Salute to Stan Laurel (1965) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Seymour Berns

Writers:

Charles Isaacs (writer)
Allan Manings (writer)

Release Date:

23 November 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A program featuring original comedy skits written as a tribute to Stan Laurel. |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Character Name In Title

Cast

Lucille Ball	...	Herself
Mary Foran	...	Woman in sketch
Fred Gwynne	...	Herman Munster
Oliver Hardy	...	Ollie (archive footage)
Danny Kaye	...	Himself
Buster Keaton	...	Himself
Leonid Kinskey	...	Movie director in sketch
Harvey Korman	...	Cop in Keaton sketch
Stan Laurel	...	Stan (archive footage)
Tina Louise	...	Herself
Michael Mason	...	Drummer w / Phil Silvers
Audrey Meadows	...	Herself
Bob Newhart	...	Himself
Louis Nye	...	Himself
Gregory Peck	...	Himself
Cesar Romero	...	Himself
Phil Silvers	...	Himself
Dick Van Dyke	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Maybe it's just as well that Stan didn't see this

In November of 1965, about nine months after the death of Stan Laurel, the CBS-TV network broadcast a one-hour special hosted by Dick Van Dyke that was intended as a tribute to the late comedian. I say "intended" because the result was almost universally panned as inept, unfunny and unworthy of its subject by critics of the day, while authors of the various books on Laurel & Hardy that have appeared since have generally derided the special as a tacky promo for the network's then-current stars at the expense of its ostensible honoree.

I just saw the 'Salute' again for the first time in over forty years and would have to agree that the gist of the criticism is correct, although the show does offer some points of interest. Dick Van Dyke was an ideal choice to host: he knew and admired Stan Laurel and did a terrific impression of him-- although, oddly, he doesn't do it here. Laurel admired Van Dyke's work too, and felt that he was one of the few TV comics to keep the tradition of physical comedy alive. Here Van Dyke speaks of Stan with real warmth, and introduces a number of clips from Laurel & Hardy's silent work (no talkies, however). Unfortunately, the excerpts are all too brief, and none are identified or given any context. For instance, a clip from WRONG AGAIN is used without any explanation as to why Stan and Ollie are trying to put a horse on a piano; I guess you just had to be there. Most of the other bits are from THE FINISHING TOUCH, an early short in which the boys ineptly attempt to fix up a house, and although the clips are enjoyable they suggest that Laurel & Hardy were rather limited in range.

This show's producers couldn't find time for more excerpts, it appears, but they did have time for some cheesy musical numbers about Old Time Movies that will make today's viewers wince. They also found time for several weak comedy sketches. Phil Silvers, of all people, appears in one that is both unfunny and irrelevant. Audrey Meadows appears as Pearl White in a tribute to silent serials that is about as edifying as it sounds. Still another sketch takes place on the set of a silent movie-- weren't they aware that Laurel & Hardy made dozens of talkies? --and stars Cesar Romero, Louis Nye, and Tina Louise, i.e. Ginger of "Gilligan's Island." This bit concludes with a black-out gag featuring Fred Gwynne in his Herman Munster outfit. It's said that in his later years Stan enjoyed a number of TV comedy shows, but something tells me he wasn't an avid fan of Gilligan or The Munsters.

On the plus side, Bob Newhart offers a monologue that, while irrelevant to the matter at hand, is at least amusing, and Dick Van Dyke performs a routine Stan might've appreciated: he delivers a speech declaring that slapstick isn't funny anymore. Audiences today are too sophisticated for that sort of thing, he tells us, and needless to say manages to injure himself repeatedly before he's finished, earning some of the show's biggest laughs. But the best reason to watch is the opening sketch, which features Lucille Ball and, in one of his final appearances, 70 year-old Buster Keaton. Lucy and Buster were friends dating back to his days of "internal exile" on the MGM lot, and she often credited him with teaching her a great deal about comedy. The sketch takes place in a park, and although the gags will be familiar to Keaton fans (e.g. Buster bumps into Lucy, steals a kiss, then pretends to be a blind man; Buster unfolds a newspaper that turns out to be gigantic, etc.) it's nice to see these two greats working together. It's too bad the rest of the program didn't rise to this level.

I don't doubt that the original impulse behind this 'Salute' was sincere and well-intentioned, but along the way somehow the program did indeed turn into a 60-minute commercial for the CBS television line-up of 1965-66. Baby boomers who are more familiar with Herman Munster than Laurel & Hardy may appreciate this special as an exercise in 'Sixties nostalgia, but viewers genuinely interested in saluting Stan Laurel will do a better job of it by watching the man's own work.