Line #118 Creator/LaurelandHardy


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/laurel_and_hardy.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Laurel (left) and Hardy (right) in their iconic hats (bowler hat and derby hat, respectively).]]
3
4	->''"If you don't like Laurel and Hardy, you are no friend of mine."''
5	-->-- '''Creator/MarkHamill'''
6
7	Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) and Oliver "Ollie" Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) were an early 20th century comedy {{double act\|s And Groups}} famous for their {{slapstick}} brand of cinematic humor. Among the most enduringly famous of Laurel and Hardy's works are ''Film/TheMusicBox'', which features two workers' Sisyphean attempts to haul a piano up several flights of stairs, and ''Film/{{Babes in Toyland\|1934}}''.
8
9	Laurel and Hardy started their screen partnership with director Hal Roach's studio in the late 1920s, and occasionally worked with bigger studios such as Creator/{{RKO}} and Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer. Notable for their successful [[MediaNotes/RiseOfTheTalkies transition from silent-era film to "talkies"]], they were extremely prolific throughout the late '20s and the '30s and continued to make movies through 1951. In later years, they also toured extensively as stage performers in UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}.
10
11	Though the pair's sketches were often the result of a team of writers, Laurel was something of an idea person who rewrote segments of scripts and did a lot of improvising.
12
13	Unlike many comedy duos, they were best friends in RealLife as well; when Hardy passed on, Laurel was devastated and never again appeared on-screen.
14
15	They are fondly remembered in popular culture today, thanks to constant television showings, inspiring many other comedy duos and the techniques they pioneered in their films.
16
17	A 1999 attempt at a reboot titled ''The All-New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in: For Love and Mummy'' features the duo involved in a plot by an insane Egyptian to rule the world by allowing a snake demon to marry an archaeologist's daughter. It was directed by Larry Harmon and John R. Cherry III[[note]]best known for directing the [[Film/ErnestPWorrell Ernest movies]][[/note]] and stars Creator/BronsonPinchot and Gailard Sartain as the titular duo alongside Oscar winner Creator/FMurrayAbraham as a museum curator.
18
19	The 2018 film ''Film/StanAndOllie'' chronicles their 1950s tours in Europe after their Hollywood movie career ended, with Creator/SteveCoogan and Creator/JohnCReilly portraying Laurel and Hardy respectively.
20
21	----
22	!!Laurel and Hardy works with TV Tropes pages:
23	* ''Film/TheBattleOfTheCentury'' (1927)
24	* ''Film/BigBusiness'' (1929)
25	* ''Film/DoubleWhoopee'' (1929) -- co-starring Creator/JeanHarlow. Really!
26	* ''Film/TheHollywoodRevueOf1929'' (1929) -- all-star revue with Stan and Ollie appearing in one sketch as incompetent {{Stage Magician}}s.
27	* ''Film/PardonUs'' (1930)
28	* ''Film/TheMusicBox'' (1932) -- winner of the MediaNotes/AcademyAward for Best Short Subject (Comedy).
29	* ''Film/PackUpYourTroubles'' (1932)
30	* ''Film/TheDevilsBrother'' (1933)
31	* ''Film/SonsOfTheDesert'' (1933)
32	* ''Film/GoingByeBye'' (1934)
33	* ''Film/{{Babes in Toyland\|1934}}'' (1934)
34	* ''Film/BonnieScotland'' (1935)
35	* ''Film/TheFixerUppers'' (1935)
36	* ''Film/TitForTat'' (1935)
37	* ''Film/TheBohemianGirl'' (1936)
38	* ''Film/OurRelations'' (1936)
39	* ''Film/WayOutWest'' (1937)
40	* ''Film/BlockHeads'' (1938)
41	* ''Film/TheFlyingDeuces'' (1939)
42	* ''Film/AChumpAtOxford'' (1940)
43	* ''Film/SapsAtSea'' (1940)
44	* ''Film/AirRaidWardens'' (1943)
45	* ''Film/{{Nothing but Trouble\|1944}}'' (1944)
46	* ''Film/TheBullfighters'' (1945)
47	* ''Film/RobinsonCrusoeland'' (1951)
48
49	----
50	!! Well, here's some other nice tropes you've gotten us into!
51	%%
52	%% Zero Context Examples have been commented out. Please provide context before uncommenting.
53	%%
54	* ActionGirl: Thelma and Rubie from ''Two Tars,'' who beat up the sweet shop assistant when he fights Ollie and Stan.
55	* {{Acrofatic}}: Oliver Hardy was a talented physical comedy performer and a graceful dancer, despite his size. He did many complicated stunts in his career, as his character suffered various pratfalls and disasters.
56	* AgonyOfTheFeet:
57	** The Rifs in ''Beau Hunks'' have tacks assaulting their feet (which stops the entire army from slaughtering the whole fort).
58	** If there's someone who's most likely to recieve something heavy on one of his feet, it's Ollie. Complete with his trademark pain scream, and often with HurtFootHop.
59	* AirVentPassageway: ''Busy Bodies'' ends with poor Ollie falling down a drain at a woodworking shop and getting sucked into an absurdly long and winding air vent. Naturally, it's not quite big enough at the end, leaving Ollie stuck in the exhaust port.
