I also really love them, they're definitely the greatest comedic double act and two of the greatest comedians of all time. Most of their material is 70-80 years old and still so much better than most comedy of today. And what most people don't realise is that they were also among the pioneers of modern character-based comedy as much of their comedic potential derived not only from the slapstick and puns, but from their brilliantly-nuanced personalities.
I think my favourite long-films of them are Sons of The Desert, Blockheads, A Chump at Oxford and Our Relations while their best short films were the one where they try to rob the chief inspector's house, the one where they are policemen, Helpmates and Busy Bodies.

True comedy that will never die, and so many to choose from, but two scenes that stick in my memory are:-

The Horn Testing Dept. at the beginning of Saps at Sea.

And

The car and house smash when they are trying to sell Christmas trees to James Finlayson in Big Business

One gripe - why did someone find it necessary to colourise some of them???

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 29th September 2014, 7:10 PM BST

True comedy that will never die, and so many to choose from, but two scenes that stick in my memory are:-

The Horn Testing Dept. at the beginning of Saps at Sea.

One gripe - why did someone find it necessary to colourise some of them???

View original

Yes and yes.

Brats was always a favourite of mine (but quite strange)

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 29th September 2014, 7:10 PM BST

One gripe - why did someone find it necessary to colourise some of them???

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Colourise? What sort of a word is that?

An English word, Chappers?

Quote: Chappers @ 29th September 2014, 9:53 PM BST

Colourise? What sort of a word is that?

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Two quotes:-

Verb 1. colourise - add colour to

colourise
verb

1.

(transitive) to add colour electronically to an old black-and-white film - (their quote - not mine)

RECUNT RECANT! AGAIN!

One of the funniest is without doubt to me one of their silent ones.

They escape from prison but are pursued by the police. To escape them they climb up a newly built skyscraper that is still all girders at the top.
It is cry with laughter funny.

Liberty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUu02Xj6zik

March of the Wooden Soldiers, aka Babes in Toyland is a surrealist, bizzarro meisterwork of the highest order: it has a riveting bad-dream quality that lifts it out of standard Hollywood pap of the same period.

MUST SEE

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 30th September 2014, 7:56 AM BST

Liberty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUu02Xj6zik

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Pure gold.

Is it possible to write and perform a funnier 18-minute short?

Perhaps, but I've never seen it done.

Does anyone remember the cartoon series of this?

Quote: george roper @ 24th November 2014, 4:39 PM GMT

Does anyone remember the cartoon series of this?

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Yes, no thank you.

Quote: george roper @ 24th November 2014, 4:39 PM GMT

Does anyone remember the cartoon series of this?

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Stan wouldn't give permission for the cartoon to be made. It went into production within about a year of his death. When I was very, very young (maybe about 3 years old) the 2 & 3 reelers used be shown every saturday, the cartoon was repeated as well. At that age I don't think I really knew the difference between the live action and the cartoon versions. I do now.

Quote: DougWonnacott @ 25th November 2014, 12:30 PM GMT

Stan wouldn't give permission for the cartoon to be made.

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Good for him.

Was talking to a colleague about this only this morning - why is it the Yanks cannot leave things as they are and can't they see that whenever they interfere (cartoon or colourise) with a classic they just make themselves look idiots with a second class product.

I sometimes wonder what is going on inside the minds of these American twats.............Yeah, I know.........money, well bigger fools their countrymen for buying into it.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 25th November 2014, 12:50 PM GMT

Good for him.

Was talking to a colleague about this only this morning - why is it the Yanks cannot leave things as they are and can't they see that whenever they interfere (cartoon or colourise) with a classic they just make themselves look idiots with a second class product.

I sometimes wonder what is going on inside the minds of these American twats.............Yeah, I know.........money, well bigger fools their countrymen for buying into it.

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Is it always the Yanks? Do the Confederates ever get any say? I guess it's their fault for losing. To be fair, I think the colourizing was done when America first got colour television and they needed some already popular stuff to help sell it.

A lot of the comedians from the 30s (The 3 Stooges, The Marx Bros etc) had a revival in popularity in the 50s/early 60s when the 2/3 reelers would be shown on TV like they were a TV series. Colourizing was just a way to make it look newer.

The cartoon was just a 5 minute cartoon for kids. I would be fine with it if Stan had approved. But he specifically didn't want any new L&H product without Ollie there to agree to it. I think Hannah Barbera should have been more respectful to his wishes.

I'm all for digitally remastering old films, but the colourizing doesn't do anything for me. Perhaps one day Stan & Ollie will be retro fitted into 3D!

I do agree with you though. The U.S approach to TV is keep going until it's not popular anymore. But where's the line? It's a gamble. OFAH: 3 episodes too many. Fawlty Towers: 6 episodes too few. You can only know the right amount in hindsight.

Quote: DougWonnacott @ 25th November 2014, 10:45 PM GMT

Colourizing was just a way to make it look newer.

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The main reason why so many old films get colourized is that it's a trick to renew expiring copyright claims.