Run Time: 20 minutes. Studio: Hal Roach Studios. Director: Fred Guiol. Supervising Director: Leo McCarey. Titles: H.M. Walker. Producer: Hal Roach. Main Cast: James Finlayson, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Noah Young, Charlotte Mineau, Edna Marion. Cinematographer: George Stevens. Editor: Richard C. Currier.
For the current Laurel and Hardy fan, it can be strange to rewatch some of the duo's first year as a pair. There are films where the characters and their relationship with each other is nearly what it would become later. Then these films would be followed by a film like Sugar Daddies, where the two are in the same picture but don't really function as a team. In fact, in this short Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play supporting roles to the film's true star James Finlayson. Historian Randy Skretvedt would write in his essential book, Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies, "...Sugar Daddies doesn't build upon the teamwork which Stan and Babe [Oliver Hardy's nickname] showed in Do Detectives Think? While this is a pleasant film, there's little 'Laurel and Hardy' comedy in it. If other people at the Roach lot [they were working for Hal Roach Studios] noticed their potential as a team by now, Stan and Babe themselves seemed blissfully unaware of it. Stan portrays roughly the same character he played in his films of 1918, and he's no funnier here. And he's aggressively stupid which isn't nearly as endearing as being placidly dumb."
In this film, a wealthy oil magnet (James Finlayson) wakes up after a wild night to discover that he is now married. His new wife (Charlotte Mineau) is the least of his troubles. His wife's greedy daughter (Edna Marion) and son (Noah Young) are planning to blackmail the rich man for all he has got. The magnet turns to his lawyer (Stan Laurel) and butler (Oliver Hardy) for help. This all leads to a slapstick chase through an amusement park.
This is a very fun comedy. There are plenty of great little sight gags here. I love the opening gag with the fake pulsating top on James Finlayson's head. The gag with Stan's typewriter also always cracks me up. Though Stan and Ollie don't really function as a team here, they have a good bit of business together as Ollie tries to take Stan's hat. The highlight of the film though is the chase through the amusement park. This chase is incredibly well shot and a delight to look at. It is also full of wonderfully creative slapstick gags. For those who watch silent movies to catch glimpse of a time they weren't alive during these scenes give a delightful look into what amusement parks were like nearly 100 years ago. H.M. Walker's intertitles are delightfully clever and often as funny as the action itself. Besides just Stan and Babe, the whole cast is perfect in their roles, and each member adds to the fun. Though this may not be typical Laurel and Hardy, if you get a chance to watch this in a theater setting with a full audience, you will find that it is still able to make audiences laugh out loud today.
While this was not the first Laurel and Hardy film for Hal Roach Studios, it was the first to be distributed by MGM. Though the distribution agreement began in January 1926 and was paid off that March, Hal Roach was still making films to be distributed by Pathe Exchange. This short was released on September 10, 1927, making it one of the first films from the studio to be distributed by MGM. Newspaper articles quoted Hal as stating, "In affiliating with MGM, I am undertaking a policy of expansion that will thrust all precedent aside, creating a short subject product that will in every way be worthy of the high standard set by this organization and providing a feather to make the famous MGM lion a laughing animal."
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| Motion Picture News, 1929 |
The script for this film only amounted to two pages. Many of the slapstick bits of business receive little to no detail. The intention probably being to have the comedians or others on the set to improvise bits of business themselves. Some scenes like the scene in Stan's office or Stan arriving at the doorstep aren't even mentioned in the script. If this is the case, writers at the Hal Roach Studio caught on quickly to how gifted the two comedians were at improvising as this was very early in the pair's teaming and earlier scripts were much longer. For instance, Duck Soup (1927) had a 19-page script, Slipping Wives (1927) had a script that lasted 17 pages. Besides the very vague descriptions of comedic bits, the biggest difference from script to screen is that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's roles would be switched. In the script Stan has a line of dialogue that would greatly resemble one of the main catchphrases for the comedy team. Stan would tell Ollie, "A fine mess you've made of things." The reversal of roles for the comedy team was not the only casting change between script and screen. The script suggests that the wife would played by actress Key Deslys, but in the film the character is played by Charolette Mineau. The script also suggested that the brother would be played by a "type like David Butler." David Butler was an actor at this time but would go on to a greater career as a director. He directed Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in Road to Morrocco (1942) and many episodes of the beloved TV series Leave it to Beaver with many other film and TV credits to his name. However, in the actual film the role would be played by Noah Young, a character actor best known for playing bullies in various comedies. Harold Lloyd fans will certainly be familiar with Noah Young.
The film was written in early to mid-May 1927. Filming began on Thursday May 26 and Friday May 27. The 28th through the 30th (the 30th was Memorial Day) were taken off from filming. Shoot resumed on Tuesday May 31 and finished on Friday June 3. The movie was copyrighted on Aug. 17, 1927. The production number was S-1.
