H.M. WalkerFilmography

Dirty Work

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Ralph Lynn, Gordon Harker, Robertson Hare

Synopsis: Although this Laurel and Hardy short is quite funny, it's often neglected. The boys, playing chimney sweeps, don't appear right away -- first the stage is set in the laboratory of a mad scientist, Professor Noodle (Lucien Littlefield). He has been working intensely for the past 20 years to create Read More

Son of a Sailor

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Joe E. Brown, Jean Muir, Thelma Todd, Johnny Mack Brown, Frank McHugh

Synopsis: Joe E. Brown is a sailor who hopes to match the accomplishments of his seaman father. Unfortunately, Joe is perhaps the clumsiest gob ever to sail the seven seas. Nor can he steer clear of trouble: Through a series of wholly unbelievable circumstances, Joe finds himself alone on deck of a ship Read More

Horseplay

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: George "Slim" Summerville, Andy Devine, Leila Hyams, May Beatty, Una O'Connor

Synopsis: In this comedy, two rubes from Montana find a fortune after they discover radium on their ranch. The nouveau riche ranchers then take a trip to England to see one of their girlfriends whose father sent her to stay with her blue-blooded relatives to keep her away from the red-necked country boy. As Read More

Her First Mate

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: George "Slim" Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, Una Merkel, Warren Hymer, Berton Churchill

Synopsis: One wonders if William Wyler ever gave Her First Mate a second thought when he was busy directing such subsequent films as The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver,The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur. This early Wyler efforts stars Slim Summerville and ZaSu Pitts as John and Mary Horner; he's a peanut Read More

They Just Had to Get Married

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: George "Slim" Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, Roland Young, Veree Teasdale, Fifi D'Orsay

Synopsis: In this comedy a maid and a butler work for a very rich man. The trouble begins when their employer dies and leaves his estate to them. Once he is gone, they are free to finally marry. Unfortunately, they do not enjoy being wealthy, and they must lose everything and break up before they get back Read More

The Chimp

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have been working for a circus as two halves of an ersatz horse. When the circus closes, in lieu of pay, each employee gets a portion of the show. Stan gets the flea circus and Ollie gets Ethel the chimp. They try to check into a boarding house, but the proprietor (Billy Gilbert Read More

County Hospital

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel arrives at the hospital to visit his friend Oliver Hardy. It takes him more time to locate Ollie's room than it does for him to destroy it completely. That happens when the doctor (Billy Gilbert at his most fulsome) enters to see how his patient is doing. Ollie, his broken leg Read More

The Music Box

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Charlie Hall, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy

Synopsis: This most famous of Laurel and Hardy shorts won an Oscar for "Best Comedy Short Subject." Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play characters who run a transfer company. They are hired to deliver a player piano to an address which turns out to be up a very long flight of steps The whole film involves the Read More

On the Loose

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this classic two-reel comedy from the Hal Roach Studio, blonde Thelma Todd and plain-Jane ZaSu Pitts are depressed because their cheapskate boyfriends (Billy Gilbert and Charlie Hall) refuse to take them anywhere other than the amusement park at Coney Island. Things brighten considerably when Read More

Any Old Port!

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have just returned from a whaling trek. They check into a run-down hotel, the Mariner's Rest, whose owner, Mugsy Long (the intimidating Walter Long), is forcing a girl (Jacqueline Wells) into marriage. The girl manages to reveal her dilemma to Stan and Ollie before Read More

What Price Taxi

Crew: Screenwriter

Scram!

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: It's a rainy night and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are faced with a particularly ill-tempered judge Rychard Cramer. He'd love to throw them in the clink for vagrancy, but since the jail is full, he gives them just one hour...to leave town. Out on the street, they encounter a drunk (perennial Read More

The Pooch

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Matthew "Stymie" Beard, George "Spanky" McFarland, Dorothy de Borba, Kendall McComas, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Cheerful vagrant Mathew "Stymie" Beard tries to get back in the good graces of the Gang after stealing their pies. Stymie's not a bad kid, just hungry, as proven when he cadges a meal from a friendly housewife -- a meal supposedly for his faithful pet Pete the Pup, but actually consumed by Read More

Birthday Blues

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Dickie Moore, George "Spanky" McFarland, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Kendall McComas, Jacquie Lyn

Synopsis: A superb combination of belly laughs and pathos, the "Our Gang" comedy "Birthday Blues" was originally released on November 12, 1932. When their pennypinching father (Hooper Atchley) refuses to buy a birthday gift for their long-suffering mother (Lillian Rich), brothers Dickie Moore and Spanky Read More

