Normally, we're perfectly happy sitting on the couch, tucking into treats and watching from the comfort and convenience of our own home.
Yet we've managed to go to the cinema twice in the last two weeks.
I will admit, the living room style recliner seats are pretty nice. And it helped that we didn't have any loud talkers or cell phone junkies around us. (They are the real movie spoilers.)
We were lured out to see Stan and Ollie, a tribute to the friendship of the movie comedy team of Laurel and Hardy. The movie centers on a tour they did together late in their career. The actors did a fine job of recreating the comedic team, and it made us want to rent a Laurel and Hardy movie or two (which we subsequently did).
I loved watching old comedies when I was growing up. Thankfully, these flickers enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in my formative years. My sister took me to Cleveland State University for one such film festival featuring W.C. Fields. My brother and sister-in-law took me to see the Marx Brothers at the Variety. And I saw Laurel and Hardy silent films with a former boyfriend at the Mayfield Repertory Cinema, with klezmer performed by live musicians. (Yes, it really worked, it was great.)
Early in his career, Stan Laurel was an understudy to Charlie Chaplin. It's easy to see that Stan also possessed the grace and the gentle, naive qualities that Chaplin exuded, although Stan took them and made them his own.
There's one scene in the movie Mr. Ginley and I saw that inspired us to rent some of the original films. Called County Hospital, it features Ollie in a huge leg cast. Stan comes to visit him. He brings eggs and nuts, which Ollie doesn't like. Stan proceeds to pull out an egg, crack the shell on the nightstand, and eat it. This doesn't sound particularly amusing, but the execution is brilliant and very funny.
Comedy has come a long way in subsequent years, but there's still so much to love about the early films. It could be argued that today's films rely too much on technology for their sight gags. And that foul language has taken the place of brilliantly finessed wordplay.
Or maybe I'm just being an alter cocker again, I don't know.
What I do know is that only Stan and Ollie could make pushing a piano up a massive flight of stairs hilarious, as they did in The Music Box.
It's fun to watch not just for the obvious story line but to see how perfectly their moves were choreographed. Good stuff.
P.S. Although Ollie is quoted as saying, "Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into," it's really "nice" mess. In case you were wondering.
No comments:
Post a Comment