Silent Film of the Month: Duck Soup (1927)

 

Run Time: 17 minutes. Studio: Hal Roach Studios Director: Fred Guiol. Supervising Director: Leo McCarey. Writer: H.M. Walker . Adapted from a skit written by  Arthur Jefferson. Producer: Hal Roach. Main Cast: Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy, Madeline Hurlock,William Austin. Cinematographer: Floyd Jackman


Since I always post these on the first of the month and this month that is April Fools Day, I feel my only option of this installment of Silent Film of the Month is to do a Laurel and Hardy film. This month's film is the first time the boys worked as a team, Duck Soup. This is not the famous Marx Brothers film of the same name, but this film's supervising director, Leo McCarey, directed that Marx Brothers movie. Leo McCarey also directed such film classics as The Awful Truth, and Going My Way. He is also the one often given credit for coming up with the idea to team Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It is interesting to note that this film was originally going to star Stan Laurel and Syd Crossley. It is unknown why Syd Crossley would be replaced by Oliver Hardy in this film. Syd Crossley's first screen appearance had been in the short film Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde which starred Stan Laurel.

Unlike other comedy teams like The Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy first worked together on films. They also both had fairly good solo careers before teaming up. Stan Laurel had worked as both an actor and a director. Oliver Hardy had often times played villains opposite such comic actors as Larry Seamon and Billy West (not the voice actor but a Charlie Chaplin imitator). Though this is the first time they worked as a team, this was not the first time the two had worked together. Both had appeared in the 1921 comedy short The Lucky Dog, but here Stan played the hero, while Ollie played the bad guy. Stan also directed a short called Yes, Yes, Nanette which featured Ollie as an actor.

The story line of this film was based off of a skit written by a British Music Hall comedian named Arthur Jefferson, who was also Stan Laurel's father. In this short Stan and Ollie (played by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, of course) are being pursued by a forest ranger (played by Bob Kortman) . They hide in a house that belongs to a big game hunter. After the boys find that the big game hunter and his servants are out of town, Ollie pretends to be the owner and Stan pretends to be the servant, when some tenants (played by Madeline Hurlock and William Austin) are looking to rent the place. This plot would later be used in a talkie Laurel and Hardy short called Another Fine Mess.

While there would be some better Laurel and Hardy films in the future, this film is still very funny and enjoyable. The intertitles by H.M. Walker are hilarious, and the chemistry between Stan and Ollie is excellent. However I do wish Jimmy Finlayson would have played Colonel Buckshot like he did in the remake as he was very funny there, but James A. Marcus does do a good if not as memorable job. After watching this film it was no wonder the boys went on to as great of careers as they did.

After this film the boys didn't immediately become a full time team. For instance Stan Laurel would appear in the short film Eve's Love Letters without Oliver Hardy and Ollie would appear in short films such as The Honorable Mr. Buggs, No Man's Law, Baby Brother, and Crazy to Act without Stan. They would also appear together in the short Sugar Daddies, where they would not work as a team.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used
The Complete Films of Laurel and Hardy by William K. Everson
Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies by Randy Skretvedt