American cinematographer (Oct 1929)

i Four American Cinematographer October, 1929 Those Funny "Boys A Few Inside Facts About the Screen’s Funniest Pair of Comedians and the Man Who Has Photographed Most of Their Pictures By Loretta K. Dean O N a bright and sunny morning nineteen years ago a rather scurvy-looking cattle boat pulled into its berth at New York City. Gathered on its deck was a motley group of men and women who craned their various necks as they gazed goggle-eyed at the greatest city in America. Down below there was much bawling of cattle who objected to being jostled about in cramped quarters, and the combination of odors that drifted up from the cook’s galley and the cattle section gave many of the pas- sengers a peculiar impression of America. One group of individuals who hastened to get ashore contain two funny little fellows who were to eventually make millions of Americans laugh until tears ran down their faces. One of these men was Charles Chaplin; the other was Stan Laurel, one of the screen’s greatest comedians, and fun-partner of Oliver Hardy. But on that particular morning no one who watched the pas- sengers land gave a second glance at either of the men. So, that was the way Stan Laurel arrived in America. He was a member of the little vaudeville troup of Englishmen who were struggling to make ends meet. The other half of the famous Laurel and Hardy combination, Oliver Hardy, made his bow to America in Atlanta. Georgia. But he came via the Stork Route, being born in Atlanta in 1892. His arrival was of more moment than that of Laurel, for Hardy’s father was a politician, and of course he had to hand out cigars to his friends as he told them of the bouncing baby boy. And while we are at the beginning of things we might as well tell you that along about the same time as Hardy’s Dad was dis- tributing cigars in Georgia, another proud Papa was handing out cheroots up in Portland, Oregon. This distribution was caused by the arrival of a howling infant who was christened Len Powers, and who was destined to become a cameraman in Hollywood and photograph the majority of the pictures in which Laurel and Hardy were co-starred. So, that’s that, as far as the introductions arc concerned. Laurel’s education was what might be termed “spasmodic.” His father and mother were professionals, and Laurel was hopping about England so fast he had little time for school. So he turned to the stage and after much ups and downs, mostly downs, landed on the cattleboat to try luck in America. Hardy went to college, as the sons of all Southern gentlemen must. He studied law. But his mind was theatrical, and against his family’s wishes, he took his six feet and one inch of height and 285 pounds of weight into theatrical realms and gained a living in vaudeville, minstrel troupes and musical comedy and stock. Powers sort of went against his family’s wishes, too, when he decided that there was a future in the boxing game. So he donned the eight-ounce gloves and made quite a name for him- self by specializing on knocking out ambitious fighters who were unfortunate enough to meet him in the squared circle, sometime called the "ring.” And then, all three found their way into pictures in Hollywood, Laurel and Hardy, then unknown to each other, came as actors, and Powers turned to the cinematographic side. At Universal Laurel made his picture bow. That was in 1917. Meanwhile Hardy had made his first screen appearance in 1913. Both liked it, and both decided to stick. And in 1914 Powers started with Reliance as a cameraman. He liked it, too, and decided to stick. Since then he has photographed 400 and some pictures. It was not until 19 26 that the combination came together. Laurel had been playing comedy roles all about Hollywood, and Hardy had played everything from comedy to villain parts. »