"Stan & Ollie"

Last night my husband and I went to see the newly released “Stan & Ollie” movie starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly. Before I give you my review of the film, I would like to provide a little background on my love affair with Laurel & Hardy. This dates back to my teen years (16). My family was visiting my uncle (Russ) who lives near San Francisco, CA. One of our options for entertainment one evening was a (VHS) recording of some “Laurel & Hardy” films. Until this point I’m not sure I had even heard of them, so I probably shrugged, ‘Sure, why not?’ I didn’t suddenly become a fan then and there, but it did at least provide some inspiration for Christmas present ideas as I started seeking out various Laurel & Hardy items. I don’t remember what all I bought for my uncle over the years, but I do recall one of the nicer pieces of memorabilia was a small mirror with the faces of Laurel & Hardy painted on it.  Not sure if he still has this.

I gradually became a fan and made a point of trying to see whatever “Laurel & Hardy” films I could rent or watch on TV, and have probably seen most, if not all of them by now. I also learned a little about the bios of Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy, and have even visited Mr. Laurel’s hometown of Ulverston, England (1994) where there was once a museum in his (and Ollie’s) honor.

I don’t know if it was there or elsewhere that I saw a home movie where Mr. Hardy was visiting Mr. Laurel and his family. I noticed Stan’s young daughter cowering behind her father while Ollie seemed to be trying to engage his daughter in conversation. I later learned she (Lois I think) was quite afraid of Ollie because in all their films, he was the one beating up on her daddy. One can see how a young child could come to that conclusion.

Anyway, fast forward to 2019 when a movie is released about Stan & Ollie’s tour of England performing various classic scenes from their best loved films. I first read about it in the December 17^th (2018) issue of Time magazine and only heard last weekend that it was now (finally) in cinemas. By this point I had already read various reviews that all said the same thing, “It’s kind of sad,” because these years weren’t exactly the highlight of their career. Many people said to them, “I thought you were retired; good for you that you’re still doing all the same old routines.”

It should be said that Stan and Ollie hadn’t performed together in years after Stan was fired by the studio after not being granted the raise he had asked for (or at least compensation for the repeated showing of their films). I believe the tour was Stan’s idea to get their names back in the public spotlight and to raise money for the “Robin Hood” film he was hoping to make. We see Ollie making various bets on the ponies, so there was some financial motivation for him as well, besides supporting his old partner. It took a while to fill theatres as audiences were sparse early on (as it was in our theatre too with only about a dozen of us at the 7:25pm showing), but thanks to Stan’s inspiration to do some PR spots for the news reels, crowds soon picked up with many (larger) venues selling out.

Unfortunately Ollie’s health wasn’t up to the lengthy tour, so they had to cancel some of their dates towards the end, but not before doing one last performance in Ireland for their loyal and grateful fans (as we see from the huge welcome they get when they arrive by ferry in Ireland).

I certainly learned a lot watching the movie as I didn’t know anything about this period in their lives (and would perhaps choose to focus on earlier happier times in their careers), so it was certainly educational and an eye opener for me. Mr. Coogan and Mr. Reilly are to be commended for the amazing job they both did in getting into character. As someone who has seen most of the Laurel & Hardy library, I can tell you they both nailed it. If you close your eyes and just listen to them, you’d almost swear the real Stan and Ollie were up there. The make-up artists are also to be congratulated, especially whoever had to create the fat suit for Ollie’s character. I bet Mr. Reilly had to spend hours getting ready every day.

If you’re a fan of Laurel & Hardy, I can definitely recommend this. Yes, this film is kind of sad, but it does at least have a somewhat upbeat ending, so I wasn’t exactly sobbing when I left the theatre (nor was anyone else).