''Laughing Gravy'' is a 1931
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
comedy starring
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...
. It was directed by
James W. Horne, produced by
Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
and distributed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
.
Synopsis
On a snowy winter night, Laurel and Hardy try to keep their pet dog Laughing Gravy hidden from their landlord, mostly without success. The landlord eventually orders them to leave, but fate takes a hand.
Stan and Ollie are in bed when Stan’s hiccups wake up Ollie. Oliver, after suffering in silence for a few moments, wakes up Stan. Stan, clownishly drinks a glass of water and tries to return to sleep, only to wake the dog, whose barking rouses their landlord. The landlord ejects the dog, and Stan resolves to rescue it. Ollie insists on doing it, as Stan will wake up the landlord. Ollie succeeds in finding Laughing Gravy, only to be locked out of the building. This basic scenario is repeated several times, resulting in Ollie falling into a frozen barrel of rainwater, locking himself out of the apartment window and climbing down and destroying the brick chimney.
The boys are to be evicted from the apartment when Stan receives a letter, along with a $1,000 check, informing him that he has inherited his uncle's fortune on the condition that he ceases all contact with Oliver. At first, Stan doesn’t show Ollie the letter, until Oliver, guilts Stan into sharing it. With Oliver’s blessing, Stan prepares to leave forever. At the last moment, however, Stan tears apart the letter and returns to Oliver, who thinks that Stan sacrificed the money for him, but Stan tells him that he did it for his dog.
Just before Stan and Ollie are evicted, a policeman informs them that the house is quarantined for two months, with nobody permitted to leave. The frustrated landlord walks away with a rifle, and a shot and the sound of the landlord's body hitting on the floor are heard. The policeman then closes the door.
Cast
*
Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...
as Stan
*
Oliver Hardy
Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...
as Ollie
*
Charlie Hall as The Landlord
*
Harry Bernard
Harry Bernard (January 13, 1878 – November 4, 1940) was an American actor and comedian best remembered for his appearance in numerous comedy films by Mack Sennett and Hal Roach.
Harry Bernard appeared in over 150 films between 1915 and 1940, ...
as The Policeman
Production notes
''Laughing Gravy'' is a remake of the Laurel and Hardy 1929 silent film ''
Angora Love
''Angora Love'' is the final silent film made by Laurel and Hardy, released on December 14, 1929.
This was Laurel and Hardy's final silent film. It was released late in 1929 when most Hollywood studios had fully converted to sound productions. ...
''.
Charlie Hall plays a tenant in the original and the landlord in the remake. Harry Bernard also plays the policeman in ''Angora Love'' as he does in ''Laughing Gravy''. The film was partially remade in 1932 as ''
The Chimp''.
The eponymous dog's name is a slang reference to liquor, as
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
was still in effect in the U.S. when the film was made.
Alternative versions
''Laughing Gravy'' has three versions: a two-reel
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
version lasting approximately 20 minutes, a three-reel black-and-white version lasting approximately 30 minutes and a three-reel colorized version that finishes with the two-reel ending.
There are also two "feature" versions in French and Spanish in which ''Laughing Gravy'' follows the events of ''
Be Big!
''Be Big!'' is a Hal Roach three-reel comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in November and December 1930, and released on February 7, 1931.
Opening intertitles
"Mr. Hardy is a man of great care, caution and discretion –
Mr Laurel is ...
'', and with a title card stating that Laurel and Hardy were divorced by their wives for what happened and wind up in the dingy rooming house.
The three-reel version was the original one, as Hal Roach had tried to switch to the three-reel format for Laurel and Hardy shorts, starting with ''
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
''The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case'' is a Laurel and Hardy pre-Code comedy film released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed b ...
''. Just after it was completed, MGM asked Roach to limit short films to two reels, and an alternative ending was filmed. The three-reel version had already been previewed, and a work print was rediscovered in 1985.
The two-reel version and the first two reels of the three-reel version are identical except that the two-reel version ends with the landlord committing
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
when, with his residence
quarantined
A quarantine is a restriction on the Freedom of movement, movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or Pest (organism), pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing th ...
, he is unable to evict Stanley and Ollie. In the three-reel version, Stanley receives a
telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
just before they are evicted informing him that he is to inherit a vast fortune, but only if he leaves Ollie behind forever.
Foreign versions
''Laughing Gravy'' was filmed in two extended foreign-language versions immediately upon completion of its English version. These foreign versions combined the story of the English original with that of ''
Be Big!
''Be Big!'' is a Hal Roach three-reel comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in November and December 1930, and released on February 7, 1931.
Opening intertitles
"Mr. Hardy is a man of great care, caution and discretion –
Mr Laurel is ...
'', another short from the same year.
''Les carottiers'' it the title of the extended French version; it replaces Isabelle Keith with Germaine de Neel as Mrs. Hardy and Jean De Briac in Baldwin Cooke's role of Cookie" The Spanish version, ''Los Calaveras'', features
Linda Loredo
Linda Loredo (June 20, 1907 – August 11, 1931) was an American-born actress and dancer of Mexican descent. She is most commonly associated with Spanish language versions of Laurel and Hardy short subjects. Her sister, Maria Loredo (1905–1998 ...
as Mrs. Hardy.
Laurel and Hardy delivered their French and Spanish lines phonetically from cue cards. In the preceding ''Be Big!'', Anita Garvin played Mrs. Laurel in all three films; she mouthed her foreign lines phonetically, on-camera but off-mic, while a voice actress just off-camera spoke into a "hot" mic.
[ Skretvedt, Randy (1996). ''Laurel & Hardy: Magic Behind the Movies.'' Beverly Hills, CA: Past Times Publishing. , p. 211.]
References
External links
* – describing the Spanish version, which, following the expulsion of Stan and Ollie from their home in ''
Be Big!
''Be Big!'' is a Hal Roach three-reel comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in November and December 1930, and released on February 7, 1931.
Opening intertitles
"Mr. Hardy is a man of great care, caution and discretion –
Mr Laurel is ...
'' has a plot largely identical to the shorter English version; the description also covers the preceding ''Be Big!''
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{{James W. Horne
1931 films
1931 comedy films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Hal Roach
Laurel and Hardy (film series)
Short film remakes
Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker
American multilingual films
1931 multilingual films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films