Stan vs Ollie

[naughty boy]

[Rayge]

This shall not stand

[Your Friendly Neighbourhood Postman]

Impossible choice -

yet I voted for Ollie, because I tend to identify more with him. A man of elegance and grandeur, even in the direst of circumstances. And he could sign a contract or cheque with unparalleled virtuosity.

[Jimbo]

Ollie.

[Rayge]

Ollie.

He would disagree with you. He readily acknowledged Stan's role as the writer, director and leading role in the partnership. As far as ONH was concerned, he was a hired hand, and Stan was a genius. While he was unduly modest about his own abilities, his view of Stan pretty much lines up with mine.
As for liking one more than the other, and putting them against one another like this in a way they never were in real life, well, it's a disgrace. As a son of Cumbria, Coan should know this. I suspect mischief.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Can’t have one without the other...

[naughty boy]

Yeah, yeah.

I just find Ollie much funnier on-screen. In fact - despite his huge talents - I never thought Stan Laurel was an especially gifted comic actor.

Love them both, mind.

[Jimbly]

Gods, borh of them.

[The Modernist]

I was thinking about this the other day funnily enough.

Of course Davey is right and you can't have one without the other, they were both comic genius' etc. but still I've always loved Ollie that bit more.

It's not true to say Ollie was the straight man and Stan the funny one, but I can understand how this generalisation arises because their comedy was structured in a particular way. Basically Stan was the innocent clown and would do something (usually unintentionally, though not always) to thwart/ exasperaste/or even physically hurt Ollie, who would then look to the camera in disgust or defeat.
I think I love Ollie because I've always been attracted to pathos and Ollie could register it with just a look in a hundred different ways. Just look at various photos of him...https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=olive ... 80&bih=918. He had so many ways of conveying a profound disappointment with the world and his place in it. I find that very poignant as well as funny. He always cracked me up when he did that flirting thing with a women, fiddling with his tie in that silly way and trying to put an angelic expression on his face. It's such a bizarre thing to do, I love it.

So Ollie then..but I love Stan too!

[The Modernist]

And he could sign a contract or cheque with unparalleled virtuosity.

Yes! He'd do it with a real flourish and make great show of dotting it!

[The Modernist]

Has anyone ever done being scared more humorously than Stan and Ollie..I always love their scenes when they're terrified and trying to hide.
I could talk about them all day.

[naughty boy]

He had so many ways of conveying a profound disappointment with the world and his place in it. I find that very poignant as well as funny. He always cracked me up when he did that flirting thing with a women, fiddling with his tie in that silly way and trying to put an angelic expression on his face. It's such a bizarre thing to do, I love it.

Yes, I agree completely.

I love the raging Ollie too - the one you see yelling ‘will you do something to HELP me?!?’ from under a pile of broken wood. Just beautiful.

[Your Friendly Neighbourhood Postman]

And he could sign a contract or cheque with unparalleled virtuosity.

Yes! He'd do it with a real flourish and make great show of dotting it!

Thank you! Ollie's signing reminds of of what a hairdresser used to do: to hold his scissors up in the empty air, and make cutting movements in that void, to 'introduce', or 'signify' what he would be actually doing in a few seconds. Ollie did that with the pen: making impressive circles with his fountain pen, before really touching the paper.

[Sneelock]

nice to see Ollie singled out. he was an exceptional straight man. still "can't have one without the other" has GOT to be the right answer. Stan's beautiful stupidity and Ollie's visible frustration work their magic on me time and time again. I just love those guys.

[Sneelock]

my daugher walked in on me watching "way out west" when she was maybe 5. she is in her twenties now & still loves it to this day.

[Rayge]

Obviously it's both. They transcend time. I'm considering the complete box set as my children need to experience these giants.

I recommend it, but it's not quite complete, it's missing the features. Several of those are missable, but to this day I've only seen Babes in Toyland once, as a boy.

[Your Friendly Neighbourhood Postman]

my daugher walked in on me watching "way out west" when she was maybe 5. she is in her twenties now & still loves it to this day.

Great story.

A friend of mine is fan too. Long ago he and his wife adopted two small children (orphans) from China. I'll never forget the evening, years later, when he told me that the two little girls had become fans too, young as they were. At the dining table, one of them grasped what we were talking about, and she immediately started mimicking: Eyesy-Earsy-Kneesy-Winkie (I hope I got this right), Stan's routine. My friend then told me that at that time, "A Chump At Oxford" was her favourite.

It's so great: warm good humour that transcends time and space.

(The father of that friend of mine had suffered from moodiness and depression, when my friend himself was a kid. There were few things that could cheer him up - watching Stan & Ollie was one of these.)

[naughty boy]

Has anyone ever done being scared more humorously than Stan and Ollie..I always love their scenes when they're terrified and trying to hide.

..accompanied by 'wooaaaahhh' noises, yes! (I always do this whenever I cross a busy road)

[The Modernist]

nice to see Ollie singled out. he was an exceptional straight man.

Except I wouldn't call him a straight man.

[Sneelock]

Ok, you tell me why you wouldn’t call him a straight man & I’ll tell you why I would.