60	* AllJustADream: ''The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case'' and ''Oliver the Eighth'' turn out to be this, fortunately for Oliver as they both ended with a razor-sharp knife held to his throat.
61	* AmusingInjuries: Frequently. It's mostly Ollie who gets injured, though.
62	* AsideGlance:
63	** One of Hardy's trademarks, turning to the camera with an expression that just reads, "Why always me?" Also used when he was baffled by Stan's actions, when it means "What is Stan doing ''now''?" It was often used to pad out a gag to give the audience time to finish laughing so they wouldn't miss the next bit of dialog. [[note]]These scenes were often filmed at the very end of the working day, when Ollie was anxious to get away and play golf, which meant that his looks of exasperation were genuine.[[/note]]
64	** Stan himself would sometimes direct a befuddled gaze at the camera.
65	* BadassArmy: The French Foreign Legion in ''Beau Hunks'' and ''The Flying Deuces'' are presented as tough-as-nails soldiers who keep fighting no matter how hopeless the odds.
66	* BadassBoast: Courtesy of Stan of all people, in ''Two Tars'' when he takes on the shop owner threatening him: "You're flirtin' with Death, son!"
67	* BattleaxeNurse: Dorothy Coburn's character in ''The Finishing Touch'' -- she looks more like a HospitalHottie, but she quickly has Stan, Ollie and the local cop in terror of her.
68	* BedsheetLadder: In ''Laughing Gravy'', Stan tries to hoist Ollie up via one of these, with the expected results.
69	* BegoneBribe: In ''Below Zero'', the boys are attempting - with little success - to make money as street musicians. At one point during their performance, a woman calls down from a window and asks how much money they average per street. Ollie gratefully replies, "about fifty cents a street"...and the woman tosses them a dollar and bluntly requests that they move down a couple streets.
70	%%* BewareTheNiceOnes: Laurel, but it's PlayedForLaughs.
71	* BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame: At the conclusion of ''Should Married Men Go Home?'', the "the ball must be hit from where it lands" variant sets off the final EscalatingWar.
72	%%* {{Blackmail}}: In ''Chickens Come Home'' an OldFlame pops up and blackmails Ollie, who is running for mayor. %% how is she able to blackmail Ollie?
73	%%* BlackWidow: In ''Oliver the Eighth'' (though ''they're'' the rich one, not their spouses).
74	* BloodKnight: In ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ_JZBCkqvA Two Tars]]'', Stan and Ollie's girlfriends urge them on during the car wrecking and personally go to kick the ass of the sweet shop assistant when he beats both of the boys up.
75	* BloodlessCarnage: In ''Beau Hunks,'' two Legionnaires get a few bursts from a heavy machine gun and fall off the battlements with no blood seen at all, despite one clearly wounded in the face and the other in the torso.
76	* BorrowedCatchphrase:
77	** In ''Dirty Work'', Ollie's catchphrase is "I have nothing to say", which Stan borrows at one point.
78	** In ''Chickens Come Home'', Stan interrupts when Ollie is about to blame him for his current predicament, cheekily finishing off the latter's long-running catchphrase.
79	--->'''Ollie:''' Well...\
80	'''Stan:''' Here's another nice mess I've got you into.
81	%%* TheBoxingEpisode: ''Any Old Port''
82	* BrickJoke: Almost literally in ''The Finishing Touch'' -- at the beginning, Ollie puts a stone under their lorry's back wheel, since the brakes are faulty. The lorry isn't seen again until the end, when, in the middle of a stone-throwing battle with the irate homeowner, Stan and Ollie are in need of ammunition...
83	* ButtMonkey: Both of 'em always tend to hilariously suffer injuries and damage like they were trouble magnets.
84	* TheCameo:
85	** Max Davidson's ''Call of the Cuckoo'' (1927) features Laurel and Hardy (along with Charley Chase and James Finlayson) as mental hospital patients.
86	** The all-star charity short ''The Stolen Jools'' (1931) includes a brief appearance by the duo.
87	** [=ZaSu=] Pitts and Thelma Todd's ''On the Loose'' (1931) ends with an appearance by Stan and Ollie.
88	** Film/TheLittleRascals short ''Wild Poses'' (1933) briefly features the duo as babies.
89	** In Charley Chase's ''On the Wrong Trek'' (1936), Stan and Ollie unsuccessfully try to hitch a ride from Chase.
90	** The 1936 Hal Roach feature ''Pick a Star'' includes the team (partially in character and partially as themselves) in several memorable scenes.
91	** Oliver Hardy briefly appears in the Creator/FrankCapra feature ''Riding High'' (1950).
92	%%* CarFu: Seen in ''Two Tars''.
93	* CharacterCatchphrase:
94	** "Well, here's ''another'' nice mess you've gotten me into!", often said by Ollie to Stan after things went awry. It's often misquoted as "another ''fine'' mess" (which was the name of one of their 1930 short films) or "...another fine mess you've gotten ''us'' into!"
95	** Laurel's tearful, high-pitched whimper of "Well, I couldn't help it!", often in response to the above accusation. Or as a variation "It wasn't my fault!" or "You always blame me!" or "I had nothing to do with it!"
