THE television presenter, writer and virtuoso pianist Neil Brand gave a whistle-stop tour through the works and films of the pioneering comedy film duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy when he performed his latest show.
With a piano, and many of the pair’s short silent films, he played musically sympathetic improvisations to underscore the dramatic tension and comedic beats in the movies.
Using dramatic, fast-paced music, percussive sound effects and musical quotes from Cammile Saint Saens’s Aquarium and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, it was always a suitable backdrop to the films as they played out.
We were also reminded of how dangerous some of the stunts were and how during filming close to 2,500 custard pies were used. It was also a reminder of how many risks were taken in the past in the name of entertainment.
Audiences are used to seeing action heroes punch random bad guys, fall out of buildings and survive – but on film sets in the 1920s and 1930s, many of the silent films were equally dangerous. You just have to watch some of Buster Keaton’s films to realise the risks that these actors were taking with every film that they put to celluloid.
The first half looked at some of the duo’s shorter films, such as The Music Box, a short film as they pushed a piano up some steep stairs and the disaster as they let it roll back down.
The opening short of The Tale of the Lonesome Pine was a rare early talkie, allowing for some comedy with over-dubbed vocals and some pratfalls from the duo.
The second half featured two full length shorts. The Finishing Touch finds Laurel and Hardy promising a homeowner that they will finish mending his house in record time, before their many attempts actually destroy the house.
The final film, You’re Darn Tootin, follows a pair of hopeless musicians kicked out of the orchestra and their home, trying to make money busking before starting a massive custard pie fight with a posse of strangers in the street.
This was a hugely entertaining evening and showed the love and affection that Laurel and Hardy are still held in a century after they made their first films.
