Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act 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.
Oliver Norvell Hardy was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In most of his silent films before joining producer Hal Roach, he was billed on screen as Babe Hardy.
The Lubin Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture production company that produced silent films from 1896 to 1916. Lubin films were distributed with a Liberty Bell trademark.
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.
From Soup to Nuts is a silent short subject directed by E. Livingston Kennedy starring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. It was released on March 24, 1928, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Nothing But Trouble is a 1944 Laurel and Hardy feature film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Sam Taylor
Tit for Tat is a 1935 short comedy film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It is the only direct sequel they made, following the story of Them Thar Hills, which was released the previous year and includes the same two supporting characters, Mr. and Mrs. Hall, portrayed by Charlie Hall and Mae Busch. This "two-reeler" is notable too for being nominated for an Academy Award as Best Live Action Short Film (Comedy) of 1935, although it did not win. It also has a central theme similar to the comedy duo's 1929 silent short Big Business. In the opening scene of Tit for Tat, Oliver places a sign in the front window of his and Stan's electrical store. It reads "Open for Big Business", an allusion to the escalating revenge and "reciprocal destruction" common to both films.
Twice Two is a 1933 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy short film. It is the second of only three films where the pair each play a dual role: the first is Brats and the third and last is Our Relations.
Night Owls is a 1930 American Pre-Code Laurel and Hardy short film. It was filmed in October and November 1929, and released January 4, 1930.
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.
Outwitting Dad is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and featuring Billy Bowers, Raymond McKee, and Oliver Hardy in his first known screen appearance.
Building a Fire is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and starring Mae Hotely, Julia Calhoun, and Jerold Hevener. Also among the cast is Oliver Hardy, who has a small role as a policeman.
Back to the Farm is a lost 1914 silent comedy short film that co-starred Oliver "Babe" Hardy and Herbert "Bert" Tracy. Written by Will Louis and produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company of Pennsylvania, the short was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida. It was directed by Joseph Levering, likely in collaboration with the chief director on Lubin's production staff in Jacksonville, Arthur Hotaling.
The New Adventures of J. Rufus Wallingford is a 1915–1916 American silent film serial produced by the Wharton Studio in Ithaca, New York, and starring Burr McIntosh and Max Figman.
Why Girls Say No is a 1927 American silent comedy film featuring Max Davidson.
Epes Winthrop Sargent was an American vaudeville critic, who wrote under the pen-names Chicot and Chic.
The Ringtailed Rhinoceros is a lost 1915 American silent comedy-drama film that depicted the ruinous effects of alcohol on a good-natured man and on the lives of the people around him. Like snakes and "pink elephants" that have been used in many societies to symbolize heavy drinking or been associated with the hallucinations of drunkards, the main character in this "'photophantasy'" blamed instead a "Ringtailed Rhinoceros" for his excessive use of wine and liquor.
Billy Bowers was a comedic actor in the United States. He starred in many Siegmund Lubin comedy shorts with Oliver Hardy. He was also in films produced by Arthur Hotaling and directed by Jerold Hevener.
On the morning of June 13, 1914, a disastrous fire and a series of related explosions occurred in the main film vault of the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several possible causes for the blaze were cited at the time, one being "spontaneous combustion" of highly flammable nitrate film, which was the motion picture industry's standard medium for cameras throughout the silent era and for the first two decades of "talking pictures". Millions of feet of film were consumed in the flames, including most of the master negatives and initial prints of Lubin's pre-1914 catalog, several of the company's recently completed theatrical prints ready for release and distribution, a considerable number of films produced by other studios, inventories of raw and stock footage, hundreds of reels documenting historic events that occurred between 1897 and early 1914, as well as other films related to notable political and military figures, innovations in medical science, and professional athletic contests from that period. While this fire was not a decisive factor in Lubin's decline and bankruptcy by September 1916, costs associated with the disaster only added to the corporation's mounting debts, which led to the closure or sale of its remaining operations the following year.
Unaccustomed as We Are is a short comedy film produced by Hal Roach and directed by Lewis R. Foster. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on May 4, 1929. This picture was the first "all-talking" Laurel and Hardy comedy. The working title was Their Last Word. The title was changed to Unaccustomed as We Are, a play on the familiar phrase "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking..."