96	** Also, Hardy's cries of "Why don't you do something to ''help'' me?" and "Why can't you be more careful?", the first of which usually prompts Laurel to ask, "Well, what can ''I '' do?"
97	** "I'm Mr. Hardy, and this is my friend Mr. Laurel," was Ollie's usual phrase when handling introductions for himself and Stan.
98	** Ollie's famous howl of pain ("''OOOOOOOOH''-hooh-hooh-hoooooh!")
99	** Frequent co-star James Finlayson had his trademark exclamation of "D'oh!" (Which, as you might possibly have heard, was [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson appropriated decades later]].)
100	* CharacterTics:
101	** Ollie's bashful tie-twiddling and exasperated {{Aside Glance}}s to the camera.
102	** Stan's idiotic grin, befuddled head-scratching, and impish grin-shrug.
103	** The forceful "Take ''that!''" nods both would give to punctuate an EscalatingWar.
104	** Ollie's distinctive way of writing his signature: wielding the pen in grand flourishing motions, and finishing with a sharp jab of pen against paper.
105	** James Finlayson, a regular co-star in several of their films, was known for his wild [[DoubleTake double takes]] and one-eyed glares.
106	* TheChewToy: Ollie, always on the receiving end of most injuries.
107	* ClothingDamage: Also very frequently, with both {{Fanservice}} and non-Fanservice examples. Instances of the former include Creator/JeanHarlow getting her dress [[StrippingSnag caught in a taxi door and then torn off]] in ''Double Whoopee'', and Thelma Todd having ''her'' dress set on fire and then removed in ''Unaccustomed as We Are''; while examples of the latter occur in plenty of the duo's movies when they engage in an EscalatingWar.
108	%%* ComedicSociopathy: Very, very, ''very'' frequently.
109	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In ''Jitterbugs'', released in 1943, Stan and Ollie declare that gas rationing is "The Greatest Threat Facing the World Today." Note the fact that gas rationing only took place because of [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the war]], and that were a few [[UsefulNotes/FascistItaly slightly]] [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan bigger]] [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany threats]] at the time.
110	%%* ConstructionZoneCalamity: The second half of ''Liberty.''
111	%%* ContagiousLaughter:
112	%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAEJyuReWQ This scene]] from ''Blotto''. %% Weblinks Are Not Examples
113	%%** Also occurs in ''Scram!'', where Judge Beaumont's wife (who UnsuspectinglySoused) sets off Stan and Ollie (who aren't).
114	* CoveredInMud: The EscalatingWar at the conclusion of ''Should Married Men Go Home?'' is a mud fight.
115	* CreditsGag:
116	** ''Another Fine Mess'' has its credits recited aloud by a pair of twin usherettes (Beverly and Bettymae Crane).[[note]]This was a common practice during Hal Roach films from 1930 to 1931. It was short-lived. Another set was recorded for ''Pardon Us'', but scrapped.[[/note]]
117	** ''The Midnight Patrol'' had the credits changer swish by an animated windshield wiper.
118	** ''Busy Bodies'' had the buzz saw switch the credits.
119	** ''The Chimp'' had the credits on the hoop drum.
120	** ''Dirty Work'' has liquid bubbling up and down as a credits changer.
121	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: At the end of ''One Good Turn'', Stan snaps and starts physically attacking Ollie while shouting threats. The boys added this in because Stan's little girl was scared of her "Uncle Ollie" (she thought the way he bullied Stan in the films was ''real''); seeing a movie where her dad finally stood up to him completely fixed the problem. This was also an example of SerendipityWritesThePlot: The ending was improvised because Stanley's daughter was actually on the set that day and he wanted her to be happy.
122	%%* CrustyCaretaker: Seen in ''The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case,'' albeit PlayedForLaughs.
123	* CurbStompBattle: Seen in ''Beau Hunks.'' Once Ollie and Stan unleash tacks on the Rifs, the battle is immediately won by the French Foreign Legion.
124	%%* CueTheRain: ''Helpmates.''
125	* DashinglyDapperDerby: Both of them wear derby hats, which became part of their {{Iconic Outfit}}s.
126	* DeadpanSnarker: Ollie, usually towards Stanley when he says or does an idiocy. He can also be [[SilentSnarker a silent one]].
127	* TheDeadRiseToAdvertise: Long after Laurel and Hardy's deaths; throughout the [[TheSeventies '70s]] and [[TheEighties '80s]] their likenesses (performed by uncredited impressionists Chuck [=McCann=] and Jim [=MacGeorge=]) would be used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VuS_NU4sWI numerous TV commercials]] for such products as Arby's restaurants and Anco wiper blades.
128	* DefeatByModesty: In ''The Finishing Touch'', they get a BattleaxeNurse out of their hair by ripping a piece of sandpaper in two as she bends over to pick up a hammer, then making believe the back of her dress has torn open.
129	* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: In ''Any Old Port,'' During the diner scene, After Oliver and Stan placed the order, Oliver told Stan that he can't have a meal because he has to fight tonight at the boxing. And Oliver leaves the poor and hungry Stan whining in a high-pitched voice.
130	--> '''Oliver Hardy''': You can't have a meal!
131	--> '''Stan Laurel''': What do mean I can't a meal?
132	--> '''Oliver Hardy''': Because, You gotta fight tonight! (To the waiter) Uh, One order, please?
