Laurel and Hardy's Comic Catastrophes : Laughter and Darkness in the Features and Short Films.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Chapter One. The Laurel and Hardy Milieu: Entropy and Stasis, Cruelty and Compassion -- Chapter Two. Bad Moons Rising: Pardon Us and Pack Up Your Troubles -- Chapter Three. On the Town: Stan, Ollie, and Women -- Chapter Four. The Friendship -- Chapter Five. Stan's Gag Structure: A Close Look at The Live Ghost and The Chimp -- Chapter Six. Dogs, Ducks, and Durance Vile: The Lucky Dog, Duck Soup, and The Second Hundred Years -- Chapter Seven. Things Aren't What They Seem: The Finishing Touch -- Chapter Eight. Fully Prepared Is What They Were: Unaccustomed as we are -- Chapter Nine. The First of Three Masterpieces: Chickens Come Home -- Chapter Ten. When Two Is Less Than One: Helpmates -- Chapter Eleven. Pandora's Player Piano: The Music Box -- Afterword -- Filmography: Laurel and Hardy FilmsReferenced in This Book -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author.

A discussion of Laurel and Hardy films in a way that is both critical and appreciative, Bliss explores how complex the comedic duo's films are in terms of acting, structure, and storyline, also pointing out how the films qualify as comedies in the classic sense even though they subvert the genre's traditional tendency for stories to end well.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.