Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Book and Long Overdue, January 27, 2000
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Definitive Work on Laurel & Hardy After 1940, November 3, 2002
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!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating work!, September 23, 2001
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.
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