Re: Becoming Mr. Laurel
Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:43 am
It's amazing that "Babes In Toyland", of all films, became the touchstone for the rift between Roach and Laurel since that work became one of the most enchanting of all the Boys films.
What is interesting about that movie is that it seems to harken back to the old English tradition of the Christmas Pantomime - the yearly yuletime extravaganza performed in the English Music Halls. Anyone
growing up in the British Isles through the first half of the 20th century was exposed to this annual tradition and many wrote about the experience glowingly. Even Chaplin mentioned the joy of seeing it as a child but even though he borrowed liberally from the Music Hall tradition that he was exposed to as a lad he never found a way to incorporate this tradition with his screen character. I think Stan did.
When the Victor Herbert Broadway production originally premiered at the turn of the century it was an attempt to capitalize on the success of "The Wizard of Oz" and thus was filled with fantastic imagery and storybook characters. What had angered Roach through the years was the fact that when he bought the rights to the play he himself wrote a typical "Fra Diavalo" type storyline as a hook to leave spots for the Boys to appear and perform their comedy. And why not? It had worked fine in "Fra Diavalo" with no complaints from Laurel then. But we all know that Laurel vigoriously rejected his bosses treatment and insisted on creating his own - even to the detriment of his working relationship with his boss. What would cause such a suicidal career move from Laurel when he hadn't shown such an inclination as this before? I think Stan saw in the original storyline an American version of his beloved Christmas Pantomime. The seasonal show rarely concentrated on christmas itself and instead was a vamped up version of popular fairy tales. The 'Cinderella' production was an audience favorite. The Music Hall shows always included actors in 'animal skins' and jokes for the adults that would go over the heads of the children and along with the song and dance they always included a big slapstick scene.
So Laurel pushed ahead and ended up creating a film that his native country would adore (it has played on English TV for decades on), that his adopted country would turn into an audience favorite and that his former boss would despise to the point that he would declare the film a critical and box office failure.
It wasn't. Happy Christmas Stan!
Gary J
What is interesting about that movie is that it seems to harken back to the old English tradition of the Christmas Pantomime - the yearly yuletime extravaganza performed in the English Music Halls. Anyone
growing up in the British Isles through the first half of the 20th century was exposed to this annual tradition and many wrote about the experience glowingly. Even Chaplin mentioned the joy of seeing it as a child but even though he borrowed liberally from the Music Hall tradition that he was exposed to as a lad he never found a way to incorporate this tradition with his screen character. I think Stan did.
When the Victor Herbert Broadway production originally premiered at the turn of the century it was an attempt to capitalize on the success of "The Wizard of Oz" and thus was filled with fantastic imagery and storybook characters. What had angered Roach through the years was the fact that when he bought the rights to the play he himself wrote a typical "Fra Diavalo" type storyline as a hook to leave spots for the Boys to appear and perform their comedy. And why not? It had worked fine in "Fra Diavalo" with no complaints from Laurel then. But we all know that Laurel vigoriously rejected his bosses treatment and insisted on creating his own - even to the detriment of his working relationship with his boss. What would cause such a suicidal career move from Laurel when he hadn't shown such an inclination as this before? I think Stan saw in the original storyline an American version of his beloved Christmas Pantomime. The seasonal show rarely concentrated on christmas itself and instead was a vamped up version of popular fairy tales. The 'Cinderella' production was an audience favorite. The Music Hall shows always included actors in 'animal skins' and jokes for the adults that would go over the heads of the children and along with the song and dance they always included a big slapstick scene.
So Laurel pushed ahead and ended up creating a film that his native country would adore (it has played on English TV for decades on), that his adopted country would turn into an audience favorite and that his former boss would despise to the point that he would declare the film a critical and box office failure.
It wasn't. Happy Christmas Stan!
Gary J