Laurel and Hardy film list
The team of Laurel and Hardy was one of the funniest, and most prolific, comedy teams of all time. In addition to having successful individual film careers, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made one of the most successful comedy teams of all times, in a career spanning both silent and talking films over several decades. Their joint career can be broken into the following categories:
- Laurel and Hardy silent short films
- Talking short films (starring roles)
- Laurel and Hardy feature films (starring roles)
- Feature films (guest appearances)
Laurel and Hardy silent short films (starring roles)
1921
The Lucky Dog
In their first screen appearance together, Stan plays a penniless dog lover and Oliver plays a crook who tries to rob him and his new girlfriend. Although technically the first Laurel and Hardy film, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are not playing their regular characters, and are onscreen together for only a few minutes.
1927
Duck Soup
Pursued by forest rangers who want to press them into fire-fighting duty, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy hide in the home of a big-game hunter who has just left town. When they find out that the servants will be away for the weekend, they decide to stay for a while. The house is being offered for rental, and when prospective tenants come, Oliver pretends to be the owner and Stanley pretends to be a servant.
Slipping Wives
Love ’em and Weep
Old flame Mae Busch shows up to blackmail married businessman James Finlayson. He enlists his friend Stan Laurel to keep her away from his home and wife. Confusion prevails when she crashes a house party.Silent film, later remade as Chickens Come Home
Why Girls Love Sailors
With Love and Hisses
Sugar Daddies
Sailors, Beware!
Now I’ll Tell One (lost film)
The Second Hundred Years
Hats Off (lost film)
Do Detectives Think?
Do Detectives Think? is an early Laurel and Hardy silent film. In fact, this is the first Laurel and Hardy short where Stan and Ollie wear their trademark derby hats. The basic plot has an escaped murderer, “The Tipton Slasher” out for revenge on the judge who put him behind bars – played by the very funny James Finlayson
Putting Pants on Philip
Stuffy Oliver Hardy has to meet his Scottish nephew Stan Laurel at the docks … and convince him to start wearing pants instead of his kilt!
Oliver Hardy takes out an insurance policy on failed boxer Stan Laurel, which accidentally leads to the largest pie fight of all time!
1928
Leave ‘Em Laughing
Flying Elephants
A very funny silent film, with cavemen Stan and Ollie fighting over the same beautiful girl. James Finlayson’s daughter!
The Finishing Touch
From Soup to Nuts
From Soup to Nuts is a hilarious silent Laurel and Hardy short film. It has a simple premise: Stan and Ollie are hired to serve as waiters at a high society party. Where things go hilariously wrong!
You’re Darn Tootin’
You’re Darn Tootin is a very funny silent Laurel and Hardy film, which I can’t help but wonder how it would have been with sound. The basic premise has Stan Laurel playing the clarinet, and Oliver Hardy the French horn, playing in a bandstand, where they are comically inept.
Their Purple Moment
Stanley and Oliver sneak out for a night on the town, unaware that Mrs. Laurel has substituted her grocery coupons for Stanley’s secret stash of mad money. Of course, this results in dire consequences when the boys run up a huge tab treating a couple of girls to dinner at a snazzy nightclub.
Should Married Men Go Home?
Stan ruins a quiet day at home for Oliver, takes him golfing, humiliates Edgar Kennedy, and starts a massive mud fight! Silent flm.
Early to Bed
Two Tars
Two Tars is a classic Laurel and Hardy silent short, where the two are sailors on leave, give stuck in a traffic jam, resulting in an escalating war of destruction on the highway – very funny, and highly recommended.
Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus is a very funny Laurel and Hardy short film, although it’s technically not a “silent” movie. There’s a synchronized music soundtrack, but Stan and Ollie’s only dialog is revealed through cue cards. Habeas Corpus begins with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy coming to a mansion, looking for food … but soon are talked into becoming grave robbers!
We Faw Down
Stan and Ollie try to sneak out to a poker game. They tell an “innocent” lie to their wives, about going with their boss to the theater. But, it’s burnt down! And the boys get mixed up with a pair of pretty young ladies …
1929
Liberty
Wrong Again
Among the horses that stable hands Stanley and Oliver are tending is a thoroughbred named “Blue Boy.” But when they overhear two men talking about a $5000 reward for the return of the stolen “Blue Boy,” they miss the part about it being the painting, not the horse. They get the owner’s address, though, and bring the horse along to claim the reward. They wonder at the rich man’s instructions to put “Blue Boy” on the piano but, Oliver explains, “these millionaires are peculiar.”
