16mm Film LAUREL & HARDY LIVE, NBC - TV, DECEMBER 1, 1954 In US
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:25468701 | Film Format: 16mm |
THIS IS YOUR LIFE (NBC-TV, 1954) Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, having a business meeting at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel, are surprised by master of ceremonies Ralph Edwards, who expects them at the El Capitan Theatre for a tribute on live television. This was the most ambitious program This Is Your Life ever planned: two lives chronicled on a single program. Just like in a Laurel & Hardy movie, things go wrong. It was supposed to take only two m...inutes for Laurel & Hardy to get to the theater, but there’s a long delay, and Ralph Edwards can’t leave the live TV cameras to find out what happened. So he holds the stage alone for several nerve-wracking minutes, ad libbing like crazy until the team arrives. (This live-TV nightmare is missing from some video editions, but it’s intact in this print.) Anyway, the boys are welcomed by Edwards, who narrates their personal biographies as they’re reunited with friends and acquaintances from bygone days. Both Laurel and Hardy are greeted by boyhood friends, and then by silent-movie crew members (including director Leo McCarey), who recall some of the dangerous stunts Laurel & Hardy did during a typical day’s work. Vivian Blaine, then starring in Guys and Dolls, has a joyous reunion with the team, and finally Laurel & Hardy’s inner circle comes out: their London stage producer Bernard Delfont, their manager Ben Shipman, Mrs. Lucille Hardy, Mrs. Ida Laurel, and Stan’s daughter Lois (screen shot #11). Hal Roach, Jr. represents their professional alma mater, the Hal Roach studio. Quite an amazing feat to get everyone on camera to tell their stories, especially when the show’s timing went south. This great souvenir of 1950s live television is exactly as broadcast on December 1, 1954, complete with live commercials for Hazel Bishop cosmetics. Many Laurel & Hardy film collections don’t have this title, and here’s your chance to own it. Running time: 29 minutes. This is the standard private lab dupe that first circulated 50 years ago: a professional filmmaker and archivist made up a limited number of 16mm copies on 3M stock. It wasn’t in print very long, unlike most Laurel & Hardy subjects, and so it’s fairly rare in 16mm today. The print derives from a kinescope (a reference print filmed off a TV monitor during the live broadcast). so the sound is a bit lower than usual but all the 3M prints have this flaw; the volume is easily adjusted on your projector, and can be heard clearly. Excellent condition: only a few unobtrusive splices in the film proper, and a couple of repairs in the leader to preserve the “NBC HLYD KINESCOPE” lettering. See the screen shots for sample frames. IMPORTANT! FREE SHIPPING IN THE UNITED STATES. International bidders are welcome but they will be charged for postage, and we will not falsify customs declarations. We accept PayPal (www.paypal.com) for those who prefer an online payment service. Please see our other auctions. All films are accurately described; check our feedback and bid with confidence. We do not handle or sell "vinegar syndrome" prints. Good luck and happy viewing!