133	--> '''Stan Laurel''': (Voice breaksdown) I thought you were fighter....
134	--> '''Oliver Hardy''': No, I am the manager and you are the fighter!
135	--> He leaves poor and hungry Stan sobbing in a high-pitched voice
136	* DependingUponTheUndependable: Neither Stan or Ollie is very smart in most of their filmography (though Ollie assumes he's the smarter). However, out of character, Hardy claimed that his character was the stupider because he kept expecting Stan to manage things no matter how often Stan got them into "another nice mess".
137	* DineAndDash: ''Their Purple Moment'' has Stan and Ollie attempting this to no avail.
138	%%* DisasterDominoes: Often. Very often, in fact.
139	%%* DistractedByTheSexy: This happens to Ollie in ''Two Tars'' when he spots Thelma and Rubie in the middle of an argument with Stan. %% what's sexy about Thelma and Rubie?
140	%%* TheDitz: Stan, though Ollie has his moments. %% Zero Context. Please provide context
141	* DoomItYourself: Ollie's wife insists that Ollie should put up an antenna for her radio set in ''Hog Wild''. By the time he and Stan are done, the antenna may be up, but the house is in need of several more substantial repairs.
142	* DownerEnding: There were several films with a Downer ending (usually known as the freak ending) where the boys' bodies are tortured (AKA BodyHorror), and ends with Ollie telling Stan "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" And Stan whines in a high-pitched voice "But I couldn't help it, you always blame me!"
143	** ''The Live Ghost'' has Stan and Ollie's heads backwards.
144	** ''Thicker Than Water'' has a botched blood transfusion switch Stan and Ollie into absurd caricatures of each other.
145	** Other endings that were not body terrors were included ''Helpmates'' (Stan accidentally burns Ollie's house down), ''Saps at Sea'' (Stan and Ollie are sent to jail at the Harbor Patrol Prison, and forced to share a cell with the man they just had arrested), and ''Atoll K'' (AKA ''Utopia''/''Robinson Cruesoeland'') (the team's belongings are taken away by the authorities due to failure to pay taxes).
146	** In ''The Midnight Patrol'', they are straight up shot dead by their [[DaChief chief of police]]!
147	%%* {{Dreadful Musician}}s: They appear to be this in ''You're Darn [=Tootin'=]'' and ''Below Zero''.
148	* DrivenToSuicide: The boys' landlord in ''Laughing Gravy'', after his final attempt to evict Stan and Ollie fails. He angrily walks off with a rifle and shoots himself offscreen.
149	* DriverFacesPassenger: In ''Two Tars'', Stan is so busy talking to Ollie that he nearly hits a light pole. A disgusted Ollie takes the wheel, says to Stan "first rule of the road -- drive straight ahead", and immediately after he says this, hits a light pole.
150	* DumbassHasAPoint: In ''Brats,'' Stan mentions that treating kids with kindness is better than yelling at them, and Ollie agrees! Bonus points to Stan for using what seems to be another {{Malaproper}} saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead." However, Ollie doesn't pull off an AsideGlance; he chuckles and nods.
151	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the earliest shorts the characters weren't completely defined. In the first "official" Laurel and Hardy short, ''Putting Pants on Phillip'', Stan and Ollie aren't wearing the bowler hats, they aren't quite as dumb as they became in later shorts, and at the start of the film, they are strangers to each other.
152	** Prior to their official billing as a comedy duo, the two acted together in several silent shorts, but not yet as the partnered characters of "Laurel and Hardy." The first film they were in together, 1921's ''The Lucky Dog'', featured Laurel as the protagonist and Hardy as a robber who accosts him at one point, the two only encountering each other by chance. However, even in those early days one can see hints of their characters' future dynamic in their body language during their brief interaction.
153	** When Ollie first started using his iconic catchphrase "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" Stan would occasionally response questioning what he's done.
154	* EngineeredHeroics: In ''Night Owls'', Officer Kennedy blackmails Stan and Ollie into breaking into [[DaChief the police chief]]'s house, so that he can stage their arrest and win the chief's favour. It doesn't work out quite that way.
155	%%* EpicFail: Nearly everything they do turns into one big fail. %% too general to be useful
156	* EscalatingWar: A frequent occurrence. Some good examples are the house and car getting wrecked in ''Big Business'', the pie fight in ''The Battle of the Century'', the second half of ''Two Tars'', and the feud with a grocer in ''Them Thar Hills'' and its {{sequel}} ''Tit for Tat''.
157	* EscapedAnimalRampage: In ''The Chimp'', Laurel and Hardy inherit a chimpanzee from the circus. A lion escapes from the same circus and chases Laurel, Hardy and the ape.
158	%%* ExtremeOmniGoat: ''Angora Love.''
159	* FatAndSkinny: The TropeMaker. The visual contrast between tubby Ollie and scrawny Stan was part of the humor. Oliver Hardy actually disliked being overweight, but the studios insisted upon his ''not'' dieting to maintain this trope.
160	** In Spanish they are known as "El Gordo y el Flaco" (The Fat and the Skinny).
161	** In Dutch too: "De Dikke en de Dunne" (The Fat and the Skinny)
162	** In Brazillian Portuguese, "O Gordo e o Magro."