That’s My Wife
Big Business
Attempting to sell Christmas trees sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it? But in Big Business, the simple act of trying to sell Christmas trees door to door goes wrong. Hilariously wrong. It builds slowly at first, to a cacophony of destruction with James Finlayson.
Double Whoopee
In Double Whoopee Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, in their new jobs as footman and doorman at a ritzy hotel, wreak their usual havoc on the guests. This includes partially undressing a swanky blonde guest, fighting with a taxi driver, and “helping” a haughty Prussian nobleman into an empty elevator shaft.
Bacon Grabbers
Stan and Ollie find work as debt collectors. Their first assignment is to collect a late payment on a radio set. The owner (Edgar Kennedy) refuses to pay the debt, so Stan and Ollie decide to reclaim the set. The owner will not let the duo in to reclaim the radio, and a fight breaks out as Stan & Ollie try to break in while the owner tries his hardest to keep them out.
Angora Love
In Angora Love (1929) Stanley and Oliver are adopted by a runaway goat, whose noise and aroma in turn get the goat of their suspicious landlord. Attempts to bathe the smelly animal result in a waterlogged free-for-all
Laurel and Hardy talking short films (starring roles)
1929
Unaccustomed As We Are
Laurel and Hardy’s first talking motion picture – Oliver invites his friend Stanley over for a nice home-cooked meal, but Mrs. Hardy (Mae Busch) wants nothing to do with it and walks out. Mrs. Kennedy (Thelma Todd), Oliver’s beautiful neighbor from across the hall, volunteers to help out, but the boys’ bumbling soon has her dress on fire. Her husband, a policeman (Edgar Kennedy), investigates the ruckus just as Oliver gets the now partially-unclad Mrs. Kennedy hidden in a trunk. Kennedy’s boasting of how he handles his own womanizing backfires when his wife pops out of the trunk and blackens his eye. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardy has returned and wonders what all the noise is coming from next door.
Berth Marks
In Berth Marks, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are small-time vaudevillians, trying to catch a train. A very funny short film, where they cause massive chaos …. Unwittingly and without knowing it!
Men O’ War
Navy sailors Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are on shore leave, and try to pick up a pair of lovely young ladies, and treat them to sodas – however, Stan only has 15 cents, leaving them 5 cents short …
Perfect Day
Laurel and Hardy plan to take their wives and Uncle Edgar Kennedy on a Sunday afternoon picnic in their Model T automobile. But anything that can go wrong, will …
They Go Boom
Stanley’s attempts to treat Oliver’s cold include dropping a swab down his friend’s throat, applying a mustard plaster to his rump, and inflating the air mattress from the gas jet until it has Oliver pressed against the ceiling.
The Hoose-Gow
In The Hoose-Gow, Stan and Ollie and wrongly sent to prison. They’re actually innocent! But, it’s an excuse to send them to prison for comedy hijinks. It’s a very funny short film, and recommended.
1930
Night Owls
Night Owls – where an inept police officer, played by Edgar Kennedy, needs to get the favor of his chief in solving a string of unsolved burglaries – and decides to use vagrants Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to ‘pretend’ to rob the chief’s house, so that he can ‘arrest’ them in the course of the robbery. And during the ‘robbery’ things go from bad to worse – especially for Ollie’s pants!
Blotto
During the prohibition period in the United States, Laurel and Hardy make plans to spend a wild night out at the Rainbow club. Phoning Stan at home, Ollie suggests a plan to henpecked Stan on how to get out of the house. Stan offers to bring a bottle of liquor which his wife has hidden in the house. Mrs Laurel, eavesdropping on another line, immediately launches a scheme of her own: she replaces the alcohol with a non-alcoholic mixture. Stan and Ollie proceed to get “drunk” at the nightclub, having a wonderful time, until an angry Mrs Laurel turns up armed with a shotgun, reveals that their “liquor” is merely cold tea, chases them into the street, and demolishes their cab with one well-aimed shot.
Brats
Brats, where they play their normal characters as well as their own sons.
Below Zero
Below Zero is a funny, short Laurel and Hardy film, set in the winter. Where the Boys make the mistake of trying to make money by playing In the Good old Summertime …
Hog Wild
Laurel and Hardy take the simple task of putting up a radio antenna and turn it into comedy slapstick gold!