Free Eats

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Kendall McComas, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Dorothy de Borba, George "Spanky" McFarland

Synopsis: To further her husband's political career, wealthy Mrs. Clark (Lillian Elliot) throws a lavish party in her home for the poor children of the community. Among the invitees are the Our Gang kids, including Matthew "Stymie" Beard, who of late has been getting into trouble because of his tall tales. Read More

Hook and Ladder

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Dickie Moore, George "Spanky" McFarland, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Kendall McComas, Sherwood Bailey

Synopsis: Originally released on August 27, 1932, Hook and Ladder was a remake of the 1926 "Our Gang" comedy The Fourth Alarm, with several gags repeated verbatim. Answering the Fire Chief's request for volunteers, the Our Gang kids form their own firefighting squadron, replete with ersatz uniforms, a fire Read More

Spanky

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: George "Spanky" McFarland, Kendall McComas, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Dorothy de Borba

Synopsis: Earning instant stardom via his appearance in the 1932 "Our Gang" comedy "Free Eats," 3-year-old George "Spanky" McFarland was rewarded with his own two-reel vehicle, appropriately titled "Spanky." One suspects, however, that the film, a remake of the 1926 "Our Gang" entry "Uncle Tom's Uncle," was Read More

Free Wheeling

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Dickie Moore, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Kendall McComas, George "Spanky" McFarland, Jacquie Lyn

Synopsis: Confined to a neck brace, poor little rich boy Dickie Moore would like to play with the neighborhood kids, but his overprotective mother (Lillian Rich) won't let him. On the sly, however, Dickie sneaks out of his bedroom in search of adventure in the company of his best pal, Matthew "Stymie" Read More

Readin' and Writin'

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Kendall McComas, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Dorothy de Borba, Sherwood Bailey

Synopsis: June Marlowe made her final "Our Gang" appearance as Miss Crabtree in "Readin' and Writin'." Despite his mother's admonitions that he'll "never be President" unless he attends school, little Breezy Brisbane (Kenneth McKenna) contocts a plan that will earn him expulsion from Miss Crabtree's Read More

Pack up Your Troubles

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Donald Dillaway, Jacquie Lyn, Mary Carr

Synopsis: Drafted into the army during World War I, those muddled misfits Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy make a shambles of Training Camp before being shipped to France. When their best pal Eddie (Donald Dillaway) is killed in battle, Stan and Ollie vow to locate the grandparents of Eddie's orphaned little Read More

A Lad an' a Lamp

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Dickie Moore, George "Spanky" McFarland, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Fascinated by the story of Aladdin's magic lamp, the Our Gang kids gather together every electric light fixture in the neighborhood, hoping that by rubbing them vigorously, a genie will appear. Thanks to a series of coincidences -- not least of which involves a friendly stage magician -- the kids Read More

Choo Choo!

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: George "Spanky" McFarland, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Kendall McComas, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Dorothy de Borba

Synopsis: Originally released on May 7, 1932, the "Our Gang" comedy "Choo-Choo!" was a loose remake of the 1923 two-reeler A Pleasant Journey. Exchanging clothes with a group of mischievous orphans, the Our Gang kids end up on a train headed for Chicago. Pressed into service as the kids' supervisor Read More

Come Clean

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This Laurel and Hardy two-reeler contains a similar premise to Chickens Come Home, and starts off the same way as Should Married Men Go Home? does -- Ollie and his wife (here, it's Gertrude Astor) are spending a quiet evening at home, away from "those Laurels." Just then, Stan and his wife (Linda Read More

Be Big!

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: While this isn't one of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's best shorts, its premise is very similar to one of their finest features, Sons of the Desert. In both films, the hapless duo is trying to sneak around their wives' backs to join a group of club mates. In Sons of the Desert, they're going to a Read More

High Gear

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Mickey Daniels

Mama Loves Papa

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This entry was part of MGM's short-lived "The Boy Friends" series, which was developed by director George Stevens. In this one, two elderly people, both widowed, want to get married, but the kids do their best to stop them. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide Read More

One Good Turn

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are victims of the depression in this tworeeler. They do have an old car, a tent and some clothes, though, so things could be worse. With Stan's help, things do get worse -- their tent goes up in flames and their laundry shrinks down to minuscule size. They are forced Read More

Bargain Day

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Shirley Jean Rickert, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Farina Hoskins