Like many Hal Roach comedies this film features some great location shooting. This location shooting was done heavily at the Long Beach Pike amusement park. This park was first built in 1902 and kept running through 1979. A good portion was shot at the park's Main Street. The dancing scenes were shot at the park's Majestic Ballroom (Randy Skredvedt pointed out in his essential book that a note attached to the script states, "Dance Hall: Use lobby as is, with more bunting and rail and turnstile. Make platform at foot of stairs, for orchestra.") The movie ends with shots that allow you to view the station for the Pacific Electric Red Car line. This line ran from Long Beach to Los Angeles.
The cameraman for this film was George Stevens. At this time working as a cameraman for Hal Roach studios, Stevens would go on to become one of the greatest directors of Hollywood's golden age. His filmography includes such movies as Swing Time (1936), Gunga Din (1939), Penny Serenade (1941), Woman of the Year (1942), The More the Merrier (1943), Shane (1953), Giant (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). For the Hal Roach studio, Stevens would later direct many entries in a series of short films known as The Boyfriends. Fans of old Hollywood comedy teams (which is probably anyone reading a blog post about a Laurel and Hardy film) might know that Stevens directed the team Wheeler and Woolsey in multiple movies. During WWII, he went overseas and headed a unit that filmed much real war footage. This included the liberation of Paris and the liberation of the Nazi extermination camp Dachau. What he saw had a massive effect on him.
This film's director Fred Guiol was a very prolific director for the Hal Roach Studio, directing many classic comedy shorts for the studio during the silent and early talkie era. After his time with Hal Roach, Guiol would direct Wheeler and Woolsey in the movies Silly Billies (1936) and Mummies Boys (1936). He would become a writer on some prestige movies. As a writer he would work on the George Stevens films The Nitwits (1935), Gunga Din, Vigil in the Night (1940) and Giant.
To promote that the beloved studio was making its entrance into short subjects, MGM had a showing of these shorts for 60 writers for the motion picture trade press. This showing took place at the Embassy Theatre in New York City on August 4, 1927. Sugar Daddies was the first film shown on the program. That was followed by the travelogue An African Adventure made by the German Ufa studio. Then came another Hal Roach studios short The Sting of Stings starring Charley Chase. Another Ufa short Soaring Wings followed. Then came a Technicolor short starring Francis X. Bushman called The Flag. The showing ended with the Our Gang (or Little Rascals) short Yale Vs. Harvard.
The following is from a 1927 issue of Movie Age Magazine.
"Metro Goldwyn Mayer's short subject program sweeps into full swing with the release of one late August and six September short subjects.
"The late August release is that of 'An African Adventure,' the first of the series of twenty-five Oddities produced for MGM by UFA
"On September 3 the first Hal Roach - Charley Chase Comedy, 'The Sting of Stings' is released.
"'Jewels of Venice' the second UFA Oddities release is scheduled for release September 10.
"The first of the ten Hal Roach All-Star series, 'Sugar Daddies' is scheduled for September 10. The featured players in 'Sugar Daddies' are Stan Laurel, James Finlayson, Edna Marion and Oliver Hardy.
"'What Every Ice Man Knows' is the first of the series of ten dialect comedies starring Max Davidson which are also being produced by Hal Roach. Release date of this subject is September 17.
"The third release of the twenty-five UFA Oddities, 'Soaring Wings,' will be released on September 24.
"A second release, and the last of the month, is also scheduled for September 24. The title is 'Yale vs. Harvard,' the first of ten Hal Roach 'Our Gang' comedies for MGM."
The following is a review from The Film Daily (dated August 14, 1927).
"This is Hal Roach's second two-reeler to be released under the MGM program. It is an average release. Too much rough and tumble business and not enough laughs is as good a way to sum it up as any. Stan Laurel is featured but his work calls for no special accommodation. Settings quite elaborate. The story ends with the efforts of a gold-digging wife to shake down Laurel for money The attempt to hold him long enough to extract the money provide the excuse for the chase and the picture."
The following is a review from Moving Picture World (dated August 13, 1927).
"'Sugar Daddies' is a two-reel slapstick featuring Stan Laurel with Oliver Hardy, Jimmy Finlayson, and Edna Marion. An oil magnate marries an adventuress between cocktails and the next morning her tough brother seeks to enforce a $5000 blackmail. In endeavoring to escape there are developed a number of situations not too familiar. It is rough work but generally amusing."
You can watch this film below.
Resources Used
Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies by Randy Skretvedt
The Laurel and Hardy Movie Scripts: 20 Original Short Subject Screenplays (1926-1934) by Randy Skretvedt