163	** In European Portuguese, "O Bucha e o Estica" (The Chub and the Stretch).
164	** In German as "Dick und Doof" (Fat and Stupid).
165	** In Finnish as "Ohukainen ja Paksukainen" (Skinny and Fatty).
166	%%* FatBastard: Ollie is a ''huge'' JerkAss to Stan in almost all the films.
167	%%* FatComicRelief: Ollie is always the ButtMonkey.
168	* FatIdiot: While Stan is known to be stupid, Ollie has been shown to be no better and his actions only make the situation worse. Hardy explained that he played his character as an idiot who thinks he's smart, while Laurel's character was an idiot who ''knows'' he isn't smart.
169	* FailedASpotCheck: Hardy at the beginning of ''Hog Wild'': "Where is my hat?!"[[note]]On his head.[[/note]]
170	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Very few of the comedy team's films end with them achieving success, usually because Stan does something utterly boneheaded to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
171	%%* FourthWallPsych [=/=] MirrorMonologue: Ollie, in ''Helpmates''.
172	%%* FromBadToWorse: Very frequently.
173	%%* FryingPanOfDoom: Mrs Hardy wields one in ''Hog Wild''. %% what is the situation?
174	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In ''Angora Love'', the landlord that Stan and Ollie have been antagonizing storms into their room, shakes his finger at them, and says "I want you guys to know, this is a respectable hotel!" Directly behind him, through the open door, a lady in a tight dress can be seen walking by, followed by a sailor.
175	* GainaxEnding: ''Come Clean'' is fairly standard comedy involving the eponymous duo hiding a strange woman from their wives while trying to get rid of her. The short ends when the police arrest the woman for an unnamed crime and ask who brought her to the apartment. Oliver claims that Stan is responsible, and the policeman says he'll receive a $1000 reward. Ollie then pulls the plug on the bath that Stan is sitting in, causing him to be sucked down the drain. When his wife asks where he's gone, Ollie answers "[[ExactWords To the beach]]."
176	* GraveRobbing: In "Habeas Corups" a MadScientist sends Stan and Ollie to the graveyard to dig up so body. It goes about as well as you'd expect, especially since there's a police informant there just to screw with them.
177	%%* GreatEscape: ''Liberty'''s first half.
178	* GoodHairEvilHair: Hardy is the only one aside from Creator/CharlieChaplin who [[GrandfatherClause gets a free pass]] for using the toothbrush mustache that UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler made infamous.
179	* HatsOffToTheDead: After the landlord in ''Laughing Gravy'' walks off-screen and shoots himself, the boys and a cop on the scene take off their hats.
180	%%* HenpeckedHusband: Including one feature titled ''[[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt0rn3_laurel-and-hardy-should-married-men-go-home-1928-silent-full_shortfilms Should Married Men Go Home?]]''
181	* HeterosexualLifePartners: The characters they portrayed, more often than not. Stan and Ollie were always living together, working together, and going on adventures together. Even in films where their characters were married, they were always best friends hanging out together.
182	* HouseSquatting: ''Another Fine Mess'' involves Stan and Ollie running into a mansion to hide from the police. The owner of the mansion, [[GreatWhiteHunter Colonel Buckshot]], has just left on a six-month hunting trip and his servants also leave on a short vacation themselves. Stan and Ollie decide to stay in the mansion for awhile, but HilarityEnsues when a wealthy couple shows up interested in renting the mansion. This was a remake of an earlier silent Laurel and Hardy short from 1927 titled ''Duck Soup''; [[RecycledScript the plot was nearly identical]].
183	* IconicOutfit: They often wear frock coats and black bowler hats. Ollie is also usually seen with a long tie while Stan wears a bow one.
184	* IdiosyncraticWipe: ''Thicker Than Water'' parodied the wipes by having Ollie reach out to the edge of the frame and physically drag the new scene across the screen as he and Stan exit. Later in the film Stan tries it but in his haste the new scene slips from his fingers and slides back, and he has to double back and do it again.
185	* ImpliedDeathThreat:
186	** In ''Me and My Pal'', Ollie is set to be married, and best man Stan is responsible for ordering flowers for the ceremony. Ollie ends up running ''very'' late (he got distracted by a jigsaw puzzle), and when the flowers are delivered to the wedding venue while everyone is waiting, they turn out to be a funeral wreath (because, well, [[CloudCuckoolander Stan]]). The incensed father of the bride storms off to confront Ollie himself... then briefly returns to grab the wreath before he goes, remarking, "I may have some use for this!"
187	** Mae Busch's character in ''Oliver the Eighth'' delivers one, though downplayed on the "implied" in this case, as her butler had just finished spelling out [[BlackWidow her intentions]] to Ollie.
188	--->'''Busch:''' Good-bye, [[TitleDrop Oliver the eighth]]. I hope you have a [[PunctuatedForEmphasis nice. Looooong. Sleep.]] ''(walks off with an EvilLaugh, while her butler begins playing "Taps" on a trumpet)''
189	* InformedSpecies: Ethel the ape from the 1932 short ''The Chimp'', as the title suggests, is a chimpanzee, but she looks a lot more like a gorilla.
