bankruptcy the owner has to pay off its employees with the circus's assets.Stan manages to inherit the flea circus while Ollie has obtained Ethel, a tutu wearing gorilla in a hat.From the offset Ethel is not to keen on Ollie but seems to have a crush on Stan,and pretty much does what ever Stan asks.The scene where Ollie tries to get Ethel into a crate he has been building for her,is priceless,especially the glances Ethel and Stan give each other,while Ollie looks on not knowing what to make of these new turn of events.While obviously Ethel is just a man in a suit ( the great ape impersonator Charles Gemora),they really do manage to get some great expressions and some nice gestures from Ethel,and this was a million years before Rick Baker and his long list of ape effects. There's plenty of funny little scenes in The Chimp,mainly when Ethel is chasing Ollie,even after Stan has coaxed Ethel into the crate,she (I call her she but Ethel does get referred to in the film a couple of times as a him?) manages to chase Ollie and get him in the crate instead. In the end the trio are chased away by a lion called MGM,who escapes the circus as well.The chimp has plenty of memorable moments,while being chased by MGM,Ollie manages to loose his trousers and end up wearing Ethel's tutu,or when Ethel climbs into the bed sitting room and snuggles up to Ollie in his bed,much to Ollie's annoyance. The Chimp is a really nice but silly film,there really is nothing dafter than having a man dressed as an ape chasing Oliver Hardy,then again there is nothing more dafter than having a man in ape suit dancing around the bedroom with Stan and Oliver and then managing to get hold of a gun.Ollie: Ethel! Come back to bed!

Nice review, Inspector.

Rare 'behind the scenes, location footage' of Stan and Ollie shooting the films 'Should Married Men Go Home' in March 1928

Also featured in the clip are John Aasen (Tall golfer), Edgar Kennedy (Golfer with toupee), Edna Marion (Blond golf partner) and Viola Richard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwDP7WKchnA

Oliver Hardy with some of his golf trophies

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He had a 10 handicap, and counted Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields and Chico Marx among his golfing partners