Topic: Hats Off (1927) - Laurel and Hardy

[metaldams]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017967/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WbrXEMU6E

View the reconstruction of HATS OFF in the link above.

      Click on the imdb link above.  On the day I type this, 74 people have rated this film.  74 people are liars.  HATS OFF, tragically, is a lost film, so there's no way they could've seen it, unless if they have really good memories and accompanied their Dad to the voting booth to pull the lever for Hoover or something.  Anyway, for years, Stooge fans complained about HELLO POP missing, and rightfully so, but this is way more tragic.  Imagine if PUNCH DRUNKS or MEN IN BLACK were missing instead of HELLO POP, because it's the equivalent of that for Laurel and Hardy fans. This is an actual Laurel and Hardy film that was very popular in its day.  The stairs sequence with the washing machine also inspired the stairs with piano sequence in THE MUSIC BOX, so for that alone, it's a real shame we don't have this film.  There appears to be some epic hat battle at the end.  Laurel and Hardy had this great routine where they would find several ways to switch hats, only to give each other the wrong hat in every likely scenario you can think of, and more scenarios you wouldn't.  Perhaps it was put to best use here, but we'll never know.  Anyway, a fan on YouTube posted a reconstruction based on surviving pictures.  It's seven plus minutes, so enjoy, and next week, the Laurel and Hardy proper reviews begin.

[ThumpTheShoes]

Never seen that before. What a great way to put the story together! Up until about 5:30, you get a real sense of what the real film might have been like.

And how about that "new" music from the Beau Hunks? The arrangement of most of their tracks seems faithful enough, but what is missing? Where is the "punch" of the original tracks that we heard in the original films? I'd guess if these recordings were tested on vintage monaural equipment, we might have gotten more of a kick, or a fuller, fatter sound from the saxophones and fretless bass. Still, their instrumentation of "Honolulu Baby" might be as close as we'll ever get to the original recording!

Sad that we'll never see this film, though. Maybe it will turn up one day alongside a video release of "De Bote en Bote"!

Or? Not.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

  First off, let me say there's a ton of things I don't like about how they reconstructed this video.. One thing: Colorization!!! DON'T COLORIZE THE CLASSICS!!!! Second thing: Moving pictures? Why not just stills? It creates a really bad image.. Third thing: The title cards. Why is there such a weird background? Again, has to do with the colorization thing..
 Let me say this weird secret.. Well, I've never seen The Music Box from 1932.. There. I said it. So, I can't really compare this with The Music Box. I can compare this with The Three Stooges' An Ache in Every Stake. And, no offense to Moe, Larry, and Curly, but judging by the reconstruction, Hats Off would've been way better.
  When I was a kid, I thought crap about lost silent films. They looked creepy ( silent films, in general to me as a kid) because of the sped-up timing used in Mack Sennett movies. I like Hal Roach silent much better, because the pacing is slowed down, not only to make it less creepier but also to generate more laughs. That's why I prefer Hal Roach over Mack Sennett, even though out of the Mack studios came Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, and Mabel Normand. I like all of those stars, except Hal Roach brought Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy.
 Now, to our regularly scheduled review program. All that stuff aside, Hats Off has a general plot that is awesome. Stan and Oliver, with no work, find work through selling washing machines ( with a nice cameo by James Finlayson) only to have a lady keep calling them up a huge flight of stairs to have Laurel and Hardy getting insulted a bit by having to only deliver a letter. Later, there's a huge hat battle, except there's no explanation.
 About the no explanation thing: Well, I feel like in the movie there was something that was supposed to be there to explain the hat battle, except in the reconstruction we find nothing. Well, off I go to Wikipedia..
 The supporting cast is great. All you need in a Laurel and Hardy movie is the Boys, James Finlayson, and Anita Garvin. James Finlayson does a fabulous job like always as being able to take Stan and Ollie's antics in the face. Anita Garvin does a fantastic job and generates about 40 percent of the comedy in this movie. Some fans just recognize her as another pretty face in the Laurel and Hardy movies, while she was a great comedic actress.
 About the huge hat battle.. Usually, I find these reciprocal destruction films as the best ( wait 'til my reviews of The Battle of The Century, You're Darn Tootin', Two Tars and Big Business!!), but sadly this is not the best of those films. The " Great Hat Riot of 1927" may not live up to that title. Now, I think one of the issues is that there's not as much people involved than in those episodes I just mentioned.
 Well, that's my two cents on this review of a lost silent movie ( which was very hard to write, by the way.) Well, I'll see you in a few days when we talk about Duck Soup!! ( Not The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy.)