Synopsis: The "Our Gang" two-reeler "Bargain Day" gets off to a lively start as the kids help their pal Norman "Chubby" Chaney purchase a new hat. Meanwhile, Jackie Cooper's kid brother, played by Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, steals the Gang's baseball equipment, intended to go into business as a door-to-door Read More

Little Daddy

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Farina Hoskins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Jackie Cooper, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson

Synopsis: Originally released on March 28, 1931, the "Our Gang" comedy "Little Daddy" is no longer available in the "Little Rascals" TV package, due to the perceived offensiveness of its "ethnic" humor. The focus is on talented black youngsters Allen "Farina" Hoskins and Mathew "Stymie" Beard, here cast as Read More

Big Ears

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Dorothy de Borba, Donald Haines, Sherwood Bailey

Synopsis: An angry divorce is the curious source of humor in the offbeat "Our Gang" comedy "Big Ears." Though little Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins loves both his father and mother (Creighton Hale and Ann Christy), he wishes that they would stop quarrelling. Overhearing their plans to split up, Wheezer is at Read More

Fly My Kite

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Farina Hoskins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: A real four-hankie picture, "Fly My Kite" is one of "Our Gang"'s most poignant episodes, though it also manages to be hilariously funny at times. Margaret Mann makes a return appearance as the gang's adopted Grandma, who reads Wild West stories to the kids, gives them boxing tips and dispenses Read More

Shiver My Timbers

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Dorothy de Borba, Sherwood Bailey, George Ernest

Synopsis: The Our Gang kids spend so much time listening to the tall tales spun by a salty sea captain (Billy Gilbert) that they haven't any time to attend school. Their teacher Miss Crabtree (June Marlowe) angrily trails the kids to the docks, then gives the captain a piece of their mind. Apologizing, the Read More

Helping Grandma

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Farina Hoskins, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Veteran character actress Margaret Mann makes the first of two memorable Our Gang appearances in Helping Grandma. The owner of a tiny general store, "Grandma" (Mann), loves to have the kids around, even if they pay for their penny candy with expired subway tokens and buttons. Local skinflint Mr. Read More

Our Wife

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Oliver Hardy finds that getting married is more difficult than he had planned in this two-reeler. It starts off with partner and best man Stan Laurel's adventures with a container of fly spray. While Laurel is ruining the wedding breakfast and cake, Hardy's fiancée, Dulcy (Babe London), is having Read More

Dogs is Dogs

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Dorothy de Borba, Sherwood Bailey, Dickie Jackson

Synopsis: Another expert blend of genuine sentiment, moving pathos and belly laughs, the "Our Gang" comedy "Dogs is Dogs" was orginally released on November 21, 1931. This time, Gang members Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins and Dorothy DeBorba are cast as brother and sister, left in charge of their hateful Read More

Love Business

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Farina Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: The final entry in "Our Gang" 's unofficial "Miss Crabtree trilogy", "Love Business" more or less picks up where "School's Out" left off. Little Jackie Cooper has a schoolboy crush on his lovely teacher Miss Crabtree (June Marlowe), as does Jackie's classmate Norman "Chubby" Chaney. When Miss Read More

Chickens Come Home

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Not only has Oliver Hardy established a successful business -- in fertilizer -- he has also decided to run for mayor. General manager Stan Laurel interrupts his duties (which involve a fly swatter) in the sample room to help Ollie with a speech. Ollie's old flame (Mae Busch) barges into the Read More

Beau Hunks

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This Laureland Hardy four-reeler is very loosely based on Beau Gest. It opens with Oliver Hardy singing a sweet love song. He's feeling sentimental because he's about to marry his girl, Jeanie-Weanie who, he tells his friend Stan Laurel, "has been all around the world and everyone loves her." Read More

Laughing Gravy

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Charlie Hall

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy attempt to hide Laurel's dog, Laughing Gravy, from their landlord (Charlie Hall, the premiere angry landlord in many Laurel and Hardy films), who does not allow pets. Of course, the landlord discovers the dog and throws him out into the snowy night. While trying to get Read More

Pardon Us

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Walter Long, Wilfred Lucas, James Finlayson, June Marlowe

Synopsis: Two-reel comedy favorites Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made their feature-film debut (excluding their guest appearances in Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Rogue Song) in the prison comedy Pardon Us. A spoof of MGM's The Big House, the story begins when erstwhile bootleggers Laurel and Hardy sell a Read More

