HAVING BEEN PAIRED quite by accident, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were rapidly becoming fused together; both in the minds of the 1920's movie going public, as well as in the future plans of the production team at Hal Roach Studios. Their meshing together, proving them to be a natural, became more and more obvious with every appearance that they did together.
BEING THAT THEY were two layers that were called THE HAL ROACH ALL-STARS, the future funny man team shared billing and screen time with the likes of James Finlayson, Anita Garvin, Noah Young, William Gillespie, Charley Hall, Sam Lufkin and others. Breaking out and getting to the "front of the class" was a great accomplishment; requiring great effort and (intended or not) a great deal of competition.
AS FOR THIS film which we have just screened for the first time on this very day, it is a great example of just how this celluloid evolution and metamorphosis was progressing. Both Stan and Ollie are billed at the top of the cast listing; however, they are not yet "LAUREL & HARDY. officially or otherwise. They have donned their trademark bowlers (that's 'derbies' to you, Schultz) and they exhibit a seemingly natural to work together.
BUT THINGS WERE still in a sort of embryonic stage and finding the way was still the order of the day. The product of the Roach lot was still refining its image and trademark. We found that this film and other Hal Roach comedies of this vintage and prior bore much more of a resemblance to those of Roach rival (and close friend) in Mac Sennett's KEYSTONE COMEDIES.
AS AN EXAMPLE of what we mean, DO DETECTIVES THINK? relies more on humor generated by the title cards; which are usually sort of a sidebar and independent comment on the action of the on screen happenings.*
THERE IS ALSO a great reliance on the names given to the characters in a picture. Rather than using their own names, which would soon be the custom, silly and absurd sounding names are substituted (a Sennett/Keystone trademark). In this case we have: Ferdinand Finkleberry (Laurel), Sherlock Pinkham (Hardy) and Judge Foozle (Finlayson).
THE PLOT CONCERNS a tried and true old regular of having the defendant in the trial 'the Tipton Slasher' (Noah Young) swearing to take vengeance on the Judge after he passes sentence. From there, the action shifts to the detective agency and to L & H's efforts to protect the Judge.
ANOTHER NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE of the 1927 product with that of a year or two later is the pacing. While the film doesn't proceed in that breakneck pace of a Keystone Kop Comedy, it's still not the slow, meticulous working out of the gags as would be the Laurel & Hardy legacy.
BUT ALL OF that would soon be changing; thanks to the influence of Supervising Director Leo Mc Carey and Stan Laurel, himself.
NOTE: * The well written titles in Hal Roach silent pictures were the work of one H.M. Walker. He also continued with the Studio into the Sound era; writing those great opening titles as well as tailor making dialogue for "the Boys."
BEING THAT THEY were two layers that were called THE HAL ROACH ALL-STARS, the future funny man team shared billing and screen time with the likes of James Finlayson, Anita Garvin, Noah Young, William Gillespie, Charley Hall, Sam Lufkin and others. Breaking out and getting to the "front of the class" was a great accomplishment; requiring great effort and (intended or not) a great deal of competition.
AS FOR THIS film which we have just screened for the first time on this very day, it is a great example of just how this celluloid evolution and metamorphosis was progressing. Both Stan and Ollie are billed at the top of the cast listing; however, they are not yet "LAUREL & HARDY. officially or otherwise. They have donned their trademark bowlers (that's 'derbies' to you, Schultz) and they exhibit a seemingly natural to work together.
BUT THINGS WERE still in a sort of embryonic stage and finding the way was still the order of the day. The product of the Roach lot was still refining its image and trademark. We found that this film and other Hal Roach comedies of this vintage and prior bore much more of a resemblance to those of Roach rival (and close friend) in Mac Sennett's KEYSTONE COMEDIES.
AS AN EXAMPLE of what we mean, DO DETECTIVES THINK? relies more on humor generated by the title cards; which are usually sort of a sidebar and independent comment on the action of the on screen happenings.*
THERE IS ALSO a great reliance on the names given to the characters in a picture. Rather than using their own names, which would soon be the custom, silly and absurd sounding names are substituted (a Sennett/Keystone trademark). In this case we have: Ferdinand Finkleberry (Laurel), Sherlock Pinkham (Hardy) and Judge Foozle (Finlayson).
THE PLOT CONCERNS a tried and true old regular of having the defendant in the trial 'the Tipton Slasher' (Noah Young) swearing to take vengeance on the Judge after he passes sentence. From there, the action shifts to the detective agency and to L & H's efforts to protect the Judge.
ANOTHER NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE of the 1927 product with that of a year or two later is the pacing. While the film doesn't proceed in that breakneck pace of a Keystone Kop Comedy, it's still not the slow, meticulous working out of the gags as would be the Laurel & Hardy legacy.
BUT ALL OF that would soon be changing; thanks to the influence of Supervising Director Leo Mc Carey and Stan Laurel, himself.
NOTE: * The well written titles in Hal Roach silent pictures were the work of one H.M. Walker. He also continued with the Studio into the Sound era; writing those great opening titles as well as tailor making dialogue for "the Boys."