nick manho

it's sicily. it's 2006. it's 7 o'clock in the evening. almost prime time tv. it's stan and ollie (or stanlio e olio as they're called here). they're still makin em laff. and how.

chaplin didn't make the cut so you can imagine what happened to keaton and lloyd and the keystone kops. forgotten. only auteur film bullshitters praise chaplin today. like, who the fuck wants pathos? kids don't laugh at pathos. even chaplin's knockabout stuff is a bit dated. slow. and as for his talkie stuff... well, none of those guys really made the leap from silents to talkies.

apart from stan and ollie.

none of the big producer and distributor names behind stan and ollie's stuff are pushing for cult status, or hall of fame entry. they're too busy selling them all around the world as a modern product. they've even colourised them. generation after generation love laurel and hardy. they're the beatles of comedy.

they could do everything, too. sing and dance, slapstick, verbal comedy, surreal sketches. no limits.

here's ollie singing. it doesn't get any better than this:

Laurel & Hardy: Shine On Harvest Moon


someone should check out stan and ollie. go back to the roots or something. do a bit of research. but who do we know who is crazy enough to do it?