#laurel and hardy with piano

[makeitquietly]

The Music Box (1932): Ollie’s moments of suffering (1/2)

[citizenscreen]

James Parrott‘s hilarious short, THE MUSIC BOX, starring Laurel and Hardy as two guys tying to deliver a player piano, hit theaters #OnThisDay in 1932.

[oldshowbiz]

Frank Gorshin's television debut was on The Steve Allen Show, but it almost didn't happen at all.

Comedian Will Jordan: Chuck McCann tells the story of how he got Frank his first break on Steve Allen. McCann says that Gorshin auditioned as a singer.

Comedian Chuck McCann: It's a funny story. I helped him get The Steve Allen Show. And then they booked him - and kicked me off so they could fit him in!

Will Jordan: Frank Gorshin looked like a little skeleton. Very odd looking little creature.

Chuck McCann: Anyway, the Gorshin thing happened at a rehearsal. Tom Poston and I were doing Laurel and Hardy. We were asked to stay after the rehearsal because they were auditioning people and they felt it would help if there was a bit of an audience. Bill Harbach, the producer of the show, asked us all to stick around.

Will Jordan: The entire cast would really help you on that show, laugh it up and applaud.

Chuck McCann: I was in the hall and there was this guy standing there. I saw the piano had a bunch of hats on it. I said, "What do you do?" He said, "I do impressions." I asked him to do a couple and he did. I said, "Jesus! That's wonderful!" They were really remarkable. He did Richard Widmark and Kirk Douglas.

Will Jordan: The best physical resemblances were done by Frank Gorshin when he did Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.

Chuck McCann: I said, "Oh, they're going to love this." So I sit down with our little audience. Steve was sitting next to me. Steve is the nicest guy in the world, but if someone is embarrassing themselves it is hard for him to take. It's hard for anyone to take. Gorshin comes out and sits down at the piano and starts singing rock and roll. He sings this awful song.

Will Jordan: Gorshin's singing voice wasn't good.

Chuck McCann: He's half way through and everyone is cringing. Steve looked at Bill and Bill got the message. He gets up, "Well, thank you very much. That's terrific. Uh, we'll give you a call and let you know." So Frank stands up and… it was embarrassing.

Will Jordan: Chuck said that as Frank was leaving…

Chuck McCann: I yelled out, "Wait! What's the porkpie hat for?"

Will Jordan: Chuck said, "What's the hat on the piano for?" Frank said, "Oh, I do some impressions."

Chuck McCann: I said, "You do impressions? Can we see some of the impressions, Steve?" Steve glared at me. Everyone glared at me. But I knew I was safe because he was marvelous.

Will Jordan: Of course this is Chuck's version, so Chuck McCann is the hero.

Chuck McCann: In his mind he thought he had done well, but I saved his ass. He didn't realize it. To him it was a natural segue when I said, "What's the pork pie hat for?" He didn't know he was going to be asked to leave.

Will Jordan: It's probably not true…

Chuck McCann: He turned around, put on the porkpie hat and became Richard Widmark. It was perfect. He assumed the spirit and being of Richard Widmark. He did the voice spot on and everybody's mouth dropped. Then he did Kirk Douglas and so forth and so on.

Will Jordan: That scored heavy and he got the show.

Chuck McCann: Three weeks later he was on the show and I was off. No good turn ever goes unpunished. I was never on that show again.

Will Jordan: Bill Dana was there too and he says that's not the way it happened.

[acapelladitty]

supposedly you're like the safest demographic from getting kidnapped if you're fat. It's honestly a funny you can't tell me jon can drag more 250+ pounds of dead weight. like if u a extra BiG Bitch(tm) worst case scenario you're getting sprayed and gonna have a bad time but you're not going anywhere. you come across scarecrow in an alley and ur like "whew thank God I have so fat titties" help it's rlly dumb but I think its funny. headcannon fat people underrepresented in jons research

As a fat cunt, this brings me great comfort. I love the idea of Crane and Nygma trying to lug my body around like Laurel and Hardy trying to shift a piano lmao. Good luck, boys! They can have a titty each and not much more.

[johngarfieldtribute]

JULIE DOING “STUFF” WITH FAMOUS PEOPLE (10th post)

Above Julie takes finger food to a new level with Harpo Marx.