Helpmates

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Most Laurel and Hardy aficionados consider this film among the comic duo's very best two-reelers, and it is especially rich in slapstick antics. It opens up with an extremely hungover Oliver Hardy admonishing himself in the mirror for throwing such a wild party the night before. An arriving Read More

Teacher's Pet

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Farina Hoskins, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson

Synopsis: An indisputable classic, the "Our Gang" comedy "Teacher's Pet" is introduced by a brace of pretty twin girls (Beverly and Bette Mae Crane), who recite the opening credit titles. The story proper begins with the Gang members facing the first day of school with fear and loathing. Their beloved Read More

Another Fine Mess

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: The 1930 Laurel & Hardy 3-reeler Another Fine Mess is a remake of the team's 1927 effort Duck Soup--which, in turn, was based on "Home from the Honeymoon", a vaudeville sketch written in 1908 by Stan Laurel's father. Escaping from an angry cop, Stan and Ollie take refuge in a posh East Side Read More

A Tough Winter

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Stepin Fetchit, Farina Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson, Jackie Cooper, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Originally released on June 21, 1930, the "Our Gang" comedy "A Tough Winter" was designed as a "pilot" film for a proposed series of two-reelers starring legendary black comedian Stepin Fetchit. Beginning with a lengthy sequence in which the Gang helps Stepin read a love letter (which segues into Read More

The First Seven Years

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann Jackson, Donald Haines, Farina Hoskins, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Hopelessly in love with little Mary Ann Jackson, seven-year-old Jackie Cooper would like to claim her as a "wife," but doesn't know how to go about it. When the "caveman" approach fails, Jackie tries the candy, flowers and clean-suit technique, only to find he has been beaten to the punch by his Read More

When the Wind Blows

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Farina Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson, Norman "Chubby" Chaney

Synopsis: Officially an "Our Gang" comedy, "When the Wind Blows" is really a vehicle for adult comic Edgar Kennedy, here playing his usual role of a boastful, clumsy and cowardly cop. On a dark and windy night, Officer Kennedy tries to keep the peace in a small neighborhood, only to be frightened at every Read More

Below Zero

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Charlie Hall

Synopsis: Business is not good for street musicians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Perhaps it's because they're playing in front of a deaf and dumb institute. Or maybe it's because the weather is reaching near-blizzard proportions and their song of choice is "In the Good Old Summertime". In response to the Read More

Night Owls

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are supported by a couple of Hal Roach's best stock players in this comic two-reeler. The film opens at the police station, where the chief (Anders Randolph), fed up at the high number of burglaries and no arrests, threatens Officer Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy): Any more Read More

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: While on an outing to go fishing, Oliver Hardy is trying to get some sleep. He's disturbed by a newspaper that blows in, advertising the reading of the will of an Ebeneezer Laurel. Convinced that his partner, Stan Laurel, must be the heir, the pair head for the Laurel mansion. Upon arrival they Read More

Pups Is Pups

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Farina Hoskins, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Jackie Cooper, Dorothy de Borba, Norman "Chubby" Chaney

Synopsis: The Our Gang kids prepare to enter their scraggily pets in a high-society dog show, where their pal Allen "Farina" Hoskins is working as an usher. Meanwhile, Jackie Cooper tries vainly to prevent his troublesome kid sister (Dorothy "Echo" DeBorba) from jumping into every mud puddle that she sees. Read More

Brats

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play both the fathers and their unruly children in this two-reel comedy. The really funny thing about this film is that as the kids, Laurel and Hardy don't behave much differently as they generally do as adults. The relationship is basically the same between the two Read More

Blotto

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this especially amusing Laurel and Hardy short, the boys are planning a night on the town. Standing in their way is Mrs. Laurel (Anita Garvin). Ollie telephones Stan with a scheme: Stan will send himself a bogus telegram, calling him away on "business." Unfortunately for the duo, Mrs. Laurel Read More

Bear Shooters

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Leon Janney, Jackie Cooper, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Farina Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson

Synopsis: Popular child actor (and later radio and TV stalwart) Leon Janney made his one and only "Our Gang" appearance in "Bear Shooters." Ordered by his mother to look after his kid brother Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, nine-year-old Spud (Janney) is worried that he won't be able to join his pals on a hunting Read More

School's Out

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Jackie Cooper, Farina Hoskins, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby Young

Synopsis: In this sequel to the 1930 "Our Gang" comedy "Teacher's Pet," the Gang members eagerly await each school day, so that they can bask in the beauty and charm of their new schoolteacher Miss Crabtree (June Marlowe). Little Jackie Cooper is so smitten by the teacher that he circulates a "perdition" to Read More

