Editing Laurel and Hardy (section)

====Silent films====
[[File:The Lucky Dog (1921).webm|thumb|right|Laurel and Hardy appeared for the first time together in ''[[The Lucky Dog]]'' (1921).]]
Laurel's and Hardy's first film pairing, although as separate performers, was in the silent ''[[The Lucky Dog]]''. Its production details have not survived, but film historian Bo Berglund has placed it between September 1920 and January 1921.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=181}}</ref> According to interviews they gave in the 1930s, the pair's acquaintance at the time was casual, and both had forgotten their initial film entirely.<ref>{{harvnb|Barr|1967|p=9}}</ref> The plot sees Laurel's character befriended by a stray dog which, after some lucky escapes, saves him from being blown up by dynamite. Hardy's character is a mugger attempting to rob Laurel.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=180}}</ref> They later signed separate contracts with the [[Hal Roach Studios]], and next appeared in the 1926 film ''[[45 Minutes from Hollywood|45 Minutes From Hollywood]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Gehring|1990|p=273}}</ref>

Hal Roach is considered the most important person in the development of Laurel's and Hardy's film careers. He brought them together, and they worked for Roach for almost 20 years.<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=98}}</ref> Director [[Charley Rogers]], who worked closely with the three men for many years, said, "It could not have happened if Laurel, Hardy, and Roach had not met at the right place and the right time."<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=100}}</ref> Their first "official" film together was ''[[Putting Pants on Philip]]'',<ref>{{harvnb|Gehring|1990|p=62}}</ref> released December 3, 1927.<ref>{{harvnb|Gehring|1990|p=263}}</ref> The plot involves Laurel as Philip, a young Scotsman who arrives in the United States in full [[kilt]]ed splendor, and suffers mishaps involving the kilts. His uncle, played by Hardy, tries to put trousers on him.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=229}}</ref> Also in 1927, the pair starred in ''[[The Battle of the Century]]'', a classic pie-throwing short involving over 3,000 real pies; only a fragment of the film was known to exist until the first half resurfaced in the 1970s; a more complete print was discovered in 2015 by historian Jon Mirsalis.

[[File:Hollywoodparty.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Laurel and Hardy with [[Lupe Vélez]] in ''[[Hollywood Party (1934 film)|Hollywood Party]]'' (1934)]]
Laurel said to the duo's biographer [[John McCabe (writer)|John McCabe]]: "Of all the questions we're asked, the most frequent is, how did we come together? I always explain that we came together naturally."<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=117}}</ref> Laurel and Hardy were joined by accident and grew by indirection.<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=118}}</ref> In 1926, both were part of the Roach Comedy All Stars, a stock company of actors who took part in a series of films. Laurel's and Hardy's parts gradually grew larger, while those of their fellow stars diminished, because Laurel and Hardy had superior pantomime skills.<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=120}}</ref> Their teaming was suggested by [[Leo McCarey]], their supervising director from 1927 to 1930. During that period, McCarey and Laurel jointly devised the team's format.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=188}}</ref> McCarey also influenced the slowing of their comedy action from the silent era's typically frantic pace to a more natural one. The formula worked so well that Laurel and Hardy played the same characters for the next 30 years.<ref>{{harvnb|Skretvedt|1987|p=54}}</ref>

Although Roach employed writers and directors such as [[H. M. Walker]], [[Leo McCarey]], [[James Parrott]], and [[James W. Horne]] on the Laurel and Hardy films, Laurel, who had a considerable background in comedy writing, often rewrote entire sequences and scripts. He also encouraged the cast and crew to improvise, then meticulously reviewed the footage during editing.<ref name="Mitchell28">{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=28}}</ref> By 1929, he was the pair's head writer, and it was reported that the writing sessions were gleefully chaotic. Stan had three or four writers who competed with him in a perpetual game of [[One-upmanship|'Can You Top This?']]<ref>{{harvnb|Skretvedt|1987|p=50}}</ref> Hardy was quite happy to leave the writing to his partner. He said, "After all, just doing the gags was hard enough work, especially if you have taken as many falls and been dumped in as many mudholes as I have. I think I earned my money."<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|1987|p=54}}</ref> Laurel eventually became so involved in their films' productions, many film historians and aficionados consider him an uncredited director. He ran the Laurel and Hardy set, no matter who was in the director's chair, but never asserted his authority. Roach remarked: "Laurel bossed the production. With any director, if Laurel said 'I don't like this idea,' the director didn't say 'Well, you're going to do it anyway.' That was understood."<ref>{{harvnb|Skretvedt|1987|pp=59–61}}</ref> As Laurel made so many suggestions, there was not much left for the credited director to do.<ref>{{harvnb|Skretvedt|1987|p=61}}</ref>

[[File:The Flying Deuces (1939) 1.jpg|thumb|right|Laurel and Hardy in the 1939 film ''[[The Flying Deuces]]'']]
Their 1929 release ''[[Big Business (1929 film)|Big Business]]'' is by far the most critically acclaimed of the silents.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=39}}</ref> Laurel and Hardy are Christmas tree salesmen who are drawn into a classic tit-for-tat battle, with a character played by [[James Finlayson (actor)|James Finlayson]], that eventually destroys his house and their car.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2010|p=38}}</ref> ''Big Business'' was added to the United States [[National Film Registry]] as a national treasure in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |website=Library of Congress |access-date=March 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303055247/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |archive-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref>