Of all of the silent era performers, I think L&H had the easiest transition to sound. I don't think I would go that far as their voices are just perfected suited for their films. Incidentally, Stan Laurel voiced a preference for the silents over the talkies in his later years. However, I was given a copy of John McCabe's book on L&H which was basically a film by film account elaborately illustrated with original still photos so for several years the silents were elusive fruits that I knew about and desperately wanted to see. I didn't really start seeing any of the silents until the early 2000s. The UK and Europe had complete DVD sets several years before we finally got a mostly comprehensive set here.Īs for me, my first L&H exposure was the 1990s AMC broadcasts of the talkies. You'll have years of lots of availability, but then you'll have years where the films aren't so accessible. My formative experiences were with the talkies almost exclusively. BBC 2 would also show the talkies, but I think rights became an issue as I can't recall many (any?) broadcasts after the early to mid-80's. Fond memories of L&H "film night" at home. He bought a Super 8 projector so he could rent some of the shorts from a local specialist store. My first exposure to L&H was via my father.
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