Film historian William K. Everson left this world in 1996, and although his passing got no media coverage, it was certainly a sad and wistful time for Laurel and Hardy fans world wide.

Over the past few years, some L&H fans have begun to dismiss Everson's THE COMPLETE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY (formerly known as THE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY) as having been written without access to several films and riddled with errors.  With the publication of Scott MacGillvary's excellent LAUREL AND HARDY: FROM THE FORTIES FORWARD, interest and critical acceptance of some of Laurel and Hardy's later films began to rise, and criticism of earlier authors, such as Everson or John McCabe, began to fall among a circle of fans.

One cannot deny that THE COMPLETE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY is flawed.  However, it is still a worthy addition to any film library, and William K. Everson's influence on Laurel and Hardy fans cannot be overstated. Many fans, including the two webmasters of this site, became fans of Laurel and Hardy and William K. Everson simultaneously.  For years, Everson's book was one of the only available critical studies of the films and this remained true until the 1990s, when a slew of excellent new books on The Boys began hitting the market . In the light of several of these new books, Everson's book no longer stands at the top of the mountain. But to dismiss it totally is to miss some of the most insightful musings on the work of Laurel and Hardy.

A few years ago, LAUREL AND HARDY CENTRAL presented a tribute to Mr. Everson and his book, and, instead of a book review here, we are reprinting our tributes, plus a selection of letters we received.

"I don't think any comedians have ever brought more laughter to the world than Laurel & Hardy. Keaton was wittier and cleverer, Chaplin a greater overall artist and dramatist. But in terms of sheer laugh content and brilliance of comic invention and construction, Laurel and Hardy take second place to no one. Their humor is universal and timeless, and inevitably --- owing to the dearth of original comedy creators in the field today --- their comedies must seem even funnier as time goes on... let's just enjoy them while we can."

I can't remember a time when I wasn't a Laurel & Hardy fan, but I still remember the moment when I crossed the line between mere fandom and hopelessly obsessed. It was the moment when, at age 11, I first laid eyes on a copy of William K. Everson's THE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY in Chicago's Kroch & Brentano's bookstore. The cover price of $3.45 was nearly two weeks' allowance for an 11-year-old in 1967, but it was something I knew I had to have more than my weekly allotment of baseball cards and comic books. I have the same copy today: dog eared, falling apart at the seams, and tastefully decorated here and there with the occasional mustard or Coca-Cola stain. Most of the entries bear little check marks next to the titles, my method of keeping track of which films I'd seen.

Film scholars owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Bill Everson. His book was an early entry in the countless line of "The Films Of..." books which followed, but unlike so many others, Everson's insightful criticism went well beyond the usual pictures-and-plot-synopses approach. In the words of John McCabe, Everson was "one of the doyens of film scholarship," and was widely regarded as a walking encyclopedia of film history. He owned one of the largest private film collections in the world and was known to be a kind and magnanimous gent, always up for a speaking engagement or a few minutes' conversation with the average guy in the street who would recognize him from a dust-jacket photo.

But for all his contributions to film scholarship and preservation, it is probably THE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY for which he is best known. Two generations of fans have cited Everson's book as the one that gave them their first and best introduction to The Boys. The fact that it is still widely available, in its umpteenth printing, attests to this. It is true that the book is guilty of the occasional error, though this is understandable considering the context of the time in which it was written. In the pre-video days, with several of the films unavailable for quick review, Everson was forced to rely on memory for several entries and did what he could in order to meet the publishing deadline. For years, it was his desire to issue a revised version, but his requests were repeatedly denied by his publishers. Though Randy Skretvedt's LAUREL AND HARDY: THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES has surpassed it as the authoritative book on the team, Everson's remains an invaluable resource for its keen critical insight and sheer readability. To use a jazz metaphor, if Skretvedt is The Bird, Everson was Satchmo, and the latter would not have existed without the former.

THE FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY still ranks as the best primer on the team a burgeoning fan could hope to find. Its influence in attracting new fans to the team cannot be underestimated. It set the standard for books of its kind and has not been surpassed in that department in the 32 years since it debut. Others have followed, but Bill Everson was the pioneer. I hereby propose that should a print of "Hats Off" ever be discovered, all subsequent prints should conclude with the words "Dedicated to William K. Everson." I can think of no more fitting tribute to a man who devoted his life to film history and preservation, and whose influence in doing so is immeasurable. Hats off to Bill, indeed. - JL

What books would I take with me to a desert island? The Bible, of course. Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED, so I could finally make it through that fifty page speech by John Galt. Frank Baum’s THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, John Steinbeck’s CANNERY ROW and Kurt Vonnegut’s CAT’S CRADLE would also be three must-haves. And, though I wouldn’t have access to a projector or a video player, I would still have to pack William K. Everson’s THE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY for the trip.

