Thelma Todd: PICK A STAR

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Laurel And Hardy Cameo Appearances

Another Laurel and Hardy feature from you tube.

Description from you tube.com:

An edited compilation of Laurel & Hardy's cameo film appearances. Featuring Hollywood Review of 1929, The Stolen Jools, On The Loose, Wild Poses, Hollywood Party, On the Wrong Trek, Pick a Star & Galaxy of Stars. Also included is the trailer to the missing film The Rogue Song + an extra recently discovered scene from the same film.

This compilation was produced as part of our Laurel & Hardy meetings in Wigan.

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This compilation features various Laurel and Hardy cameos. One of them is from the Zasu Pitts and Thelma Todd film ON THE LOOSE. Some of the commentary about this one said that it looked as if the Laurel and Hardy cameo could have been shot without the participation of Thelma Todd, as the blonde seen chasing them out at the end was shown only from behind, and could have been somebody else doubling for her. I thought the stairs in this film looked familiar. They might have been the same ones they had in UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE, a Laurel and Hardy film that featured Thelma Todd. Another similarity is that the Coney Island set has the same amusements that were in the Laurel and Hardy film SUGAR DADDIES.

WILD POSES and ON THE WRONG TREK are an Our Gang and a Charley Chase film, respectively, that have Laurel and Hardy cameos. The scene in WILD POSES shows Laurel and Hardy as children and looks much the same as their scenes as children in BRATS.

Emerson Treacy, with whom Gay Seabrook was frequently teamed in an act that has been compared to George Burns and Gracy Allen: they appeared as Spanky's parents in BEDTIME WORRIES in addition to WILD POSES. In 1931, Gay Seabrook had made the movie CORSAIR with Thelma Todd, who was billed as "Alison Loyd".

In ON THE WRONG TREK Laurel and Hardy were a couple of hitchikers Charley Chase spotted along the way while traveling across the country. Rosina Lawrence was in it. She was in the later Our Gang films as the gang's teacher, and made it into what had been the Thelma Todd series as well.

Rosina Lawrence

Another Laurel and Hardy cameo is from PICK A STAR. This one has Patsy Kelly, Rosina Lawrence, and Lyda Roberti in it, and I think of it as the tail end of what had been the Thelma Todd series. Lyda Roberti was Thelma Todd's replacement in that series. Her work in movies had become limited by the time this movie was made as she was suffering from heart trouble.

Jimmy Finlayson disguised as a director.

HOLLYWOOD PARTY is said to have begun as Buster Keaton's idea while he was working at MGM: after he got fired, they went ahead and made the movie without him. It shows.

Lupe Velez with Jimmy Durante: she played Jane while married to Johnny Weissmuller in real life.

Lupe Velez with Laurel and Hardy

The Three Stooges also put in an appearence.

GALAXY OF STARS was a promotional film for MGM that was made for the foreign market: this particular copy is in French, with English subtitles. Jimmy Finlayson appears with Laurel and Hardy once again ( he was also in PICK A STAR as their director ) and directs our attention to the "Galaxy of Stars" that may be seen through the telesope.