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Blotto | |
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Directed by | James Parrott |
Written by | Leo McCarey H.M. Walker |
Produced by | Hal Roach |
Starring | Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy |
Cinematography | George Stevens |
Edited by | Richard C. Currier William H. Ziegler |
Music by | Nathaniel Shilkret Leroy Shield (1937 reissue) |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 26:06 (English) 39:30 (Spanish) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Blotto is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by James Parrott and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The short was produced by Hal Roach and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
During the Prohibition era, Laurel and Hardy plan an evening at the Rainbow Club, a lively venue. Stan, eager to escape his nagging wife, agrees to a scheme devised by Ollie to feign a business-related absence. However, their telephone conversation is overheard by Stan's wife, prompting her to enact her own plan.
Unbeknownst to Stan and Ollie, Mrs. Laurel replaces the hidden liquor in their home with tea spiked with various spices. At the club, the duo struggles to open their bottle quietly before resorting to enjoying the entertainment, including a Josephine Baker-style exotic dancer and a baritone singer whose melancholic performance moves Stan to tears.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Laurel, armed with a shotgun, arrives at the club and confronts the pair, revealing the contents of their bottle. Angered by their deception, she pursues them onto the street, where they flee in a taxi. In a fit of rage, Mrs. Laurel unleashes a single shot, obliterating the vehicle.
The name of the film relates to the now archaic term "to be blotto" meaning to be very drunk. [1]
The initial release of Blotto did not incorporate a music score apart from the orchestral "Dance of the Cuckoos" tune played during the opening titles. [2] The original version of the film is no longer extant, with only a censored 1937 re-release print surviving. This re-release edition underwent alterations, including the removal of approximately one reel of material containing pre-Code sequences.
To address the absence of a music score in the original release, a background music track was integrated into the 1937 version. This musical accompaniment comprised a combination of Leroy Shield's jazzy compositions and other musical selections commonly featured in 1937 Hal Roach films. A distinctive feature of Blotto is that it represents the sole Laurel and Hardy production where Laurel's character is married while Hardy's remains unmarried.=
Although the original 1930 version is now considered a lost film, a Spanish language version produced by MGM, entitled La Vida Nocturna has survived which shows how the film was originally presented, including a gag involving an electric fan after Stan says he needs some "fresh air". This is not available in the English version due to negative damage.[ citation needed ]
The film was reshot and entitled La Vida Nocturna for the Spanish language market.
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.
Brats is a 1930 Laurel and Hardy comedy short. The film was directed by James Parrott. Laurel and Hardy play dual roles as their own children. It also inspired a helper group for the Michigan tent for The Sons of the Desert, which is composed of all the child members of the tent. This is the first of only three films where the boys each play a dual role: the second is Twice Two and the third and last is Our Relations.
We Faw Down is a silent short subject directed by Leo McCarey starring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on December 29, 1928. It was remade in part with their film Sons of the Desert in 1933.
Pardon Us is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931.
A Chump at Oxford is a Hal Roach comedy film produced in 1939 and released in 1940 by United Artists. It was directed by Alfred J. Goulding and was the penultimate Laurel and Hardy film made at the Roach studio. The title echoes the film A Yank at Oxford (1938), of which it is a partial parody.
Zenobia is a 1939 comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke, Alice Brady, James Ellison, Jean Parker, June Lang, Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel. The source of the film was the 1891 short story "Zenobia's Infidelity" by H.C. Bunner, which was originally purchased by producer Hal Roach as a vehicle for Roland Young.
Helpmates is a Laurel and Hardy Pre-Code short film comedy. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer on January 23, 1932.
Unaccustomed As We Are is the first sound film comedy starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, released on May 4, 1929.
Chickens Come Home is a 1931 American pre-Code short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by James W. Horne and produced by Hal Roach. It was shot in January 1931 and released on February 21, 1931. It is a remake of the 1927 silent film Love 'em and Weep in which James Finlayson plays Hardy's role and Hardy plays a party guest.
Block-Heads is a 1938 American comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It was produced by Hal Roach Studios for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, a reworking of elements from the Laurel and Hardy shorts We Faw Down (1928) and Unaccustomed As We Are (1929), was Roach's final film for MGM.
Saps at Sea is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas, distributed by United Artists. It was Laurel and Hardy's last film produced by the Hal Roach Studios, as well as the last film to feature Ben Turpin and Harry Bernard.
That's My Wife is a 1929 short comedy silent film produced by the Hal Roach Studios and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in December 1928 and released March 23, 1929, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with a synchronized music and sound effects track in theaters equipped for sound.
The Bohemian Girl is a 1936 comedic feature film version of the opera The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe. Directed by James W. Horne and Charles Rogers, and it was produced at the Hal Roach Studios, and stars Laurel and Hardy, and Thelma Todd in her final film role. This was also the only appearance of Darla Hood in a full-length feature produced by Hal Roach.
Be Big! is a Hal Roach three-reel comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in November and December 1930, and released on February 7, 1931.
Laughing Gravy is a 1931 short film comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was directed by James W. Horne, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The Fixer Uppers is a 1935 American short comedy film directed by Charles Rogers, starring Laurel and Hardy, and produced by Hal Roach.
Come Clean is a 1931 American pre-Code short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by James W. Horne and produced by Hal Roach.
Their First Mistake is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy short starring Laurel and Hardy. Directed by George Marshall, the film was produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Laurel and Hardy were primarily comedy film actors. However, many of their films featured songs, and some are considered as musicals in their own right. The composer Leroy Shield scored most of Laurel and Hardy sound shorts although they were often misattributed to Marvin Hatley.
Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy; the film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The film focuses on details of the comedy duo's personal relationship while relating how they embarked on a gruelling music hall tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland during 1953 and struggled to get another film made.