190	* IronButtMonkey: Both of them in most of their films. They can take pianos crushing them, ladders in the eye, houses collapsing on them and [[GroinAttack truncheons to the groin]] with only minimal pain, then go back to what they were doing in the first place.
191	%%* JerkAss:
192	%%** Ollie sometimes.
193	%%** Charlie Hall plays a overbearing husband in ''[[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt0s2a_laurel-and-hardy-them-%%thar-hills-1934-full_shortfilms Them Thar Hills]]'', as well as its sequel, ''Film/TitForTat''.
194	%%** James Finlayson usually plays this kind of guy.
195	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite going as far to hit and outright bully Stan, Ollie will not hesitate to help Stan when he's in danger, and in ''Liberty'', he takes Stan's hand and helps him walk across the girders, when Stan's sobbing and shaking because he's terrified that they'll fall.
196	%%* KarmicTrickster: Ollie and Stan pull this off in ''[[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt0s2a_laurel-and-hardy-them-thar-hills-1934-full_shortfilms Them Thar Hills.]]''
197	* LaserGuidedKarma:
198	** In "Oliver the Eighth", Oliver doesn't mail Stan's response to a "lonely hearts" writer to increase his own chances. It turns out that the writer is a BlackWidow.
199	** In ''Swiss Miss'', the boys are having dinner at a fancy Swiss hotel and insult the chef for not having the desert Ollie wanted. A moment later, they learn that the only money they have is fake and they cannot pay their bill, and they are [[WorkOffTheDebt put to work]] under that same chef, with an added caveat that if they break any dishes they will work an extra day for each one. The chef immediately instigates them breaking two dishes and promises them that they won't be leaving until their beards are trailing on the floor.
200	* LargeHam: Hardy, who shouts a lot at Stan and bellows when he gets hurt.
201	* LegionOfLostSouls: ''Beau Hunks'' and ''The Flying Deuces'' have the boys joining the French Foreign Legion. The army's presented as a BadassArmy, BUT an entire, well-stocked fort is reduced to 10 soldiers, including their commander, within 20 days under siege.
202	* {{Leitmotif}}: ''"[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnCKVFzjHE&list=RDaQqC6_6Wf0M The Cuckoo Song.]]"''
203	* LethallyStupid: Their natural gift for self-inflicted disasters is topped by Film/TheThreeStooges alone. Oliver Hardy once remarked that his character was actually the more thickheaded of the two, [[DependingUponTheUndependable because he would always place his complete faith and trust in Stan no matter how invariably Stan led them into disaster]].
204	* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: The "bickering but inseparable" kind.
205	* LiteralMinded: Stan could usually be counted on to misinterpret turns of phrase in this way.
206	-->'''Ollie:''' What causes [gout], Doctor?\
207	'''Doctor:''' Too much high living.[[note]]i.e. excessive drinking[[/note]]\
208	'''Stan:''' Well maybe we'd better move down to the basement.
209	* LogoJoke: Many of the MGM shorts have a cute lion cub in the MGM logo in place of Leo the lion.
210	%%* LovableCoward: Both Laurel and Hardy took on this role at times. ''The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case'' and ''The Live Ghost'' are good examples.
211	* MadScientist: Doctor Noodle in ''Dirty Work'', who is working on a rejuvenation formula.
212	* {{Malaproper}}:
213	** Stan, often.
214	---> "[[Film/SonsOfTheDesert We floundered]] ''in a typhoid.''"
215	---> "A terrible ''cat's-after-me!''" (Instead of a terrible ''catastrophe''.)
216	** Ollie as well, [[KnowNothingKnowItAll often when trying to correct Stan]].
217	--->'''Stan:''' I heard the ocean's infatuated with sharks.\
218	'''Ollie:''' Not "infatuated"! He means ''infuriated''.
219	* ManInAKilt: Stan's title character in ''Putting Pants on Philip''.
220	%%* ManChild: Laurel. And Hardy too. Actually, the entire premise on why they're so funny is that they are basically both man-children.
221	* MarilynManeuver: Done for laughs with Stan, wearing a kilt, in ''Putting Pants on Philip''.
222	* MisplacedRetribution: In ''Oliver the Eighth'', the BlackWidow villain was [[WomanScorned abandoned on her wedding eve]] by a man named Oliver, [[DisproportionateRetribution and so now she seeks out other Olivers to court and subsequently murder]].
223	* MsFanservice:
224	** Creator/JeanHarlow in ''Double Whoopee'', where she comes out of a taxi wearing a slinky dress, and has even that torn off her when Stan and Ollie shut the taxi door on the dress.
225	** Thelma Todd in several L&H films before her untimely death. Todd was always wearing cocktail dresses or winding up in a LingerieScene or somehow injecting fanservice into Stan and Ollie's antics.
226	%%* MurphysBed: Plays a role in ''Be Big!''
227	* NameAndName: Laurel & Hardy were their own names. That way they could control copyright over their public image.
228	* NeverBareheaded: The duo always wore their trademark bowler hats everywhere they went, but took them off when at home. Stan sometimes keeps his hat on more than Ollie, even at home.
229	* NeverMyFault: When things (inevitably) go wrong, Ollie will ''always'' blame Stan. It's right there in his CatchPhrase: "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"
230	* NoFourthWall: Ollie [[AsideGlance broke the Fourth Wall]] in nearly ''every single film'', while Stan pulled off an AsideGlance a few times.
