Bruce Calvert
2008-01-26 00:42:34 UTC
http://www.aikenstandard.com/2007redesign/news/290840015992592.php
Museum in Harlem honors comedians Laurel and Hardy
By DR. TOM MACK Columnist
When the United States Postal Service decided in 1991 to commission a series
of stamps to honor classic comedians, one famed duo topped the list of those
to be commemorated. In one of five stamps designed by noted caricaturist Al
Hirshfeld, the British-born Stan Laurel and Georgia-bred Oliver Hardy are
captured in a characteristic stance. On the left side of the image, the
thin, diminutive Laurel sports a wide, goofy grin; and on the right side,
the rotund, mustachioed Hardy gives his partner an exasperated glare. One
can almost hear Hardy utter his famous catch phrase, "This is another fine
mess that you've got us in."
Over the course of three decades, from the late 1920s to the early 1940s,
Laurel and Hardy made a score of popular films, both short and
feature-length, that made them international celebrities. During the course
of each screen narrative, the meek Laurel and the more assertive Hardy
generally get entangled in some ill-conceived scheme. In the 1933 film "Sons
of the Desert," "the boys," as they were affectionately called by fans, get
caught trying to deceive their wives in order to attend a national
convention of their fraternal organization; in the 1937 film "Way Out West,"
the duo try to honor the wishes of a dying man by conveying the deed to a
gold mine to his daughter and heir, but they end up giving the valuable
document to the wrong person.
Despite their often stumbling, bumbling manner, Laurel and Hardy generally
find a way to correct their mistakes and right the wrongs perpetrated by
others. In perhaps my favorite of their films, the 1934 "Babes in Toyland,"
for example, the boys, boarders at the home of the Widow Peep, help her
daughter Bo marry her beloved Tom-Tom and, in the furtherance of their
personal goals, coincidentally save their fanciful homeland from invading
monsters.
This now legendary comic duo was established in 1927 at the studio of Hal
Roach in Culver City, Calif., but they arrived at their momentous union from
different routes. Born in Ulverston, England, in 1890, Stan Laurel led a
largely itinerant childhood because his father was a professional performer
in British music halls; Laurel came to America in 1910, touring in
vaudeville until he found himself in the motion picture industry. Hardy was
born in 1892 in Harlem, Ga., a small town just to the west of Augusta, and
he got his start in show business in Milledgeville when he took a job in
1910 as a projectionist and singer in a movie house called the Electric
Theater. Enamored of the films that he showcased, Hardy decided to follow
his dream of appearing on the screen himself. He worked in motion picture
studios in Jacksonville, Fla., and then in New Jersey before moving to
California in 1919.
Until recently, Hardy's roots in Georgia were largely unacknowledged. In
2002, with the opening of the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem, Ollie
Hardy's early years have now come into sharper focus. His father had been a
construction crew foreman for the Georgia Southern Railroad, which was then
building a rail line between Augusta and Madison; but at the time of
Oliver's birth, he was managing a hotel in Madison. Oliver Hardy was born in
Harlem because his mother, Emily Norvell, was "confined" during her
pregnancy in the home of her parents, who were residents of that town. Only
10 months after Oliver was born, however, his father died suddenly of a
heart attack and was buried in Harlem. The family then moved to Atlanta and
eventually to Milledgeville where his mother managed the Baldwin Hotel; it
was in Georgia that Oliver discovered his talent for music (he had a fine
singing voice) and comedy.
The Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem showcases lobby cards, posters, and
stills from the duo's films, innumerable examples of Laurel and
Hardy-inspired merchandise, and a host of fan tributes. Particularly
interesting are items manufactured abroad, including Laurel and Hardy comic
books printed in the Netherlands in 1980 and Laurel and Hardy calendars from
Italy and Germany. There are also some props from Laurel and Hardy films,
including a fez worn in "Sons of the Desert."
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the museum is located
in downtown Harlem in a building that once housed the town's post office.