Above with Patricia Neal in a still from THE BREAKING POINT.

Julie and Jennifer Jones mask up as they dig a freedom fighting tunnel WE WERE STRANGERS.

The two actors are getting some background behind the scenes from director, John Huston for the same film.

Wonder if Julie picked up some tips from boxer, Bob Montgomery for BODY AND SOUL? Montgomery was a boxer who took the New York State Athletic Commission World Lightweight Championship in May 1943, and again in March 1944. His managers included Joe Gramby.

Pictured above in one of the earliest USO Tours, The Flying Showboat in 1941.

The Flying Showboat with John Garfield, Ray Bolger, Mitzi Mayfair, Oliver Hardy, Jane Pickens, Stan Laurel and Chico Marx in Miami on November 1, 1941. Here’s some explanation about The Flying Showboat from Laurel & Hardy Central:

“The Flying Showboat, a revue toured U.S. military bases in the Caribbean. Once again, Chico Marx was on board, with other stars such as singer Jane Pickens, dancer Ray Bolger and actor John Garfield, who acted as master of ceremonies. These stars performed under some extremely trying conditions, as the weather was brutally hot and many of the camps were not equipped to host theatrical performances. Chico, whose "shoot the keys" piano solos were the heart of his act, often had to do without a piano at all. Thankfully, Laurel and Hardy's Driver's License sketch needed only a few simple props. In any event, even the most ramshackle shows brought loud cheers from the troops, overjoyed that anybody had come to perform for them, let alone some of the finest talents Hollywood had to offer.”

Julie performs with actor, George Tobias at another USO show at Drew Field during the making of AIR FORCE.

The ensemble is ready for action for the film AIR FORCE directed by Howard Hawks.

Julie is pictured above with actor, Gig Young at Drew Field on location for AIR FORCE.

[singeratlarge]

ALBUM OF THE MONTH—SNAPSHOTS https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/album/snapshots-live-half-plugged-expanded-reissue  ...Cappuccino and novel reading fueled SNAPSHOTS, an album of songs extracted from my appearances on TV shows as well as concerts and the studio. I released this album in 2003 when I earned the tag "The Tasmanian Devil of the coffee house set." Part of my audience wanted a raw, acoustic album. Hence SNAPSHOTS—a mix of blues, California pop, roots rock’n’roll, and gospel standards ("Workin' on a Building”). Live cuts include energetic covers of Patti Smith’s "Dancing Barefoot" and a Staples Singers-styled remake of "For What it's Worth” (Buffalo Springfield) performed on slide 12-string guitar.

Writers are outsourced in the Beatle-esque "Unresolved (Graham Greene's Script for Laurel and Hardy)" and "Desert Ruby" is a semi-autobiographical "Los Angeles allegory," with images from The Bible and Raymond Chandler. SNAPSHOTS also has 2 of my personal favorites, The Beach Boys-influenced “Like a Father a Son” and "Steinbeck Found the Valley"—an instrumental with accordion, cellos, piano, and trombones by Richard Marriott. 

Please enjoy this collection of audio snapshots of my life:

#snapshots #pattismith #buffalospringfield #stephenstills #staplesingers #Beatles #grahamgreene #laurelandhardy #BeachBoys #JohnSteinbeck #RichardMarriott #TheBible #RaymondChandler #accordion #trombone #cello #blues #Californiapop #rootsmusic #rocknroll #folkrock #gospel #12stringguitar #JohnnyJBlair #singeratlarge #tasmaniandevil #coffeehouse

[silentlondon]

Booking now: Neil Brand's An Evening with Laurel and Hardy

Excuse me while I push at an open door. Who here would like to see one of the world’s finest silent film experts and accompanists host a show dedicated to the comic brilliance of Laurel and Hardy? Ah, that’s all of you. Well good news, friends, as Neil Brand is taking his An Evening with Laurel and Hardy show on the road across Britain. And I mean across Britain. Brand, his piano, and his…

[kevrocksicehouse]

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.

D: Christopher McQuarrie (2023).