231	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Everybody in the restaurant subjects the boys to this in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCPnoqygngg Below Zero.]]''
232	%%* OffscreenCrash: Frequently.
233	* OnceAnEpisode: Ollie's annoyed/disgusted AsideGlance at the camera can be pretty much counted on at least once an episode, and even more in the features.
234	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: In ''Men 'o War''. A pretty young woman has lost her gloves in a public park. Ollie thinks she has lost a pair of panties that he just picked up off the ground (the panties actually came from the top of a load of laundry that a maid was carrying). What follows is the sort of ribald dialogue that would never be allowed after the Hays Code was imposed in 1934.
235	-->'''Woman''': I hated to lose them. They were so easy to pull on!\
236	'''Ollie''': ''[smirking]'' I bet you miss them!\
237	'''Woman''': Well you can imagine how I feel without them!\
238	'''Ollie''': Good thing it's warm weather, isn't it? ''[laughs]''
239	* OnOneCondition: An alternate, three-reel version of ''Laughing Gravy'' has Stan getting a letter informing him he's inherited $1,000 from a deceased uncle...provided he severs all connections with Ollie.
240	* OverlyLongGag: The boot routine that takes up the majority of ''Be Big!''. Because of it, ''Be Big!'' is generally considered the worst of their shorts and sometimes even the worst film they ever made ''period'' prior to leaving Hal Roach.
241	* PieInTheFace:
242	** ''The Battle of the Century'' climaxes with a massive pie-fight involving dozens of participants.
243	** ''Their Purple Moment'' features a more limited exchange of these.
244	* PintsizedPowerhouse: Stan, who can punch a man in the chin hard enough to ''knock him out.''
245	* ThePratfall: There's even a fan magazine for the pair called ''Pratfall''. It's also one of their trademarks.
246	* PuddleCoveringChivalry: Stan does this for the girl he's been chasing after in ''Putting Pants on Philip''. The girl jumps over his coat and then laughs at him. Then Ollie insists on stepping on the coat--which, naturally, is covering a five-foot deep hole filled with water.
247	%%* RakeTake: Happens to Ollie in ''Ladrones'' (the Spanish version of "Night Owls").
248	%%* ReallyGetsAround: [[Creator/JeanHarlow "Jeanie-Weenie"]], in ''Beau Hunks''.
249	* RecycledSoundtrack: In ''Beau Hunks'', the French Foreign Legion's March is a brass band version of Stan and Ollie's theme, the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnCKVFzjHE&feature=kp Cuckoo Song]].''
250	* RedOniBlueOni: Ollie is frequently harsh and boisterous, Stan mostly calm and submissive.
251	* TheRemake:
252	** Their first non-Roach feature, ''The Flying Deuces'' is generally called a ''partial'' remake of their earlier four-reeler ''Beau Hunks'', using the same basic set-up--Stan and Ollie enlisting in the foreign legion after a woman breaks Ollie's heart--but not any of the earlier film's gags or plot developments.
253	** ''Laughing Gravy'' is a remake of the silent ''Angora Love''.
254	%%* RumpRoast: Happens to Ollie in ''[[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt0s2a_laurel-and-hardy-them-thar-hills-1934-%%full_shortfilms Them Thar Hills]]'', and in ''Hog Wild'', courtesy of Stan's backfiring car.
255	* RunningGag: There's a lot of those throughout most of their movie library. In most movies, Stan and (primarily) Ollie will often be victimized by a water gag, like Stan stepping on a hose which sprays water in Ollie's face in ''Night Owls'' for example.
256	%%* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Stan and Ollie. It shows in ''The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case''.
257	%%* ServileSnarker: The butler in ''Dirty Work''.
258	* ShaggyDogStory: At the end of ''Hog Wild'', after all the shenanigans the boys go through trying to fix Mrs. Hardy's radio, said radio ends up getting confiscated offscreen.
259	* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: In ''Their Purple Moment'', Stan – who has already discovered he doesn't have the money he thought he did, and will therefore be unable to pay the check at the nightclub he and Ollie are dining at with a couple of girls – is further confronted with a taxi driver, who has been parked outside with his meter running the entire time and has run up a fare of $22.10 (equivalent to nearly $400 in 2024 money) and counting. Then, to make things worse, Ollie – who is unaware of the money situation as yet – generously invites the cabbie to sit down and have a steak... on them. When the dinner check finally arrives, it comes to another $28.10 (about $510 in 2024 money).
260	%%* SingleIssueLandlord: In ''Laughing Gravy''.
261	* {{Slapstick}}: Appears a lot, and is also one of the things the duo is primarily remembered for. Even after they switched to sound, loads and loads of slapstick appeared in their shorts and features.
262	* SmartJerkAndNiceMoron: The TropeCodifier in film. Every other variation in comedy pays lip service to them. Though it must be said that Ollie really isn't that much brighter than Stan; [[KnowNothingKnowItAll he just assumes he is]].
263	* SoftGlass: Ollie goes crashing through the roof of a greenhouse in ''Dirty Work'' but suffers no ill effects.
264	%%* SquirrelsInMyPants: The crab in ''Liberty''.
