Bill Peckmann &Books &Photos 01 May 2011 07:06 am
Laurel & Hardy: Liberty
- I’ve long been a Laurel & Hardy fan. I think it’s great for animators to study this pair for their incredible timing and movement. It was kind of a surprise to receive the following material from Bill Peckmann, and it didn’t take much decision to choose to post it.
Let me allow Bill to introduce the material, himself:
- Here’s something that might be a pleasant surprise to your readers who are Laurel & Hardy fans. Attached are the 8 x 10 black and white glossy stills (10 of them) from a L&H silent two reeler titled “Liberty”. It’s considered one of their best silent shorts.(I’ll vouch for that. Back in the late ’60′s we used to run it at lunchtime at work (Focus Design) and it always brought tears to everyone’s eyes who watched it. A side perk was the fact that animator Jack Schnerk, ex LA resident, was able to tell us where all of the outdoor city locations were that they used to film the L&H shorts.)
To give some background to “Liberty”, I’ve included an excerpt from Randy Skretvedt’s excellent (my all time favorite) Laurel and Hardy book “The Magic Behind the Movies”. (1987) I believe it’s still available in paperback. (Note: three names connected with the film, Leo McCarey, George Stevens and Jean Harlow.)
Because these marquis/publicity photos are printed from still camera film negatives (no dots), they have a great personal “Family Album” feel to them.
The book’s cover
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The stills are production stills and don’t come from the book.
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In escaping from jail, they mistakenly put on each others’ pants in the taxi.
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That’s a young Jean Harlow outside the taxi.
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They spend the rest of the film trying to get into their own pants.
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“BennyZ” left a comment about this still, which I’ve found on-line
and have added to the post just to complete them.
(Thanks to: www.christiankessler.de/laurelhardy.html)
on 01 May 2011 at 12:53 pm 1.Benny Z said …
Thanks for posting this! I’m a huge L and H fan and find myself referencing them often in my animation. What I love is the interplay between their physical performances. Whereas Abbot and Costello were a comic/straight man pair, both Stan and Ollie were very physical performers who specifically defined their characters through movement. I have given several lectures to students about silent film as reference for animation, focusing mostly on Chaplin and L&H for nonverbal communication, clarity, and specificity (and Keaton for gag construction, since there was never anyone better) but I find myself returning to L and H again and again because I am so in love with the characters. Their relationship is so touching, and that’s what elevates them. The moment in Blotto where Hardy comforts a crying Laurel, the lengthy looks at the camera for sympathy, the way they stand up for each other, and the childish interdependence against all odds.
Unfortunately only a few of their best films are on DVD in the US. There is a complete UK dvd set but its not available here. There used to be a bunch of stuff on VHS. Luckily I own a lot of their best shorts on Super 8…
You didn’t post my favorite publicity still from Liberty, my favorite picture of L&H altogether:
http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/6.jpg
on 01 May 2011 at 1:19 pm 2.Eric Noble said …
This looks like a lot of fun! I will have to check out their shorts. I am not as versed in silent film comedians as I should be.
on 01 May 2011 at 1:22 pm 3.Joel Brinkerhoff said …
I agree with everything Benny said. There is just something very appealing about these guys that warrants repeated watching. It’s always welcome and a pleasure whenever Stan and Ollie are mentioned.
on 01 May 2011 at 3:23 pm 4.Michael said …
Thanks, Benny Z, that is a beautiful still which perfectly complements the rest.
on 01 May 2011 at 3:37 pm 5.Benny Z said …
Yeah, I always liked that picture. The fact that they both seemed like genuinely decent fellows who were also friends adds to the enjoyment of their movies.
on 01 May 2011 at 6:25 pm 6.teodor said …
Great!!! “Puting pants on Philip” is also my favorite
After this photos I picked “Laurel and Hardy’s Laughing 20′s”
That movie have a special place in my library.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2GljtyNN9E
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059379/
Because a lot of laughter – I do not recommend to someone who has problems with weak heart or bladder.
on 02 May 2011 at 9:03 am 7.Don Cox said …
The box set is a good investment at around $2 per disc, and you could probably order it from amazon.co.uk.
The quality is almost all very good, with some short sections of poor quality where parts of a film had been lost and survived only as worn prints.
The discs are region 2 & 4, so you would need either a multi-region player or a program that copies DVDs and outputs region-free copies.
The 21 discs are also available separately, which would no doubt avoid import duty. “Liberty” is on disc 20.
on 02 May 2011 at 10:14 am 8.The Gee said …
Since they do sell them DVD, (go here) I am a bit hesitant about bringing up that the Archive has many silent shorts and a few Laurel and Hardy features. My guess is that everything at the end of the link is kosher, so, hopefully it remains available and more is added. That said, the quality is certainly ad hoc and expecting pristine anything may be expecting too much.
Eric, if you see this, there’s a lot of shorts there to enjoy and use as reference. Chaplin, Keaton, etc. The comedy section also has a lot of decent features. haha. they called them “Talkies”.
It is nice to know how close that era was to theater in making solid stories. Some of the features in that section are good flicks; others, may be likable enough.
And, sorry about the long link. Not a fan of URL shortening ( or lard, now that I think of it) because you never know what you are gonna get until you click on the link.
on 06 Jun 2015 at 7:09 pm 9.Randy Skretvedt said …
Thank you for your kind words about my book. I have finished the text for an updated, corrected and greatly expanded new edition, which will be about twice the length of the original book and, I hope, about ten times as interesting. It should be out in the fall of 2015….stay tuned.
All the best–
Randy Skretvedt