LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING
Written and filmed October, 1927. Released by MGM, January, 1928. Produced by Hal Roach. Supervised by Leo McCarey. Directed by Clyde Bruckman. Two reels.Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Charlie Hall, Viola Richard, Dorothy Coburn.
STORY: Stan's visit to the dentist results in the Boys' overdosing on laughing gas. They run amok and wreak havoc through the streets of Culver City.
JB: An
excellent example of the way Laurel and Hardy often worked -
they'd start off with a simple situation (Stan has a toothache), follow
it to the next logical step (a trip to the dentist) and continue to a
logical conclusion (the laughing gas causing them to mess up traffic in
the streets of Los Angeles).
Buster
Keaton was a big fan of the
Boys, as well as a friend and in later years a gagman. There is a
scene in the excellent documentary BUSTER KEATON RIDES AGAIN where he
enthusiastically describes the second half of this film to a few
friends and associates. Describing the minimal plot of Leave 'Em
Laughing, Buster concludes "That's all they ever needed was something
like that." You can't watch this scene and not feel Keaton's admiration
for the Boys.
