Ollie (played by Oliver Hardy): "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into."--The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930), written by H.M. Walker, directed by James ParrottFor years, I’ve operated under the assumption that Oliver Hardy--born on this date in 1892 in Harlem, Ga.--used the word “fine” rather than “nice.” Not really so, though the reason for the misunderstanding is understandable.
Hardy and rubber-faced British foil Stan Laurel did make a movie from 1930 called Another Fine Mess, but the famous phrase was never actually used in that film, or any other. Instead, the operative word--in that movie, as well as another 15 stretching from 1930 to 1951--was nice.
Okay, it may be nice--or fine--that we’ve cleared that up. But here’s the really remarkable thing about the careers of Stan and rotund Ollie: of the movie comics chronicled in Walter Kerr’s seminal analysis The Silent Clowns, only this comedy duo not only maintained the level of their popularity into the sound era, but even raised it, to the point where many regarded the pair as the greatest film comedy team of all time.
1 comment:
Hello,
A quick introduction from my end-Iam Chinmaya from Bangalore,India. The reason for my mail is that I understand that the "sons of the desert" are having their next convention at Hollywood later this year and would want to know if you are attending it. You may check this for more details- http://www.laurelandhardywood.com/ .
Incase you or anyone whom you know are,please let me know as there are somethings that i want to discuss regarding the same.My id is-chimayaprakash@gmail.com Else,you may ignore this.
Regards and best wishes,
Chinmaya
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