Silent Films: pre-team 1921-1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1927 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1928 Laurel and Hardy Silents 1929 Laurel and Hardy sound films (alphabetical order): A-Haunting We Will Go Air Raid Wardens Another Fine Mess Any Old Port! Atoll K (aka Utopia) Babes In Toyland Beau Hunks Be Big! Below Zero Berth Marks The Big Noise Block-Heads Blotto The Bohemian Girl Bonnie Scotland Brats The Bullfighters Busy Bodies Chickens Come Home - The Chimp A Chump At Oxford Come Clean County Hospital The Dancing Masters The Devil's Brother aka Fra Diavolo Dirty Work The Fixer Uppers The Flying Deuces Fra Diavolo aka The Devil's Brother Going Bye-Bye! Great Guns Helpmates Hog Wild The Hoose-Gow Jitterbugs Laughing Gravy The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case The Live Ghost Me And My Pal Men O'War The Midnight Patrol The Music Box Night Owls Nothing But Trouble Oliver The Eighth One Good Turn Our Relations Our Wife Pack Up Your Troubles Pardon Us Perfect Day Saps At Sea Scram! Sons of the Desert Swiss Miss Their First Mistake Them Thar Hills They Go Boom! Thicker Than Water Tit For Tat Towed In A Hole Twice Two Unaccustomed As We Are Utopia (aka Atoll K) Way Out West Specials: Cameos Cartoons For Love Or Mummy Laurel and Hardy Memories "Stan"

“Stan” Year: 2006 Written by: Neil Brand Directed by: Jon Sen Duration: 59m DVD Availability: Currently unavailable. Viewpoint: "I hadn’t considered a world where you wouldn’t be around." A moving TV dramatisation of Stan Laurel’s later years that was screened on BBC4 during the summer of 2006. Based on Neil Brand’s radio play from March 2004, he transfers his own adapted play to the screen with Jim Norton playing Stan. Set in August 1957 it features Stan visiting Ollie (Trevor Cooper) on his deathbed and coming to terms with the fact that he’s dying. Flashbacks to their peak years are interspersed throughout thanks to Nik Howden and Mike Goodenough. As the majority of the screenplay is based upon private conversations that couldn’t possibly have been recorded then the finer details of the drama can at best be regarded as fanciful. Even events of their peak years see such questionable revelations as Hal Roach purposely devising Laurel and Hardy as an intentional partnership, and Ollie having major input into the concept of their films, even devising the plot of Their First Mistake. None of the actors involved opt for flawless recreations or impersonations of Stan and Ollie (particularly Goodenough with his shaky US accent) but instead try to define an interpretation of the characters. Poignant at times and with upsetting subject matter, the most contentious element is that it doesn’t hold back in painting, at times, an extremely unflattering portrait of its lead character. While presented as a complex, tortured individual, the young Stan is nevertheless rendered as occasionally hostile, even cruel. His ambition-fuelled arguments with Hal Roach, his dislikeable second meeting with Ollie and Stan walking out on his wife while she lies crying at the death of their son are all bluntly recreated. Thankfully the characterisation dovetails with the older Stan as a deeply wounded individual who has faced a lifelong struggle to come to terms with his emotions. The high rating for this short film comes from the fact that Stan realising he’ll never see his friend again is extremely touching. “Stan” was screened on BBC4 on the 6th of June 2006. Two days later the channel broadcast another 59 minute programme about Laurel and Hardy: their edition in the four-part series Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns. A series which tackled Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd, the episode showcased Stan's Neil Brand composing music for You’re Darn Tootin’, as well as discussion on the duo’s work, particularly the silent era. A fine tribute.