Laurel & Hardy vs. The Marx Bros.

[king feeb]

Hard to choose, but I ultimately went with the Marx Brothers. Duck Soup, Coconuts and Animal Crackers... all classics and still funny as ever today.

I also liked W.C. Fields. A nasty miserable old fuck, but funny as Hell especially when I'm in a cranky mood myself. The Bank Dick is a riot.

I still like the Three Stooges, but I consider them to be almost surreal now, like Roadrunner cartoons. They're like Theatre of Cruelty or something. I don't find them funny at all, but there's something weirdly fascinating about them.

[Count Machuki]

Marx Brothers for me. Smarter, zanier, more quotable. I grew up on them and the stooges...laurel and hardy never really seeped in until i was grown.

at any rate, Duck Soup is the trump card for this poll.

[The Modernist]

L & H for me by some way, I find The Marx Brothers funny in small doses (although only Groucho -the others seem forgettable, the Bill Wyman's of comedy).
Never even heard of the Ritz Brothers.

[The Modernist]

I also liked W.C. Fields. A nasty miserable old fuck, but funny as Hell especially when I'm in a cranky mood myself. The Bank Dick is a riot.
.

I love the blind man in a china shop one. Its his sheer irrascibility that makes it.

[Bungo the Mungo]

I also liked W.C. Fields. A nasty miserable old fuck, but funny as Hell especially when I'm in a cranky mood myself. The Bank Dick is a riot.
.

I love the blind man in a china shop one. Its his sheer irrascibility that makes it.

Me too. 'It's A Gift'. And there are a couple of other features I remember seeing as a kid that were packed with surreal ideas and were very funny - 'International House' I think was one. Maybe that's the one where he falls out of an airplane into a brewery - something like that. Difficult to find, these days - there's nothing available on DVD in the UK.

The 'Carl La Fong' scene in 'It's A Gift' is one of the funniest scenes in the history of cinema. I saw it again a few weeks ago and had problems breathing for a few seconds. Fantastic.

[Jimbly]

. Difficult to find, these days - there's nothing available on DVD in the UK.

3 disc set £11.99

£13.99

Both available from Play.com

[FOR5]

Well for me, it's obviously Laurel and Hardy, don't think anyone else comes close, in terms of making me laugh so much.

Stuck on one of the dvd's in the box set last nite, the 'Someone's Ailing' one, forgot how funny 'They Go Boom' was, i was pissing myself so much, even at such daft things as when Stan opened the cupboard door smack bang into his face, i knew it was coming, i still laughed my ass off, a really great short of their's

[The Modernist]

Interestingly there seems something of a US/Uk divide here, with the British vote largely going to Stan and Ollie and the American vote going to the Marx Bros.
Many of the US brigade have said they associate The Marx Bros with growing up and that they don't know L & H as well. For me it's the opposite, it was L& H who were on British tv all the time as a kid, I never watched The Marx Bros back then.

[James R]

Me too. 'It's A Gift'. And there are a couple of other features I remember seeing as a kid that were packed with surreal ideas and were very funny - 'International House' I think was one. Maybe that's the one where he falls out of an airplane into a brewery - something like that.

Well said. He's only in the second half of that film, but once he makes his entrance he owns the film totally. He elevates it from being merely fairly good to something quite marvellous. His last feature, Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, was pretty staggering as well when I saw it. If you had to retire from filmmaking, you'd want your last film to be that good.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Interestingly there seems something of a US/Uk divide here, with the British vote largely going to Stan and Ollie and the American vote going to the Marx Bros.
Many of the US brigade have said they associate The Marx Bros with growing up and that they don't know L & H as well. For me it's the opposite, it was L& H who were on British tv all the time as a kid, I never watched The Marx Bros back then.

I saw them both on TV a lot growing up. I don't think Laurel and Hardy were obscure in the least here in the states. There is no question that the Marx Brothers had more impact though - at least back in those days.

