- LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS MOVIE
- LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS SERIES
- LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS TV
The film brought in nearly $945,000 between U.S. He would always maintain his story could have been the biggest hit in the business and would always state the film did not even make back its cost. Hal Roach was almost the only one that never became a fan of the film. Perhaps the biggest success was Henry Brandon, who went on to many other roles, including reprising the role of Barnaby (named in the script) in “The Our Gang Follies Of 1938” and his outstanding role of Chief “Scar” in John Ford’s “The Searchers.” (1956) Stan and Ollie went on to other successful films, but Charlotte Henry (Bo Beep) and Felix Knight (Tom Tom) would see the film be their biggest film success. In fact, the film garnered the best reviews the team had received. There were more issues: After changes in directors, a change in actresses playing Mother Peep Stan falling off a platform, tearing ligaments the actor playing Old King Cole had ruptured stomach muscles from having to laugh for days for the camera and Ollie going to the hospital when the film wrapped to get his tonsils removed.ĭespite the agony of making it, the film turned out fantastic, and was rated as one of the most successful fantasy films of the era. Stan, though, was hit with a lawsuit, with an extra claiming he was injured when Laurel pushed him into the pool. All were fair game for a dunking except Brandon, because it would take too much time to redo his makeup. The dunking pond in the film became the prank behind the scenes for the crew. Walt Disney, a huge fan of the team, gladly okayed the inclusion of his star Mickey Mouse in the film (played by a monkey) and the Disney studio’s big hit song “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?”
LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS MOVIE
He was only 22 when the movie hit theaters.īrandon said later in life that it was a good thing he was young at the time - if they had hired an old actor, the rough filming would have killed him. When young Brandon showed up at his studio, Roach said, “You’re not the old S.O.B I saw last night!” Roach hired a makeup man from Paramount to turn Brandon into the evil old Barnaby. Roach hired 21-year-old Henry Kleinbach (Henry Brandon) for the role of Silas Barnaby after seeing him in a play one night. Laurel and his writers came up with the film’s simple story, which young and old could understand. Roach got so fed up with Laurel’s not liking his story he told Stan to go ahead and make the film. Roach’s studio was turned into a Mother Goose Land of wonder and excitement with wonderful sets helping to push the film’s cost to nearly $430,000. Only problem was Laurel turned out not so nuts about it, even stating, according to Roach, something like this “we can’t make this we don’t wear our derbys.” Roach did not buy that because the team did NOT wear the derbys in “Fra Diavolo.”
LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS SERIES
Roach knew the operetta would need a new story line to make it to the screen and he intended to use stars on the lot such as Spanky McFarland to bill it as an “All Star” release, a format he used in a series of shorts.īy the time his train arrived back in Hollywood, he had written a story he thought Laurel would go nuts over. While back east in New York discussing his 1934 film production schedule with MGM execs, Roach purchased the rights to the 1903 Victor Herbert operetta “Babes In Toyland” from RKO.
One of the team’s biggest success was the 1933 film, “Fra Diavolo,” based on the operetta of the same name. The film was “Babes In Toyland,” perhaps the team’s best best- known film today! Their films were always received with delight by fans but critics rarely got their humor, except when they got a chance to see a film released by the team on Dec. MGM didn’t need feature films from Roach, but Roach felt he needed to get into the feature market and his successful stars Laurel and Hardy made that happen. Roach had left Pathe films and joined powerhouse MGM in the late 1920s. The team got along famously, with Stan being a big part of their behind-the-scenes success, helping craft the team’s films and writing some of their best material. Through a twist of events two contractees would be teamed by the studio in 1927 - Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy! He looked out the window and saw kids playing, becoming the idea for his series of “Our Gang” shorts which gave us stars such as Spanky, Stymie, Farina, Jackie Cooper, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla Hood and Dickie Moore.
One day, in the early 1920s, while in his office, he heard a ruckus outside. On the strength of an inheritance, Roach founded his own studio to produce one-reel comedies. His first big star Harold Lloyd rose through the ranks of early Hollywood, with both men working as extras in the silents. Hal Roach’s biggest talent was in finding talent.
LAUREL AND HARDY MOVIES MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS TV
on PIX11 TV (no streaming) and in color at 3 p.m. Watch the film in black and white at 9 a.m.
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