Good things first. The new Mission Impossible film delivers what it promises – almost nonstop action held together by an airplane novel plot that feigns complexity without taxing too many brain cells (It involves The Entity, a sentient AI program that’s intriguing -- maybe it wrote THE MOVIE THAT WE’RE SEEING – but comes across as one more garden variety villain). As IMF head Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise is at his cocksure best and while the lore about him “doing his own stunts” is a little overblown (the film does have to be insured) it’s always fun to see how close he comes.  As a professional thief hired to steal the key that can control or shut down the Entity, Haley Atwell holds the screen – if she doesn’t get to be the next Catwoman somebody is asleep at the switch – and as a gleeful assassin Pom Klementieff steals a car chase through Rome simply by having more fun than anyone else. (The male villains Esai Morales and Henry Czerny by contrast mostly glower) And the finale is something else, a involving a motorcycle jump over a mountain cliff, an incredibly tense duel of wits resolved by a preposterous rescue, and a runaway-train-meets-blown-up-bridge sequence in which Cruise and Atwell have to make it through a series of railway cars before they plunge into a ravine is both thrilling and hilarious demonstrating more than the recent Indiana Jones movie, the debt action movies owe to slapstick (a gag involving a piano might be a tip of the hat to Laurel and Hardy).

But all of this pales next to the most touching moment of the series after the death of a former operative, the remaining IMF team (Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg) talk about how hard it is for Ethan Hunt to lose his people and the camera switches to Cruise in close up trying to show grief and he…….can’t do it. Guy’s in his fifth decade as a superstar, multiple Oscar nomination and he still can’t summon anything like vulnerability to cross his big blank face. Doesn’t really mar the movie, but jeez.

[cleoenfaserum]

TWO OSCAR SHORT FILMS of 1932 FLOWERS AND TREES, MUSIC BOX. AND A WILD CARD: Rhapsody in Black and Blue to jazz it up.

The Oscar short film categories have been an integral part of the Academy Awards since 1932, which was the 5th edition. Initially, the category was divided into Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film, and later expanded to include Documentary Short Subject. These short films, often overlooked by mainstream audiences, have made significant contributions to the world of cinema.

The very first film to win the Animated Short Film award was “Flowers and Trees” by Walt Disney.

Flowers and Trees is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett, and released to theatres by United Artists on July 30, 1932. It was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process after several years of two-color Technicolor films. The film was a commercial and critical success, winning the first Academy Award for Best Cartoon Short Subject.

1068-1 LINK: https://youtu.be/_NKcsg8vE_U

READ UP ON: Silly Symphony - Wikipedia

FLOWERS AND TREES was Walt Disney's 29th Silly Symphony production.

The Music Box is a Laurel and Hardyshort film comedy released in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, which depicts the pair attempting to move a piano up a long flight of steps, won the first Academy Award for Best Live Action Short (Comedy) in 1932. In 1997, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film is widely seen as the most iconic Laurel and Hardy short, with the featured stairs becoming a popular tourist attraction. The Music Box - Wikipedia

1068-2 link https://youtu.be/xIWcfBWrQlk

 Major film studios dominated this category for the first 30 years, showcasing their creativity and innovation in animation. Over time, the awareness and availability of short films have increased, thanks to organizations like Shorts International. They not only screen the Oscar-nominated shorts in theaters but also bring the best of short films into people’s homes through the Shorts HD network.

Rhapsody in Black and Blue is a short ten-minute film that was created and released in 1932, starring Sidney Easton and Fanny Belle DeKnight. It is an early example of a "music video", showcasing the tunes I’ll Be Glad When You Are Dead You Rascal You and Shine, sung and played by well-known jazz artist Louis Armstrong. The film was directed by Aubrey Scotto and the screenplay written by Phil Cohan.

The story line:

A Husband who would rather listen to jazz and drum on pots and pans than mop the floor is whacked over the head with the mop by his wife when she hears him listening to I’ll Be Glad When You Are Dead You Rascal You. He falls into a dream in which he is the king of "Jazzmania," sitting on a royal throne with servants to fan him. In the dream Louis Armstrong plays and sings jazz for him while dressed in a leopard print cave man outfit. When he wakes up and sees his flustered wife still standing over him, he smiles and breaks a vase over his own head.

1068-3 link https://youtu.be/ThudMtzD3Io

The racism in this film was appalling and offensive to Black America but as stated by Krin Gabbard,“Joe Glaser [Armstrong’s trusted manager] seized any opportunity to find work for Armstrong, and if Glaser made no effort to ask if the movies were good for the Negro people, neither did Armstrong”.