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
Stan’s rich uncle has been murdered, and all of the witnesses are suspects — including Stan! They are forced to spend the night at the deceased uncle’s estate, where a police detective is holding everyone. And then, things get frightening …
Another Fine Mess
The basic plot has Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy on the run from the police, not wanting to go to jail for vagrancy. They run into a mansion, in order to hide there, but end up with Oliver impersonating the owner, and Stan impersonating the butler – and the maid!
1931
Be Big!
A classic Laurel and Hardy short film, where Stan and Ollie connive to get out of going on a weekend getaway with their wives in order to go to a ‘wild party’ at their lodge … if only that stubborn boot will cooperate!
Chickens Come Home
Oliver Hardy plays a successful businessman (running a “high class” fertilizer business), with a loving and beautiful wife (played by Thelma Todd) who’s running a successful campaign to be become mayor. All seems to be going well for Oliver, until a former girlfriend (Mae Busch) shows up, to blackmail him.
Laughing Gravy
In Laughing Gravy, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy try to hide their dog from their landlord – and fail miserably – and hilariously!
Our Wife
A very funny Laurel and Hardy short film, where Ollie is going to elope, but his fiancée’s father (James Finlayson) will have nothing to do with it…. So Stan helps them elope. After nearly poisoning Oliver, knocking him off a ladder and through a window, and hiring a clown car as a limousine, of course. Ben Turpin makes an appearance as the cross-eyed preacher as well!
Come Clean
One Good Turn
One of my very favorite Laurel and Hardy short films – a very funny short where Stan finally has enough of Ollie’s bullying and turns the tables on him! Read the review to find out the details!
Beau Hunks
Having been jilted by his girlfriend, ‘Jeanie-Weanie’, Oliver Hardy joins the French Foreign Legion to forget .. And he takes Stan Laurel with him! Not only can’t he forgot, he’s surrounded by reminders of her, and drilled mercilessly by his drill sergeant. And to top it all off he and Stan get separated from the rest of their patrol, and have to rescue Fort Arid all by themselves – if they can!
1932
Helpmates
After a wild party while his wife’s away, Oliver Hardy needs help cleaning up the mess before his wife comes home at noon … And he makes the mistake of asking Stan Laurel to help him! A very funny short film, literally a laugh a minute. Read and find out why!
Any Old Port!
Fresh from the sea, Stan and Ollie check into a hotel for sailors. Soon, they’re helping a young girl escape from the proprietor, who plans to force her to marry him! But they have to flee, leaving their possessions behind them. Including their money! But, an old friend of Oliver’s is a boxing promoter. Soon, Stan’s in the boxing ring, facing off against … Guess who?
The Music Box
The Laurel and Hardy Moving Company struggles to deliver a piano to a house at the top of an insurmountable staircase. Winner of a 1932 Oscar ® for Best Comedy Short.
The Chimp
After working for a bankrupt circus, Stan and Ollie ‘win’ a gorilla, which they want to sell – after a restful night at Billy Gilbert’s boarding house.
County Hospital
One of Laurel and Hardy’s best-known short films, ‘County Hospital’ deals with Oliver Hardy peacefully recuperating from a broken leg in the hospital. Until Stan Laurel visits him, and causes comedic catastrophe! Co-starring Billy Gilbert.
Scram!
Scram! is a very funny Laurel and Hardy short film, where a mean judge orders Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy to leave town in an hour. But on their way out, they stop to help an inebriated millionaire, who rewards them by taking them to his house for the night …. Only to realize that he’s driven them to the Judge’s house by mistake!
Their First Mistake
Oliver Hardy’s wife is upset that he’s spending all of his time with Stan Laurel, and neglecting her. Stan’s solution? Adopt a baby, so she has something to do! But what she has to do is divorce Oliver and leave him alone with the baby – and Stan!
Towed in a Hole
Traveling fish peddlers Laurel and Hardy – crabs a specialty – devise a big business idea. Buy a dilapidated old boat to fix up and “eliminate the middle-man.” What could possibly go wrong?
1933
Twice Two
Brain specialist Oliver Hardy, and his assistant Stan Laurel, married each other’s sister a year ago. They phone their wives to plan a special anniversary dinner – but the wives have a special dinner at home planned …
Me and My Pal
‘Me and My Pal’, where once again Oliver is about to be married … And Stan manages to throw a monkey wrench into the works, using a … jigsaw puzzle? Read and find out how!