Why Everson above Skretvedt, McCabe or Barr? Charles Barr’s LAUREL AND HARDY is a masterpiece of economy, McCabe’s books are warm and loving and infused with first hand knowledge of the Boys, and Skretvedt’s THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES is as close as we’ll ever get to knowing what it was like to work on the Hal Roach lot. But the no-nonsense approach Everson applies to THE FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY is what I always liked most about it, and why I always think of it as the first book any fan of the Boys should have on their shelves. No theories, no interviews, no bibliography, just a man who loves movies telling you what’s on his mind: “Here is the name of the film, here is the plot, and here is what I think about it.” No doubt, our love for this book subconsciously inspired us as we created LAUREL AND HARDY CENTRAL, which is, at its heart, two guys telling you the names of the films, the plots and what we think of them.

There are certain books, songs and movies that automatically transport me back to a time when life was simpler. Laurel and Hardy movies always do this, and when I browse through Everson’s classic, which I often do, it has the same effect. I am taken back to those days when my brother Joe and I would wake up at 6 in the morning on Saturdays just to make sure we were awake for a 7 a.m. showing of Laurel and Hardy shorts on New York’s Channel 5. And Everson was always with us, telling us what he thought of the shorts we were enjoying so much. Sometimes we agreed with him, sometime not, but we always appreciated his insightful input. We also appreciated the pictures, then and today an astounding collection of nearly every classic Laurel and Hardy pose you could ever want. The pictures, and Everson's words, would bring back the shorts in our minds on weekdays when there was no Laurel and Hardy on TV.

In working on this page for the past year and a half, I have frequently consulted all the great books, up to and including Scott MacGillivray’s FROM THE FORTIES FORWARD. Every author has his own unique take on the magic of Laurel and Hardy, and I am happy to learn from all of them. But my last stop was always the same - “Now let’s see what Everson had to say.” And though I should know the whole book by heart, since I am on my third copy, I still get much pleasure out of rereading his words, written so many years ago but still sounding fresh and original 30 years later.

Yes, William K Everson was always with me on those Saturday mornings, and he always will be with me as long as Laurel and Hardy are part of my life. - JB

I'd just like to say a brief thanks for your loving tributes to my husband, William K. Everson. Bill was never comfortable when praised too highly, but now that he's not here to protest I'm always glad to hear someone say how much his writing or his lectures influenced their lives and love of film. Many of those people who have the nicest things to say are the Laurel and Hardy fans.

Somewhere, right now, Bill is twiddling his tie and saying "Tut Tut Tut Tut Tut!"

Thank you.

Karen Everson.

Thank you very much for the twin tributes to William K. Everson. I don't think his contribution to Laurel and Hardy's popular renaissance in the 60's can be over-emphasized.

I am amazed at the similarity of my experience with the book as yours. I first saw it as a kid of 10 in a Dayton's Department store just before Christmas 1967. I begged and pleaded my mom to buy it. When I got it home I poured over it daily, reading and re-reading it. I always had it open to the page of whatever L&H movie I was watching, and would read during the commercials. I would check off every movie I saw (My goal was to see them all) and look sorrowfully at the entries of the films that were lost or just not available to see on TV. I just thought at the time I was the only kid in the world weird enough to do all that. I still have the original copy, and I still enjoy pulling it out and re-reading it from time to time.

Everson's chapter "The Modus Operandi of Laurel and Hardy" sums up their style, technique, and appeal as accurately as anyone ever has. No-one has enhanced my appreciation or enjoyment of Laurel and Hardy over the years more than Everson did through that book.

     I didn't know Mr. Everson had passed away until I read your tributes. I guess this is a belated attempt to thank him for all the fun and enjoyment he helped bring me for thirty years.

John Fisher

Dear John & John,

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I enjoyed your tributes to my good friend, Bill Everson. Like yourselves, I have an original copy of his book "The Films of Laurel & Hardy" in my possession, which is a little worse for wear. But to me, that was the first book to evaluate L&H's works in print.

In later years, I had the good fortune of having Bill as my college professor at School of Visual Arts in the early 1970's. Being both film collectors, we immediately became friends and later visited one another on a monthly basis. What a wonderful, giving human being he was! He is certainly deserving of your kind words. Keep up the great work on your L&H Central...

Sincerely Always,

Lou Sabini