Customer Reviews

Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties (1940's) Forward

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Stan Laurel and Babe Hardy didn't have many good things to say about their Fox and MGM films of the 1940's. So the legend has persisted that these films, with a couple of possibleexceptions, are unspeakable horrors and hardly worth the trouble of taking them out of the film can. Of course, at the big movie "factories," the boys were denied the kind of creative freedom they had enjoyed at the Hal Roach Studios, and their work suffered accordingly. But the time has finally come for a reevaluation of these later films. Scott MacGillivray has done just that in FROM THE FORTIES FORWARD. While Scott doesn't shy away from criticizing the weaknesses, he demonstrates that these films are frequently much better than their reputations would lead you to believe. There is also excellent coverage of Stan and Babe's European tours, the Robert Youngson compilations, the sometimes maze-like process of film reissues, and Laurel and Hardy on television. An essential book for Laurel and Hardy fans, and an excellent companion piece to both THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES and LAUREL OR HARDY.

If you like Laurel & Hardy, you MUST get a copy of Scott MacGillivray's book
"Laurel & Hardy: From the Forties Forward." It is the definitive work on
Laurel & Hardy after 1940. Most L & H books never discuss their later
careers, but this book starts where the others leave off.

I disagree with the reviewer who thought this book was "contradictory" and
that the films were "garbage." I've always found it amusing that everyone
dismisses the team's '40s features as being terrible. Yet
when pressed, everybody will admit to having at least one favorite from the group if
not two, or perhaps three. Mr. MacGillivray tries to be fair in his
reporting, so his comments are balanced, not contradictory. And he's right,
Stan and Ollie's later films are well worth your time. I've watched several
of them recently and enjoyed them more than ever.

The publisher's claim on the back cover says this book demonstrates that the
later works of perhaps the greatest comedy team in history are worthy of
study and consideration. One reader seems to have taken this claim too
literally: does one really need to rely on a book to be convinced? Of course
not. As with the lesser Hitchcocks and sometimes-painful-to-watch
Keaton talkies, ALL of their works are worthy of study and consideration. The real
purpose of the book is to inform and entertain us, and this is precisely
what the author has done.

"From the Forties Forward" also has interesting material on movie

re-releases and Robert Youngson's silent-comedy features. They gave many of
us the chance to see L & H "in the theaters" for the first time (most of us
weren't born or were too young when the original films played in the '30s and
'40s). There is also quite a bit about Laurel & Hardy on TV and video. Especially enjoyable was the section on Laurel & Hardy home movies. It brings back
great memories of seeing Laurel & Hardy on my own movie screen.

The book is jam-packed with new information and fresh material from the
years when so little was written. Mr. MacGillivray has given us such a
wealth of new information, that in the future, historians and buffs will
routinely use the factual information in this book as if it were their own
(as the case with Wm. K. Everson..often quoted, rarely credited). There are also many
rare photos. My personal copy of "From the Forties Forward" is falling apart
from use, so if you're a serious Laurel & Hardy fan, be sure to order two copies!

Most Laurel and Hardy books cover the years 1926 to 1940 in their professional and personal lives in great depth. 1941 to 1965 gets very little attention. Perhaps the writers feel that the readers want information about the "heart" of their careers, but three decades is a long period to ignore.
Ofcourse this book focuses mainly on their 1941 to 1945 film output for 20th Century Fox and MGM. Most L & H fans know that the Boys left relative creative freedom at Hal Roach Studios for the basic assembly-line approach of the big studios, quite unintentionally. The result was a series of movies which used very little of their talent - characterization took a back seat to "situation". Most of the material would have suited *any* team.
What is not understood by many is that great comedy in the feature length form is very difficult to make, and most comedies are not funny throughout. Actually, the team's only real competitor at the time was Abbott and Costello, and most of their footage cannot be considered "classic", either. The Marx Brothers' pictures of the '40s were, like Stan and Ollie's at that time, very disappointing. Interestingly enough, for this reviewer anyway, the *Three Stooges'* one reelers were the funniest and most creative comedies of the era!
Scott M. has taken a strong, objective look at all the L & H's post-1940 and has persuaded us that most of that product was better than what was described in many books. The photos, interviews, and memorabilia are remarkable. I enjoyed reading about their 1950-51 European effort, "Atoll K", which, despite its' less than *nice* messiness, contains the purest Laurel and Hardy since Hal Roach!
A great, great addition to any library of motion picture history.