The Midnight Patrol
The basic plot has rookie policemen Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy on patrol, who are notified by the police dispatcher that thieves are presently stealing their spare tire. Shortly after, they are called to a possible burglary. But they miss the address, and Stan has accidentally cut the phone line at the call box
Busy Bodies
Being employed as carpenters, Stanley and Oliver stumble through a hilarious parade of self-inflicted mishaps, only to retreat hastily … And drive their car into a band saw.
Dirty Work
Stan and Ollie are chimney sweeps. They’ve come to clean the chimney of a mad scientist, working on a rejuvenation formula. What could go wrong?
1934
Oliver the Eighth
An insane rich woman marries and kills her husbands … all named Oliver! Guess who’s next?
Going Bye-Bye!
Stan and Ollie testify against a vicious criminal (Walter Long) – who threatens to escape from prison and kill them! So they decide to get out of town, quick! They offer to share the expenses with Mae Busch — the killer’s girlfriend!
Them Thar Hills
In Them Thar Hills, Oliver Hardy needs to take a vacation in the mountains for this health. With the ‘help’ of his friend, Stan Laurel, they go camping, unwittingly drinking well water that’s been ‘contaminated’ with moonshine. Bad goes to worse, when Charlie Hall and Mae Busch stop by. They need gasoline, and Mae proceeds to get drunk on ‘well water’, leading to her husband’s attempt at revenge!
The Live Ghost
Laurel and Hardy help a grizzled sea captain shanghai a crew …. Only for Stan and Ollie to be taken along! The boys are afraid to leave the boat, for fear of their shipmates’ revenge. But they become even more afraid of … the living ghost!
1935
Tit for Tat
‘Tit for Tat’ is one of Laurel and Hardy’s funniest short films, and the only sequel they ever made. Opening a new business, Stan and Oliver try to introduce themselves to their new neighbors at Hall’s Grocery, only to realize that it’s Mr. and Mrs. Hall from ‘Them Thar Hills‘. And their animosity builds slowly to a very funny crescendo, interspersed with quieter comedic moments as well – a must-see film!
The Fixer Uppers
After taking advice from Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy gallantly tries to help a married woman (Mae Busch) win back her husband’s affections – but the plan backfires, as the husband challenges him to a duel to the death! Stan and Ollie decide to merely not show up, but with the help of an inebriated customer of theirs, they wind up in the last place on earth that they wanted to be … just in time for the duel!
Thicker than Water
Laurel and Hardy short films (guest appearances)
45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926)
Call of the Cuckoo (1927)
The Stolen Jools (1931)
On the Loose (1931)
Wild Poses (1933)
On the Wrong Trek (1936)
The Tree in a Test Tube (1942)
Laurel and Hardy feature films (starring roles)
Pardon Us (1931)
In the Laurel and Hardy video Pardon Us, Stan and Ollie are sent to prison during the prohibition for selling beer, only to torment the prison teacher James Finlayson, get caught up in a prison escape, hide out on a plantation, get recaptured, have teeth pulled, and thwart a prison riot – all in their first feature-length movie!
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
A cute, funny Laurel and Hardy film, set during World War I, where Stan and Ollie need to reunite a war orphan with her grandparents … if only they knew who they were!
Fra Diavolo/The Devil’s Brother/Bogus Bandits (1933)
Set in Italy in the 1700’s, Stanio and Ollio are failed bandits who unwittingly attempt to rob the ‘king of bandits’, Fra Diavolo (the Devil’s Brother) — who punishes Stanlio by having him hang Ollio, but when Stanlio bungles the job, Fra Diavolo gives them a second chance. He takes them along when he goes undercover to rob the rick Lord Rochburg (Laurel and Hardy regular James Finlayson) and to woo the beautiful Lady Pamela (Thelma Todd). Until Stanlio and Ollio bungle things … again … and they wind up in front of a firing squad!
Sons of the Desert (1933)
where Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel want to go to a convention in Chicago, while their wives have planned a trip to the mountains. When the boys contrive an excuse of needing to go to Honolulu for Ollie’s health, to cover their trip. Until the liner they’re supposedly on sinks at sea … a very funny movie, one of their best.
Babes in Toyland (1934)
March of the Wooden Soldiers, aka. Babes in Toyland, starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy – an excellent “children’s” film that adults will enjoy at least as much.