265	* StageMagician: AllStarCast sketch film ''Film/TheHollywoodRevueOf1929'' includes one sketch with Stan and Ollie as incompetent, bumbling Stage Magicians.
266	* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Hardy as the grumpy, no-nonsense straight man and Laurel as the bumbling, foolish wise guy. However, they suffered equal amount of AmusingInjuries.
267	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Exaggerated in ''Brats'': Stan and Ollie's kids are basically miniature versions of them, although Ollie's son doesn't have a mustache. Equally in ''Twice Two'', where the boys are married to each other's sisters, again played by themselves.
268	* SuperStrength: Both are surprisingly strong-they can haul pianos up stairs again and again, tear down doors and push a man into a car hard enough for the car to tip over as well.
269	* SuperhumanTransfusion: Variant-- in ''Thicker Than Water'', a botched blood transfusion (too much donated from Stan to Ollie, then too much put back from Ollie to Stan, and so on) results in Ollie's excess weight being transferred over to Stan. (Of course, in reality, Hardy had simply shaved his mustache and Laurel was wearing a false one, to appear as each other.) [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U5OmWgNVk8k/S8lxHLfDMNI/AAAAAAAABe4/9cbOV4wz9cw/s1600/Laurel+and+Hardy+-+Thicker+Than+Water.jpg See here.]]
270	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In 1939 Stan Laurel's contract with Hal Roach had expired and Laurel was haggling. So Roach made ''Zenobia'', a film starring Oliver Hardy and Harry Langdon, who sort of looked like Stan Laurel with a rounder face.
271	* TheTake: In various forms, including all manner of {{Spit Take}}s and the hilarious DelayedReaction take that was Laurel's specialty.
272	* ThemeSerialKiller: In ''Oliver the Eighth'' a demented rich lady has a habit of inviting men named Oliver to her mansion so she can slit their throats.
273	* ThemeTune: The [[https://youtu.be/uwhxc3OCBjc "Cuckoo Theme"]] for the opening credits of many of their sound shorts.
274	* ThrowThePin: Stan in ''Beau Hunks''.
275	* TranquilFury: When Stan snaps in ''One Good Turn'', he shows no external anger whatsoever.
276	* UncannyFamilyResemblance: ''Brats'' has Stan and Ollie babysitting their [[IdenticalGrandson lookalike children]]; ''Twice Two'' has them married to each other's [[DistaffCounterpart lookalike sisters]]; ''Our Relations'' has them mixed up with their [[TwinSwitch identical twins]].
277	* UnconventionalFoodUsage: In ''The Hoose-Gow'' Stan and Ollie, having accidentally damaged the radiator of the prison governor's car, attempt to plug the leak with rice.
278	* TheUnintelligible: Stan everytime he's crying.
279	* UnscrewedSaltShaker: In '''You're Darn [=Tootin'=]'', Stan, unable to get any salt out of the shaker, unscrews the top. Then Ollie tries to use the shaker, not realizing what has happened, and the entire contents end up in his soup. He promptly changes plates with Stan, only for the whole process to be [[HereWeGoAgain repeated]] with the pepper.
280	* UnsuspectinglySoused: Mae Busch's character in ''Them Thar Hills'' (thanks to moonshiners dumping their brew into the well); Mrs Beaumont in ''Scram!''
281	* VagabondBuddies: Two traveling guys, often at odds with each other but ultimately inseparable, taking on various odd jobs and other schemes to make money (and often having it backfire)... yep, that's them.
282	* VandalismBackfire: In ''You're Darn [=Tootin'=]'', Stan and Ollie knock each other's hats off as part of an EscalatingWar. Then Ollie stamps on what he thinks is Stan's hat. It turns out to be his own.
283	%%* VitriolicBestBuds: Stan and Ollie spend a lot of time engaging in ComedicSociopathy around each other.
284	* WilliamTelling: In ''Do Detectives Think?'', Ollie wants to show off his skill with a gun, so he has Stan put the apple on his head. Then Ollie winces, closes his eyes, fires, and hits a statue a good eight feet away.
285	* WorkOffTheDebt:
286	** Averted in ''Below Zero''; the duo treats a cop to a meal in return for helping them earlier. It turns out that if you can't pay your bill in said restaurant, you don't wash dishes; [[DisproportionateRetribution everyone in the restaurant subjects you to a]] NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. Guess what happens to Laurel and Hardy when it's revealed that they can't pay their check?
287	** Played straight in ''Swiss Miss'', with the added caveat that the boys must work an extra day for any dishes broken in the course of their work. The chef they are put to work under, [[LaserGuidedKarma whom they had earlier subjected to a barrage of insults for not having the dessert they wanted, is only too happy to take advantage of this]].
288	* WrongBathroomIncident: This happens in a short movie, where Stan Laurel plays a visiting Scotsman. Seeing what looks like a kilted person in silhouette on the toilet door with what he reads as "LADDIES" underneath, Stan looks down at his kilt, compares it to the picture on the door, grins with relief, and walks in...
289	----
290
291	-->''"Well, [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife there's]] ''[[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife another]]'' [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife nice TV Tropes page you've gotten us into!]]"''\

Context Creator / LaurelandHardy