In the book Jammin’ at the Margins, Krin Gabbard quotes Miles Davis saying in his autobiography,"...some of the images of black people that I would fight against all through my career. I loved Satchmo, but I couldn’t stand all that grinning he did”.

Phil Cohan tried to portray Armstrong's role in the film as degrading, but instead Louis decided to embrace his role, and he played his trumpet and sang just as he would any other night with power and authority owning every word he sang. A Rhapsody in Black and Blue - Wikipedia

These short films or documentaries from the 1930's take us back in time, a testament to the artistry and storytelling prowess of filmmakers in a compact format! AI Copilot

[mi5018hollysurr]

Other Influences

when making storyboarding my project i was reminded of some of these old style of comedy films by Laurel and Hardy or Charlie Chaplin. in particular i was reminded of this one called piano.

these clips could be something to think about when colour grading and sound.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Way Out West (Horne, 1937)

I've been watching a bunch of Laurel and Hardy movies over the past few days (most of which I found in pretty good quality on this YouTube channel) and I found this quite a bit less engaging than the others. I think it boils down to a lack of focus. The other movies felt almost pathologically focused on a few central ideas. Sons of the Desert is about the perils of lying to the missuses about a weekend getaway. The Chimp is about the perils of raising a gorilla (I don't care what the title says, it's clearly a gorilla). Their First Mistake is about the perils of raising a child. The Music Box is about the perils of delivering a piano. Here, the story is about the boys delivering an inheritance to the rightful heir, only to be conned by her legal guardians, but that really serves as a baseline for an assortment of gags. There are plenty of good ones, but I don't feel they build off each other or compound the kind of brutal logic that exists in the other movies. There are also dips into surrealism, with Laurel using his thumb for a match and challenging the anatomical possibilities of Hardy's neck, that detract from the punitive qualities of the other movies.

You could argue that there's a bit more ambition here, or that they're trying to cater to a wider assortment of audience demands. The western setting here feels lived in and fleshed out in a way the settings of the other movies do not. There are musical numbers, which are not without charm, but also do not have clear punchlines. I understand that this was intended as a parody of the musical westerns that were popular at the time, but the satire here is not really fleshed out. The more conventional conflict here, with clearly defined antagonists, distracts from the purity of watching the boys do their things. And I do think their relative altruism here, of trying to right a wrong and return the inheritance to its intended recipient, makes this a little less fun than the other movies. There's something much funnier about watching the boys struggle with something they're forced to do, or better yet, dig their own graves and have their agency be their undoing.

So I don't quite love this, but like the other movies, it features our two large adult sons react expressively to pain and misfortune, so I still had a good time.

[thefiesta13]

19320132 The FULL FIESTA 13 for January 1932 with Cock of The Air & Reserved for Ladies. Review: Murders in The Rue Morgue

Cocks in The Air, Ladies in Reserve, Blackface, Betty Boop and Gorillas on Rooftops.

19320123 Cock of the Air Muddled Tale of Love in The Air. (A Fiesta 5) 19320114 Reserved for Ladies Plus A Trippy, Classic Betty Boop Cartoon (A Fiesta 9) & A Short with Iconic Crooner Bing Crosby IN EFFIN’ BLACK FACE!!! Jiminy Christmas! Plus Crosby Gets Attacked by a Lion Inside a Piano thats Tumbling Down a Staircase! (A Fiesta 7?) And, Trailers & A Laurel & Hardy Clip: Skip to Taste The…

[o-the-mts]

90 Movies in 90 Days: The Music Box (1932)

Every day until March 31, 2024 I will be watching and reviewing a movie that is 90 minutes or less. Title: The Music Box Release Date: April 16, 1932 Director: James Parrott Production Company: Hal Roach Studios | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Summary/Review: Laurel & Hardy are hired to deliver a player piano to a house at the top of a long staircase.  Chaos ensues.  It doesn’t help that everyone they…

[busterverse]

Laurel and Buster?  Buster and Hardy? 😝

MUSICAL MONDAY

[jbgravereaux]

Laurel & Hardy - Livreurs de pianos

[thor-the-asgardian-meme]

"It Shouldn't Have Gone Wrong": the premise of practically every movie out there