Hog Wild

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Oliver Hardy wants to go see his friend Stan Laurel; his wife (Fay Holderness) tells him, in no uncertain terms, that he must put up the radio antenna first. When Stan comes by and gives Ollie his helping hand, the inevitable mayhem ensues. He begins by setting Ollie's pants on fire with the Read More

Unaccustomed as We Are

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Although the title of Laurel and Hardy's very first sound film is a joke on the phrase, "Unaccustomed as we are to public speaking," it already shows a firm grasp of the comic potential for sound. The boys, and the writers and directors of their films, realized that more than dialogue was Read More

Big Business

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, James Finlayson

Synopsis: Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) are selling Christmas trees door-to-door. Stan unintentionally insults their first customer (a single woman) when he asks, "If you had a husband, would he buy a tree?" The second house has a sign up that says "No Peddlers." Ollie rings the bell anyway Read More

Liberty

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This Laurel and Hardy short film has a thin plot but plenty of laughs. The two have escaped from prison, but the guards are hot on their tail. Some confederates pick them up, and Stan and Ollie change out of their prison uniforms in the car while a motorcycle policeman pursues them. In their Read More

They Go Boom

Crew: Screenwriter

Men O' War

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this early Laurel and Hardy sound short, Stan and Ollie are a pair of sailors on leave. They meet two girls at a park (Anne Cornwall and Gloria Greer). They have also found a pair of bloomers, which they assume belongs to one of the young ladies. Delicately, they try to discern if either of the Read More

Bacon Grabbers

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This Laurel and Hardy two-reel silent involves the boys' attempts to repossess a radio from Collis P. Kennedy (Edgar Kennedy). A barking toy dog scares them off at first, but they come back with a borrowed Great Dane. The Great Dane is also scared off by the toy. Ollie apprehends Kennedy while Stan Read More

Berth Marks

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Laurel and Hardy's second two-reel talkie is made up of a few very simple scenes -- Oliver Hardy goes to meet his partner Stan Laurel at the train station. They have a vaudeville act which involves a bass fiddle and are on their way to their next performance. They just barely make the train and Read More

The Hoosegow

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel

Perfect Day

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have a Sunday picnic planned with their wives (Isabelle Keith and Kay Deslys) and Uncle Ed (Edgar Kennedy). But in the world of Laurel and Hardy, an easy, pleasant outing such as this is not without its pitfalls. Everyone piles into the car and after bidding goodbye to Read More

Bouncing Babies

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Mary Ann Jackson, Farina Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Norman "Chubby" Chaney

Synopsis: Accustomed to being the center of attention in his family, little Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins is upset when the spotlight is stolen by his new baby brother. Envious of the new arrival, Wheezer scheme to take the infant back to the maternity hospital whence he came. But Wheezer's sister Mary Ann Read More

Moan & Groan, Inc.

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Farina Hoskins, Mary Ann Jackson, Jackie Cooper, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Norman "Chubby" Chaney

Synopsis: The success of this "Our Gang" comedy is due in great part to the performances of two adult comedians, Edgar Kennedy and Max Davidson. Warning the Gang members to stay away from an old, crumbling condemned house, Officer Kennedy suggests they dig for buried treasure. They do --- in the same house Read More

Railroadin'

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Joe Cobb, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Farina Hoskins, Harry Spear, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: The second "Our Gang" talkie, Railroadin' was filmed entirely out-of-doors, on location in and around the railroad yards behind the Samuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. The fun begins when train engineer Otto Fries, the father of Gang members Joe Cobb and Norman "Chubby" Chaney, takes a lunch Read More

Lazy Days

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Farina Hoskins, Jannie Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Synopsis: Lazy Days is built entirely around the fact that the Gang members in general and Allen "Farina" Hoskins in particular are too lazy to perform their chores or even indulge in horseplay. The pace picks up a bit when the kids decide to enter a "beautiful baby" contest in hopes of winning a $50 prize. Read More

Cat, Dog & Co.

Crew: Screen Story

Actors: Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, Harry Spear, Mary Ann Jackson

Synopsis: One of the livelier late-silent entries in the "Our Gang" series, Cat, Dog & Co. begins with the kids thoughtlessly abusing or overworking their pets. But thanks to the gentle admonitions of a lady from the Be Kind to Animals Society (played by future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper), the kids Read More

Small Talk

Crew: Dialogue Writer

Actors: Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Mary Ann Jackson, Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, Jean Darling

Synopsis: The first all-talking "Our Gang" comedy, Small Talk was also one of the few series entries to run three reels rather than the customary two. A sentimental effort, the film details the trials of tribulations of two orphans -- played by Mary Ann Jackson and Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins -- when one of Read More

Should Married Men Go Home?