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017967/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a_WbrXEMU6E

View the reconstruction of HATS OFF in the link above.

      Click on the imdb link above.  On the day I type this, 74 people have rated this film.  74 people are liars.  HATS OFF, tragically, is a lost film, so there's no way they could've seen it, unless if they have really good memories and accompanied their Dad to the voting booth to pull the lever for Hoover or something.  Anyway, for years, Stooge fans complained about HELLO POP missing, and rightfully so, but this is way more tragic.  Imagine if PUNCH DRUNKS or MEN IN BLACK were missing instead of HELLO POP, because it's the equivalent of that for Laurel and Hardy fans. This is an actual Laurel and Hardy film that was very popular in its day.  The stairs sequence with the washing machine also inspired the stairs with piano sequence in THE MUSIC BOX, so for that alone, it's a real shame we don't have this film.  There appears to be some epic hat battle at the end.  Laurel and Hardy had this great routine where they would find several ways to switch hats, only to give each other the wrong hat in every likely scenario you can think of, and more scenarios you wouldn't.  Perhaps it was put to best use here, but we'll never know.  Anyway, a fan on YouTube posted a reconstruction based on surviving pictures.  It's seven plus minutes, so enjoy, and next week, the Laurel and Hardy proper reviews begin.

Aren't we supposed to have a new L&H review today?

[metaldams]

Aren't we supposed to have a new L&H review today?

Sunday night.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

Sunday night.

Okay. I hope you don't mind me asking why.

[metaldams]

Okay. I hope you don't mind me asking why.

Because that's when I choose to do it based on my weekend and work schedule.  It's only two days, it'll be here soon enough and well worth it.

[Big Chief Apumtagribonitz]

I read somewhere trustworthy that Hats Off, when it came out, was HUGE.  It was suggested that this was the one that made Hal Roach finally say, O K, here's my comedy team, these guys together are gold.
     And Metaldams, If it's been brought up at all, I don't think it's been stressed enough that your introductory remarks on these films are uniformly excellent, and you've done over 100 by now, I think.  Each one mentions the high points, low points and the discussion points.  Very good work.  Give yourself a raise and take the rest of the afternoon off.

[metaldams]

I read somewhere trustworthy that Hats Off, when it came out, was HUGE.  It was suggested that this was the one that made Hal Roach finally say, O K, here's my comedy team, these guys together are gold.
     And Metaldams, If it's been brought up at all, I don't think it's been stressed enough that your introductory remarks on these films are uniformly excellent, and you've done over 100 by now, I think.  Each one mentions the high points, low points and the discussion points.  Very good work.  Give yourself a raise and take the rest of the afternoon off.

Thanks for the compliment, Big Chief, it's appreciated.  Yeah, it's been over 100 counting non Stooge films, and next week's Stooge entry will be short 95 out of 190, so halfway there.  I have to say I really enjoy doing this, it gives me something extra to look forward to on weekends.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

Thanks for the compliment, Big Chief, it's appreciated.  Yeah, it's been over 100 counting non Stooge films, and next week's Stooge entry will be short 95 out of 190, so halfway there.  I have to say I really enjoy doing this, it gives me something extra to look forward to on weekends.

Yes, and by the way, being a mod for over 10 years- that deserves some kudos! So, while we watch our favorite Stooges movies tonight, I will be thinking about you. Thanks for being one of the most active members on this forum, and for all your work on the Weekly Episode Discussions.

[metaldams]

Yes, and by the way, being a mod for over 10 years- that deserves some kudos! So, while we watch our favorite Stooges movies tonight, I will be thinking about you. Thanks for being one of the most active members on this forum, and for all your work on the Weekly Episode Discussions.

You're welcome, and like I always say, work is the BS I do to earn a paycheck.  These reviews aren't work, it's fun, believe me.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

You're welcome, and like I always say, work is the BS I do to earn a paycheck.  These reviews aren't work, it's fun, believe me.

And, they're very fun to comment on. Keep up the good work! Even though we got a L&H discussion to finish ( and after that, a Buster Keaton discussion) I thought that we could do an Our Gang discussion, even though that would be a couple of years into the future.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

You're welcome, and like I always say, work is the BS I do to earn a paycheck.  These reviews aren't work, it's fun, believe me.

Getting ready for the Duck Soup review!!!

[metaldams]

Getting ready for the Duck Soup review!!!