From Aiken, take Interstate 20 to exit 183, just 12 miles west of Augusta;
the town of Harlem is just five miles south of that exit, and the route is
clearly marked by signs advertising the museum. Every fall the City of
Harlem hosts an Oliver Hardy Festival, which features a parade, street dance
and hundreds of crafters and vendors
Museum in Harlem honors comedians Laurel and Hardy
By DR. TOM MACK Columnist
When the United States Postal Service decided in 1991 to commission a series
of stamps to honor classic comedians, one famed duo topped the list of those
to be commemorated. In one of five stamps designed by noted caricaturist Al
Hirshfeld, the British-born Stan Laurel and Georgia-bred Oliver Hardy are
captured in a characteristic stance. On the left side of the image, the
thin, diminutive Laurel sports a wide, goofy grin; and on the right side,
the rotund, mustachioed Hardy gives his partner an exasperated glare. One
can almost hear Hardy utter his famous catch phrase, "This is another fine
mess that you've got us in."
Over the course of three decades, from the late 1920s to the early 1940s,
Laurel and Hardy made a score of popular films, both short and
feature-length, that made them international celebrities. During the course
of each screen narrative, the meek Laurel and the more assertive Hardy
generally get entangled in some ill-conceived scheme. In the 1933 film "Sons
of the Desert," "the boys," as they were affectionately called by fans, get
caught trying to deceive their wives in order to attend a national
convention of their fraternal organization; in the 1937 film "Way Out West,"
the duo try to honor the wishes of a dying man by conveying the deed to a
gold mine to his daughter and heir, but they end up giving the valuable
document to the wrong person.
Despite their often stumbling, bumbling manner, Laurel and Hardy generally
find a way to correct their mistakes and right the wrongs perpetrated by
others. In perhaps my favorite of their films, the 1934 "Babes in Toyland,"
for example, the boys, boarders at the home of the Widow Peep, help her
daughter Bo marry her beloved Tom-Tom and, in the furtherance of their
personal goals, coincidentally save their fanciful homeland from invading
monsters.
This now legendary comic duo was established in 1927 at the studio of Hal
Roach in Culver City, Calif., but they arrived at their momentous union from
different routes. Born in Ulverston, England, in 1890, Stan Laurel led a
largely itinerant childhood because his father was a professional performer
in British music halls; Laurel came to America in 1910, touring in
vaudeville until he found himself in the motion picture industry. Hardy was
born in 1892 in Harlem, Ga., a small town just to the west of Augusta, and
he got his start in show business in Milledgeville when he took a job in
1910 as a projectionist and singer in a movie house called the Electric
Theater. Enamored of the films that he showcased, Hardy decided to follow
his dream of appearing on the screen himself. He worked in motion picture
studios in Jacksonville, Fla., and then in New Jersey before moving to
California in 1919.
Until recently, Hardy's roots in Georgia were largely unacknowledged. In
2002, with the opening of the Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem, Ollie
Hardy's early years have now come into sharper focus. His father had been a
construction crew foreman for the Georgia Southern Railroad, which was then
building a rail line between Augusta and Madison; but at the time of
Oliver's birth, he was managing a hotel in Madison. Oliver Hardy was born in
Harlem because his mother, Emily Norvell, was "confined" during her
pregnancy in the home of her parents, who were residents of that town. Only
10 months after Oliver was born, however, his father died suddenly of a
heart attack and was buried in Harlem. The family then moved to Atlanta and
eventually to Milledgeville where his mother managed the Baldwin Hotel; it
was in Georgia that Oliver discovered his talent for music (he had a fine
singing voice) and comedy.
The Laurel and Hardy Museum in Harlem showcases lobby cards, posters, and
stills from the duo's films, innumerable examples of Laurel and
Hardy-inspired merchandise, and a host of fan tributes. Particularly
interesting are items manufactured abroad, including Laurel and Hardy comic
books printed in the Netherlands in 1980 and Laurel and Hardy calendars from
Italy and Germany. There are also some props from Laurel and Hardy films,
including a fez worn in "Sons of the Desert."
Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the museum is located
in downtown Harlem in a building that once housed the town's post office.
From Aiken, take Interstate 20 to exit 183, just 12 miles west of Augusta;
the town of Harlem is just five miles south of that exit, and the route is
clearly marked by signs advertising the museum. Every fall the City of
Harlem hosts an Oliver Hardy Festival, which features a parade, street dance
and hundreds of crafters and vendors
--
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com