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Up until this two-reeler, Laurel and Hardy's films for Hal Roach were released under the "All-Star Comedy" label; Should Married Men Go Home is the start of the duo's own series, showing the faith Roach had in their future. The film opens up on a peaceful day for Ollie and his wife (Kay Deslys). Read More

We Faw Down

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Laurel and Hardy want to slip out of the house and play poker. Their wives want them to stay home, so they make up a story about having to meet their "boss" at the Orpheum Theatre. On the way to the poker game, they run into two women who have lost a hat under an automobile. While they attempt to Read More

Early to Bed

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Laurel and Hardy are poor and unemployed until a letter arrives informing Hardy that he has inherited a fortune. Hardy moves to a large mansion, and Laurel becomes his butler. One night, Hardy comes home drunk and plays some practical jokes on Laurel. When Laurel has had enough ribbing, he chases Hardy Read More

The Finishing Touch

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: This two-reel Laurel and Hardy silent is especially rich in slapstick. The comic duo have been promised five hundred dollars to finish a house, but the racket is disturbing the quiet of a nearby hospital, and both a nurse (Dorothy Coburn) and policeman (Edgar Kennedy) insist that the noise be kept Read More

From Soup to Nuts

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Mr. and Mrs. Culpepper (Tiny Sanford and Anita Garvin, respectively) are a nouveau-riche couple who are throwing a fancy dinner party. Unfortunately for them, the waiters they have hired for the evening are Laurel and Hardy. The subsequent gags run from typical (Ollie destroys a cake) to the Read More

Habeas Corpus

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are perhaps unique amongst comedians of the 1920s and 1930s, and their silent and sound films are equally funny. This two-reeler was originally released with music and sound effects; it would be nearly six more months before the boys made their talkie debut. This short Read More

The Battle of the Century

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Laurel is Canvasback Clump, an underfed and thoroughly clueless prize-fighter, and Hardy his rather overly optimistic manager. In confronting his ape-like opponent, Thunder-clap Callahan (Noah Young), Canvasback is quickly out for the count and the boys are left with the five-dollar loser's end of Read More

Flying Elephants

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In an ersatz Stone Age, the King orders all single males to marry or be banished -- or worse. A husky caveman known as the Mighty Giant (Oliver Hardy) and Twinkle Star (Stan Laurel), an effeminate warrior wannabe, compete for the hand of Blushing Rose (Viola Richard), daughter of Ye Aged Read More

Putting Pants on Philip

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: Although Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and producer Hal Roach all name Putting Pants on Phillip as the first true Laurel and Hardy film, the comic pair had appeared in films together for The Roach Studios over a dozen times previously. In addition, while this two-reeler helped establish many of the Read More

Dog Days

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, Eugene Jackson

Synopsis: The Our Gang kids argue amongst themselves over which of their dogs is the cleverest and best trained. This brouhaha is forgotten when Gang member Mickey Daniels rescues rich girl Mary Kornman after her pony runs away. As a reward, Mary invites Mickey and his pals to her parents' ritzy mansion for Read More

Black Cyclone

Crew: Intertitle Writer

Actors: Rex the Wonder Horse, Lady, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Kathleen Collins

Synopsis: Silent screen cowboy Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and lovely Kathleen Collins (Mrs. Williams in real life) take a back seat to an unusual equine love triangle in this off-beat action thriller. Rex the Wonder Horse is really the film's leading "man," with the mare Lady as the "damsel in distress" and a Read More

Grandma's Boy

Crew: Intertitle Writer

Actors: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Mrs. Anna Townsend, Charles E. Stevenson, Dick Sutherland

Synopsis: This rollicking comedy is Harold Lloyd's second feature film and like the first, A Sailor-Made Man was originally conceived of as a short film. During the shooting, Lloyd and long-time collaborator Hal Roach insisted on continually developing his character and moving beyond pure gags into a real Read More

A Sailor-Made Man

Crew: Intertitle Writer

Actors: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Noah Young, Dick Sutherland

Synopsis: Although this comedy was hailed as Harold Lloyd's first feature, at four reels, it's really more of a glorified short. It was originally meant to be a two-reeler (the previous film, Never Weaken, was considered an anomaly at three reels), but Lloyd and his crew wound up with too many good gags and Read More