Stan and Ollie- it certainly was.

Stan and Ollie - it certainly was.

Yesterday saw the long awaited film premiere of Stan and Ollie, two of the funniest, knockabout and lovable comedy men the world has ever seen and the like of whom we may never see again. Quite simply the chemistry between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy was so perfect that it could only be described as almost telepathic, the right combination.

In a deeply touching, sad but uplifting story, the career of this often blundering and bumbling duo is one that may well have been well documented but can only now be fully re-examined once again for much younger audiences. For today's generation the names of Stan and Ollie are almost as alien to them as the Beatles and Stones would be to the 1960s or Elvis Presley and the Platters would have been to the 1950s. This though was Stan and Ollie as seen through the eyes of the movie industry.

For those who can still hold affectionate memories of Stan and Ollie through the medium of old BBC archive footage this was a gently rewarding trip down memory lane. We thought we were familiar with their backstory but underneath the surface there was much more to Stan and Ollie than some foolhardy comic act whose sole object was to make families and children giggle and chuckle heartily out of the cinema.

Against the backdrop of the Great Depression in the USA, Laurel and Hardy were a huge tonic to a nation that must have felt they were sliding into a calamitous black financial hole. But Stan and Ollie was the perfect pick me up, a face saving antidote to a people who they would have presumed had deserted them.

Stan and Ollie follows the idiosyncratic antics of two utterly contrasting comics whose quirky personalities made them box office stars overnight. For those who might have thought this was a straightforward and light hearted account of two hilarious men Stan and Ollie might have provided a sobering shock. For Stan and Ollie revealed quite clearly the harder and more ruthless side to their characters.

Forever exploited and sent down the river by their demanding director Hal Roach both Stan and Ollie are seen angrily stalking the corridors of a movie set, fiercely criticising Roach for taking Stan and Ollie for granted, refusing to pay them the commensurate amount of money for the work they were doing. Quite clearly the whole studio system in early Hollywood was not to either man's liking and in one telling sequence Stan took Roach to task for letting both he and Ollie down quite severely.

Stan and Ollie followed the paths of two very business savvy and pragmatic men who just wanted to entertain their devoted fans and always leave them laughing. Stan was a surprisingly blunt and outspoken comedian who felt the studio had betrayed him, often resorting to loud slanging matches without ever being tactless.

Our story takes us to Stan and Ollie's trip to England in the early 1950s. Landing in Newcastle on a dark night in the middle of nowhere, Stan and Ollie roll up to what appeared to be a pub-cum hotel. With a minimum of fuss Stan sidles up to the receptionist who promptly tells him that everybody is talking about Stan and Ollie. Eventually both Stan and Ollie settle in to what must have seemed totally unglamorous surroundings.

Then the funny man from a remote town in Lancashire and the warm man from America cement their friendship even further with classic appearances in a local Newcastle music hall before wowing audiences around Britain. The act was a simple one. Ollie, with neat moustache and big stomach, twiddles his well knotted little tie and Stan does likewise with his hair, grinning perhaps childishly and then playing to the camera with the smallest of smiles.

Of course behind every great comedy duo there have to be the strong women guiding and supporting their tireless husbands in the pursuit of the pavements of gold. Stan's wife, sassy and feisty, is no nonsense but realistic, a proper driving force behind Stan's slightly vulnerable persona while Ollie's wife, smitten and clearly in love with her husband, is a sweet and endearing soul, just happy to be Ollie's wife and always lending a sympathetic shoulder to Ollie in his moments of weakness.

In one glorious scene Stan and Ollie, after a petty argument over each other's specific role in the act, are now invited to a seaside resort to drape the winning sash over a beauty queen. While Stan proudly delivers the winner her crown, Ollie, waiting in the wings, begins to sweat anxiously before collapsing.

Under strict doctor's instructions Ollie is told to retire from the stage and take a complete break from performing. Naturally, poor Stan is left distraught and finds it impossible to believe that he could ever function without his dearest friend and partner. For Ollie this must have felt as if he'd have to survive without his much loved colleague. Life though would never be the same for a now very solitary Stan who begins to understandably mope and then pine for the man who always seemed the right fit for him.

Throughout we are now introduced to the great theatrical and showbiz impresario Bernard Delfont whose beneficial influence on the West End scene would flourish much later on. Delfont is the wheeler and dealer, constantly schmoozing, scheming and perhaps manipulating those who felt they could place their trust in him. Delfont would become a renowned ducker and diver, looking after the boys and forever promising them one final, lucrative pay day if they could only hold out for it.

With Ollie now permanently resting, Stan and Ollie finally agree to appear for one more time. Against all the best wishes of his doctor they finally team up emotionally for one last hurrah on an English stage. Now nervous and in some distress Ollie and Stan dance to an old song in perfect harmony. Privately though, Ollie must have known that he hadn't long to live but soldier on he did to the end with both grace and honesty.

For most of us Stan and Ollie will forever be associated with everything that goes wrong with either Ollie being soaked to the skin, falling helplessly over planks of wood, being covered in the most ridiculous of old fashioned mess and then being slapped on the face with thick handfuls of comic cream. The famous piano sketch where Laurel and Hardy manfully heave a piano up a seemingly endless flight of steps is now etched into comedy folklore. There were innumerable pratfalls, awkward accidents and stumbles that could only define them for who they were.

At the end of Stan and Ollie you found yourself privately wondering if some of those other early 20th century capers and comics could also be immortalised on the silver screen. You thought of Robert Downey's superb depiction of Charlie Chaplin a number of years ago. Your thoughts turned to the crazy Keystone Cops who never knew exactly where they were going on film but were nevertheless admired the world over. Then there was the equally as versatile Buster Keaton who once allowed a house to topple over him knowingly fully well that no harm had been done to him.

But above all Stan and Ollie was a very touching film about two lovely comedians who just wanted the world to love them- which they did with some style. By the same token though we were reminded once again of those difficult and challenging moments throughout their career when everything could have finished before it had even started.

Although Ollie died in 1957 and Stan in 1965 the comic legacy would be preserved for ever more. There was the 'Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, that legendary country and western number one hit for the boys, those delightful pushing and shoving routines where both amusingly blame each other and much silly tomfoolery that never disappoints.

 We salute Laurel and Hardy because theirs was gentle and simple humour, two men who were totally unaffected by the fame and celebrity that both would enjoy for the rest of their lives. Maybe none will ever replace these carefree charmers.  We must assume that Stan and Ollie will always have a special place in our hearts. Stan always told us that they certainly would. Ollie would have rightly referred to the fact that the current state of the world is nothing but a fine mess. Maybe he would have been right.