[nathan]

Chico is the man.

[Count Machuki]

hours and hours of groucho/marx bros. audio available here:

http://154.ca/otr/marx.shtml

[Bungo the Mungo]

Interestingly there seems something of a US/Uk divide here, with the British vote largely going to Stan and Ollie and the American vote going to the Marx Bros.
Many of the US brigade have said they associate The Marx Bros with growing up and that they don't know L & H as well. For me it's the opposite, it was L& H who were on British tv all the time as a kid, I never watched The Marx Bros back then.

I saw them both on TV a lot growing up. I don't think Laurel and Hardy were obscure in the least here in the states. There is no question that the Marx Brothers had more impact though - at least back in those days.

My girlfriend is 26 and from New York and educated and broad-minded and all that, and until I showed her Busy Bodies, she'd never heard of Laurel and Hardy.

[jimjim]

The only problem I have with the Mark Brothers is that Groucho is the only genius of the group. I've always found the other two (and no, I don't know Zepetto at all) one joke characters. Groucho on the other hand has gags coming out of every pore when he's on form.

No, Stan and Ollie every time. It's the interplay between the two and Ollie's look to camera every time Stan fucks up. Cracks me up every time!

[Bungo the Mungo]

The only problem I have with the Mark Brothers is that Groucho is the only genius of the group. I've always found the other two (and no, I don't know Zepetto at all) one joke characters. Groucho on the other hand has gags coming out of every pore when he's on form.

No, Stan and Ollie every time. It's the interplay between the two and Ollie's look to camera every time Stan fucks up. Cracks me up every time!

It is absolutely priceless. And the man was the king of the double take!

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Interestingly there seems something of a US/Uk divide here, with the British vote largely going to Stan and Ollie and the American vote going to the Marx Bros.
Many of the US brigade have said they associate The Marx Bros with growing up and that they don't know L & H as well. For me it's the opposite, it was L& H who were on British tv all the time as a kid, I never watched The Marx Bros back then.

I saw them both on TV a lot growing up. I don't think Laurel and Hardy were obscure in the least here in the states. There is no question that the Marx Brothers had more impact though - at least back in those days.

My girlfriend is 26 and from New York and educated and broad-minded and all that, and until I showed her Busy Bodies, she'd never heard of Laurel and Hardy.

I can see where that could happen. I'm 42. When I was a kid they used to play those films a lot - I assume because they provided inexpensive programming. By the time your girlfriend was growing up, I'm pretty sure they were aired a lot less often. My wife is about 6 years younger than I am and she doesn't remember seeing them all that much either.

Too bad. Great stuff.

[Snarfyguy]

Interestingly there seems something of a US/Uk divide here, with the British vote largely going to Stan and Ollie and the American vote going to the Marx Bros.
Many of the US brigade have said they associate The Marx Bros with growing up and that they don't know L & H as well. For me it's the opposite, it was L& H who were on British tv all the time as a kid, I never watched The Marx Bros back then.

That is interesting. Perhaps the work of these teams is the film equivalent of what we call "comfort food" and what we especially like about it is its reassuring familiarity.

In any case, although I love them both, I'll choose The Marx Brothers. Both acts are hilarious and ingenious, but The Marx Brothers featured subversion, a crucial extra ingredient that pushes them out front.

I can't stand the Three Stooges, though. I find nothing funny about their schtick.

I liked Abbott & Cotello as a kid. One of the local non-network TV stations would show an A&C movie at 11:30 every Sunday morning and I'd always be there. Not sure how much I care about them now, though.

[kath]

another american here for the marx brothers.

it's the punnery, primarily.

[The Dríver]

Stan & Ollie for me



Comedy Gold

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Me too!

I was looking at this thing of beauty only this weekend, but as a man who's currently not earning I couldn't justify it to myself. And even if I could have, I wouldn't have been able to justify it to Mrs The Driver.