Popping the DVD in seconds after I type this.  The official Laurel and Hardy journey begins, should be quite epic.

[Shemp_is_Awesome78]

Popping the DVD in seconds after I type this.  The official Laurel and Hardy journey begins, should be quite epic.

Well, get ready!! For the next 2 years or so, we'll be reviewing Laurel and Hardy! This is going to be very, very, very, very exciting for me!

[Paul Pain]

Best Laurel and Hardy short ever.  This was epic.  The boys were at their best, and the acting was terrific.  They perfectly executed every bit, especially the stairs sequence.  10/10

JK LOL

[Umbrella Sam]

Now there's 80 votes on IMDb, along with 7 reviews (literally one of the reviewers cites this and THE MUSIC BOX as an example of how the talkies were better than the silents despite this one not existing). The reconstruction does make the short look as though it was promising, though.

I have seen IT'S YOUR MOVE, a short with Edgar Kennedy that not only contains a similar plot but also had the same director. I'm not particularly fond of this short mostly because I'm not a fan of these Edgar Kennedy shorts in general (nothing against Kennedy, who was a very talented comedian, but I always hated the set-up of his in-laws constantly pestering him). It's not as bad as some of the other shorts Kennedy made around this time, but I still do find his in-laws to be very irritating. However, considering how great of a short THE MUSIC BOX is, I have no doubt that Laurel and Hardy were able to pull off this situation very well.

[HomokHarcos]

It's a shame that this short is lost. From accounts of that period this was Laurel and Hardy's breakthrough hit and convinced Hal Roach to make them his studio's top stars. I watched the reconstruction today, and it is amazing that there were that many stills taken for the film.

The beginning with Finlayson looks excellent, probably even better than the beginning of The Music Box. There is also a door-to-door part that reminds me of Big Business. The whole part with Anita Garvin and Dorothy is amusing.

This short reminds me of a real life encounter between my stepdad and his best friend. They were carrying a heavy washing machine down down the stairs in my house and were having a lot of trouble. Being a kid I thought it was very funny (probably wasn't for them).

Then we get the hat fight where everybody is throwing off their hats, hence the title. I've noticed a lot of these early Laurel and Hardy films feature chaos at the end, I wonder who at the Hal Roach studios usually came up with these scenes. Seeing as how Laurel and Hardy hadn't exactly taken off yet, I don't think Stan had too much creative control by this point.

[metaldams]

It's a shame that this short is lost. From accounts of that period this was Laurel and Hardy's breakthrough hit and convinced Hal Roach to make them his studio's top stars. I watched the reconstruction today, and it is amazing that there were that many stills taken for the film.

The beginning with Finlayson looks excellent, probably even better than the beginning of The Music Box. There is also a door-to-door part that reminds me of Big Business. The whole part with Anita Garvin and Dorothy is amusing.

This short reminds me of a real life encounter between my stepdad and his best friend. They were carrying a heavy washing machine down down the stairs in my house and were having a lot of trouble. Being a kid I thought it was very funny (probably wasn't for them).

Then we get the hat fight where everybody is throwing off their hats, hence the title. I've noticed a lot of these early Laurel and Hardy films feature chaos at the end, I wonder who at the Hal Roach studios usually came up with these scenes. Seeing as how Laurel and Hardy hadn't exactly taken off yet, I don't think Stan had too much creative control by this point.

I don’t know for a fact, but I would imagine Stan had some input for the early stuff.  He was a solo comedian with Roach for years and even did some directing in the mid twenties.

[HomokHarcos]

I don’t know for a fact, but I would imagine Stan had some input for the early stuff.  He was a solo comedian with Roach for years and even did some directing in the mid twenties.

Hal Roach did seem to give his performers quite a bit of creative control compared to other studios.

[NoahYoung]

When I saw that there was a review here for this short, I thought maybe it had been found, and I didn't find out about it.
Maybe those IMDB reviewers are just really old people who saw it in 1927.

If it is ever found, and I hope it is, I have a feeling it will be a disappointment. Just a gut feeling.

My hypothesis of its existence -- one of these possibilities:

1. Someone has it, and doesn't know it.
2. Someone has it, and isn't telling.
3. All prints that ever existed have either been destroyed intentionally, or have decomposed.

If 1 or 2, the person's widow/son/daughter/grandchildren will probably sell it on eBay, without even knowing the title.

I have heard definitive claims that it was never printed in any lower gauge than 35mm. I say -- Hogwash! We don't know.