Scott has written a wonderfully detailed and thouroghly researched book revealing just how enjoyable Laurel and Hardy's movies from the forties are. Don't listen to others who tell you these are awful movies, read Scott's book and find the truth behind the making of these later classics. Then seek the films out and watch them, you will find yourself enjoying them more than you admitted to in the past.

Laurel & Hardy were certainly in their prime while at the Hal Roach Studios from 1927 through 1939. Most books simply restate the belief that their post-Roach features are junk, and spend as little time on them as possible.

Mr. MacGillivray reviews each post-Roach film in great detail. He convincingly argues that some of the films are not really that bad. Some films, like JITTERBUGS, are certainly very good. Other films are not as horrible as their reputation suggests. But he judges some of their MGM and Fox features pretty poor even after re-evaluating them. MacGillivray's research sheds light on which films Stan had creative input into, and which ones he had no input into at all.

I found the story of some of the films, especially UTOPIA, to be fascinating. After the boys have retired from films, Robert Youngstown resurrected their career through his compilation films. Youngstown, who won an Oscar, was an interesting character too. He had a big ego, and his eating habits literally caused his death. The book also goes into the different incarnations of the films on the home movie format and on video.

If you are any kind of Laurel and Hardy fan, you must read this book. It makes a perfect companion to LAUREL & HARDY: THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES and LAUREL OR HARDY, which also cover specific films of the boys' career.

This book is not only a labor of love, it is a meticulously researched and beautifully written account of the careers of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in the latter stages of their careers. Because their later film work at Twentieth Century-Fox and MGM was largely produced without their creative input, previous authors have deliberately downplayed or ignored these films in favor of their Hal Roach classics. Scott MacGillivray corrects these oversights with the most comprehensive and exhaustive study of these films that we'll ever see. Scott had access to Stan Laurel's personal documents, as well as studio records that have never seen light of day before. The rare photos are incredible, as are the eye-popping quotes from Laurel & Hardy's family, friends and co-workers. Best of all, the entire book is a sheer delight to read, and would make an excellent gift for anybody who has ever enjoyed the incredible talent of The Boys. Buy it for yourself, buy it for your friends, do it now and you won't regret it (yes, I put my money where my mouth is--I already purchased copies for my friends as gifts)!

Everything Laurel and Hardy appeared in demands to be seen and evaluated. However their later output for MGM and 20th Century Fox has been cavalierly dismissed as insignificant and given little attention for many decades and over several studies on the comedy duo's output. MacGillivray has chosen to devote an entire book-length study on the team's later films, and his evaluations and assessments are intelligent and enlightening, shedding new critical light on some unfairly overlooked movies. Not stopping there, this book also discusses Laurel and Hardy's impact on television, the home movie market, and the resurgence of their career via anthologies like The Golden Age of Comedy and Laurel and Hardy's Laughing Twenties. This is an essential addition to the library of any Laurel and Hardy fan.

`Laurel & Hardy: From The Forties Forward` is a fasinating and detailed appreciation of Stan and Ollie's later career, an area which has hitherto been unjustly neglected. While generally not up to the standard of their classic Roach films, the Boys' Fox and MGM features are well worth a re- evaluation as there is much to delight and entertain. Although much has been published - in several languages - about Laurel & Hardy, author and film researcher Scott MacGillivray has discovered a wealth of new information about these much-loved giants of the silver screen and the book is generously illustrated with rare photographs. No Laurel & Hardy enthusiast or film buff should be without this book. Buy it!

Alison Grimmer Co-Editor, `The Intra-Tent Journal` - official newsletter of Sons of the Desert, the world-wide Laurel & Hardy appreciation society

When I read Randy Skretvedt's "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies" (and interviewed its author for a local newspaper), it seemed as though everything left to say about L&H had now been said. Now comes this exhaustive and highly readable account of L&H's much-maligned studio-system movies of the 1940's, as well as Robert Youngson's 1950's compilation movies and the many TV-edited versions of L&H's classic shorts. A welcome addition to any L&H library.

No problem here in recommending this book as a "must have" for any Laurel and Hardy fan. The author doesn't claim the Boys' films of the forties are ignored gems, contrary to what has been implied in various reviews of this book. He confirms that these films are awful, in varying degrees of awful (even the most ardent Laurel and Hardy fan agonizes when watching the horrible Atoll K). What the author does do-that hasn't been done to date-is shed more light (much more) on what transpired during this period of time in the Boys' professional lives. As I stated previously this is must reading for any Laurel and Hardy fan.