Bonnie Scotland (1935)
After traveling to Scotland to collect Stan’s inheritance (only to find out that it’s only a set of bagpipes and snuffbox), Laurel and Hardy unintentionally join the Scottish army and are shipped off to India, much to the dismay of their suffering officer, played by James Finlayson.
The Bohemian Girl (1936)
Many people think of The Bohemian Girl as the answer to the trivia question, “What was Thelma Todd’s final film?” And that’s a crying shame. The Bohemian Girl is actually one of my favorite Laurel and Hardy films, for several reasons.
Our Relations (1936)
Comedy mishaps when Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy‘s twin brothers, Alfie and Bert, come to town. And they’re repeatedly get mixed up for each other, causing issues with their wives, shipmates, and crooks who want to steal a pearl ring!
Way Out West (1937)
Way Out West – A young woman in the Wild West is about to lose her father’s deed to land grabbers, when galloping to the rescue come…Laurel and Hardy?
Swiss Miss (1938)
Mousetrap salesman Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy get stranded at a Swiss Chalet, where they have to work to pay off their bill and deal with a malicious chef, an overbearing composer and his estranged wife, and a gorilla on a rickety bridge …
Block-Heads (1938)
Block-Heads is a very funny movie starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, where Stan Laurel has been still in the trenches 20 years after the war has ended. His old Army buddy Oliver Hardy decides to pick him up from the military hospital where Stan’s been put and give him a home-cooked meal … and the comedy begins, with one innocent incident following another, snowballing in the destruction of Ollie’s apartment. And then things get really funny!
The Flying Deuces (1939)
The Flying Deuces’ is possibly the best-known of Laurel and Hardy’s films, where the boys join the French Foreign Legion, and face the firing squad …
A Chump at Oxford (1940)
Stan Laurel plays his typical Stan character, as well as Agnes the maid, and as the brilliant Lord Paddington – causing a hilarious role reversal with Oliver Hardy
Saps at Sea (1940)
One of my favorite Laurel and Hardy films – after Ollie has a nervous breakdown from ‘hornophobia’, Dr. Finlayson prescribes salt sea air. So the reluctant Stan and Ollie rent a wreck of a boat, anchored to the dock … Until an escaped convict sneaks on board!
Great Guns (1941)
Laurel and Hardy join the Army in order to “help” their employer.
A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)
Stan and Ollie are vagrants who have been ordered to leave town without 24 hours. Lacking the means, they answer an advertisement for a free train trip – the catch is, they have to accompany a coffin! Unfortunately for Laurel and Hardy, the coffin’s occupant is a fugitive from justice, very much alive. They get fleeced out of what little money they have, and Dante the Magician (playing himself) offers them jobs as his assistants.
Air Raid Wardens (1943)
After being rejected by the armed services, Stan and Ollie try to do their patriotic duty at home as Air Raid Wardens – a film that’s more patriotic than funny.
Jitterbugs (1943)
The best of Laurel & Hardy’s 20th Century-Fox films. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play a couple of traveling ‘zoot suit’ musicians who innocently team up with likable con man Chester. they meet small-town girl Susan, whose mother has been victimized by real-estate swindlers. Reasoning that it takes a crook to catch a crook …
The Dancing Masters (1943)
Stan and Ollie run a nearly-bankrupt dancing school, and decide to help their star pupil’s fiancee to raise money for his invention …. With a bunch of hare-brained schemes, ending with insurance fraud that goes wrong!
The Big Noise (1944)
While working as janitors at a detective agency, Laurel and Hardy are mistaken for detectives and hired to protect an inventor and his new explosive – and eventually recover the explosive, and drop it on a Japanese submarine.
Nothing But Trouble (1944)
Working as the world’s worst chef and equally inept butler, Stan and Ollie wreck a fancy dinner party and, in the process, accidentally foil a plot to poison a young king-in-exile.
The Bullfighters (1945)
Laurel and Hardy are private detectives, where Stan Laurel has to take the place of a brave matador that he resembles in Mexico City.
Atoll K / Utopia (1951)
Laurel and Hardy’s final feature film.
Laurel and Hardy feature films (guest appearances)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)
The Rogue Song (1930) (lost film)
Hollywood Party (1934)
A hodgepodge of skits and bits featuring stars of the time (1934), including Jimmy Durante, the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Mickey Mouse.
Pick a Star (1937)
Pick a Star is a Jack Haley/Patsy Kelly romantic comedy. Laurel and Hardy, and several other Hal Roach Studio actors, make short appearances.