Laurel & Hardy : Big Business

I. About the Film

　

Summary

Stan and Ollie are Christmas tree salesmen in California. Business is slow and a simple argument with one grumpy prospective customer (James Finlayson) escalates from a simple argument into full scale mutual destruction with Stan & Ollie destroying the customers house and garden, whilst Finlayson reduces their car to scrap metal, all under the disbelieving gaze of a police officer and an assembled crowd. Written by Steve Smith

Taglines:

The story of a man who turned the other cheek-and got punched in the nose.

Works Cited （参考文献）

IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 21 June 2016.

II. About the Lead Actors - Laurel & Hardy

Stan Laurel 
was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on 16 June, 1890 in Ulverston, England; died on 23 February 1965. 
The son of a British showman, Stan Laurel had been raised in British music halls. In 1910 he made his first trip to America as a member of the Fred Karno musical-comedy troupe, which also included Charlie Chaplin. Laurel stayed in the United States, touring in vaudeville and landing an occasional movie job.

Stan was married four times. His marriage to actress Lois Neilson (1926-1936) produced a daughter, Lois Jr., in 1927. Stan's first wife sometimes served as his personal business manager and handled all of his business dealings with Hal Roach. His stormiest marriage to Illiana Shuvalova, a Russian opera singer, lasted only a year.

Oliver Hardy 
was born Norvell Hardy on 18 January, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia; 
died on 7 August 1957. 
Oliver Hardy had been destined for a military career, but opened a movie theater in Milledgeville, Georgia, instead. He next found work as an actor in Jacksonville, Florida, home of the Lubin film company. Hardy later moved to Hollywood, and by the mid 1920s, he was working as an all-purpose comic at the Hal Roach studio.

Oliver was married three times. His final marriage was with Lucille Jones, a script girl that he had met during the filming of The Flying Deuces. It lasted from 1940 until his death in 1957.

Laurel and Hardy's partnership at the Hal Roach studio began in 1926. Within a year of their first joint appearance, they were being touted as the new comedy team. After collaborating on many silent films, they took the transition to the talking film in stride. As their success spread throughout the world, they began making feature films as well and won an Oscar for their short subject entitled "The Music Box" (1932).

After the team left the Hal Roach studio, they formed their own production company but were unable to repeat the success they had enjoyed under the guidance of Hal Roach.

Laurel & Hardy Silent Shorts(1921~1929)
Not yet a team, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy first appeared together in the independent film THE LUCKY DOG, which we now believe was shot in early 1921. During the 1920s they appeared separately in a number of silent shorts for the Hal Roach Studios. 


                         

Works Cited （参考文献）

"Laurel & Hardy - The Official Website." Laurel & Hardy - The Official Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2016.

III. My Reaction

A. Reaction Point - Subtitles(他の言語へのフィルムの対話の翻訳)

• Subtitles are translation of the dialogue of a film into another language.
• Found: unknown, lost, authentic, extraordinary, Spanish-speaking Laurel & Hardy movies, and which they made in theirprime.
• Without facing the more strict scrutiny of American censorship, these expanded and modified export versions were also more daring and risqué than their progenitors.Plus they featured new gags, as well as different supporting casts fluent in the respective foreign languages in order to help carry the story continuity.

B. Reaction Point - Set Design(それが構築されているどのような風景のルックスと方法)

• Set design is how the scenery looks and how it is built.
• In "Big Business" is very simple set design. This movie is silent, so simple set design were easy to understand to the viewer. This large props is very fragile. because It is their way to break in after angry.
• For example, house door, car, tree, window and chimney.

C. Reaction Point - Acting(演じる)

• Acting is playing a character in a play or movie.
• Stan Laurel played manlet and bearish man.
• Oliver Hardy played corpulent and angry man.
• Character that two people played was a good combination.

D. My General Opinion
I didn't know the two men until now. This movie is very interesting was made long time ago. Well I understood that they were good combination. They played not only silent but also talkie. Comedians ran through the era.