Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Patsy Moran, Edgar Kennedy, Lucille Ball (introductory sketch only).

STORY: Stan and longtime fiancee Patsy visit the Justice of the Peace to get married. Ollie tags along and advises. After a series of misunderstandings, the Justice throws them all out, and Ollie shoots Stan.

A rather unique item in the Laurel and Hardy Canon, The Marriage of Stan Laurel (alternately known as The Wedding Party and The Wedding Night) is a tantalising glimpse at what a Laurel and Hardy Radio Series might have been like. Written by Stan Laurel and reprinted in John McCabe's THE COMEDY WORLD OF STAN LAUREL, The Marriage of Stan Laurel is a slight sketch that shows Stan trying to adapt he and his partner's brand of comedy to a completely foriegn medium. He only partially succeeds. There are good verbal gags here and there, and as a whole, the sketch is amusing, but Laurel and Hardy weren't really naturals for the slam-bang, joke a minute, wisecracking world of 40's radio.

In the tradition of all good radio comedy, the funniest moment comes from a miscue. About halfway through the sketch, Kennedy answers the door before the doorbell rings. Not the most hilarious blooper ever, but it's nice to hear the real Oliver Hardy laughing.

Often left off commercial recordings of this sketch is the introduction of Laurel and Hardy by future comedy legend Lucille Ball, where she mixes it up with The Boys for about a minute before the sketch proper.
 

Copyright © John Larrabee, John V. Brennan 2003. All Rights Reserved.