THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY

Laurel and Hardy were a comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). They became well known during the late 1920s to the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous bully Hardy. The duo's signature tune is known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos". It was played over the opening credits of their films and has become as emblematic of the duo as their bowler hats.

Prior to emerging as a team, both actors had well-established film careers. Laurel had appeared in over 50 films as an actor (while also working as a writer and director), while Hardy had been in more than 250 productions. The two comedians had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog in 1921. However, they were not a comedy team at that time and it was not until 1926 that they appeared in a movie short together, when both separately signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared together in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with the Roach studio until 1940 and then appeared in eight "B" movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing in stage shows and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland. They made their last film in 1950, a French-Italian co-production called Atoll K.

They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films, and 23 full-length feature films. They also made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including the Galaxy of Stars promotional film of 1936. On December 1, 1954, the pair made their one American television appearance, when they were surprised and interviewed by Ralph Edwards on his live NBC-TV program This Is Your Life. Since the 1930s, the works of Laurel and Hardy have been released in numerous theatrical reissues, television revivals, 8-mm and 16-mm home movies, feature-film compilations, and home videos. In 2005, they were voted the seventh-greatest comedy act of all time by a UK poll of fellow comedians. The official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society is known as The Sons of the Desert, named after a fictitious fraternal society featured in the film of the same name.

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1. Stan Laurel - Save the Ship (1923)

"I had a dream I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep." Stan Laurel

Save the Ship is a 1923 American silent comedy film starring Stan Laurel,

2. Laurel and hardy - The Lucky Dog (1921)

In their first screen appearance together, Stan plays a penniless dog lover and Oliver plays a crook who tries to rob him and his new paramour.

3. Oliver Hardy One Too Many (1916)

Plump receives an announcement of a coming visit by a rich uncle. He can't wait to meet the beautiful wife and children Plump has boasted about. Plump panics, as he has no family and he recruits bellboy Runt to help him cover this up. The story gets a little bizzare as Runt resorts to kidnapping and child trafficking to achieve his ends. In one scene, Runt approaches a strange woman on the street and tells her to "rent me your baby." She hands the child over with a smile.

4. Oliver Hardy - The Show (1922)

" You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead." Stan Laurel

A harried propman backstage at a theater must put up with malfunctioning wind machines, roosters that spit nitroglycerine, and a gang planning to rob the theater's payroll.

5. Oliver Hardy - The Sawmill (1922)

A bumbling sawmill employee tries to win the hand of the owner's daughter while staying out of the clutches of the mill's bullying foreman.

6. Stan Laurel - Roughest Africa (1923)

Two explorers travel to Africa to capture and photograph various wildlife.

7. Stan Laurel - Oranges and Lemons (1923)

"If any of you cry at my funeral. I'll never speak to you again" Stan Laurel

After getting into a scuffle with his boss and some co-workers, an orange packer tries to help another co-worker, only to wind up in a conflict with him as well. Trying to elude his boss, he heads inside the packing house, and visits with the women who are packing fruit into cases. Then he heads to a storage area, and tries to use the machinery to escape his pursuers.

8. Stan Laurel - Under Two Jags (1923)

An early Stan Laurel comedy set, improbably enough, in the Arabian Peninsula. The silent star is a strange sight in his Chaplin-esque tramp costume surrounded by men in Arabic dress. Once scooped up by a company of British soldiers, his character proves his military ineptitude in sidesplitting fashion.

9. Oliver Hardy - The Sleuth (1923)

Stan is a detective who essentially relies on different costumes to successfully complete his investigations.

10. Oliver Hardy - Crazy To Act (1927)

Millionaire film producer Gordon Bagley wants to marry Ethel St. John, the leading lady in his latest film. Ethel is in love with Arthur Young, the hero of Bagley's lastest movie. Work on the film starts, and at the preview screening is shown to be disasterous. Ethel then goes away with Arthur, while Gordon runs on a rotating movie set.