Stan and Ollie's lost recordings

By Stephen Garner
Producer, BBC Radio 4

Laurel and Hardy were both stage and silver screen performers

Comedy writer and historian Glenn Mitchell has spent 20 years searching for archive footage of legendary comic partnership Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

A treasure trove of broadcasts, including a 1932 BBC radio interview and a 1952 TV appearance on The Henry Hall Show sadly did not survive.

But Mr Mitchell did manage to unearth some other gems from their various tours.

This material, discovered among archive collectors and fans across Europe, is the most fascinating.

Fifteen years after their 1932 visit, impresario Bernard Delfont gave the duo another chance to tour the UK, which proved so successful that it was extended until Hardy's visa ran out.

Cuckoo theme

Laurel, who was born in Cumbria, remained a British national throughout his life, but his partner's status as a US citizen enforced a move to continental Europe.

They opened in Denmark at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, went on to Sweden and then returned to the Danish capital for a radio broadcast of their stage act, complete with the audience whistling their legendary cuckoo theme tune.

Stan hated doing that cry, believing it somehow weakened his character

Stan and Ollie were often known in non-English-speaking countries by local nicknames which translated as "fat" and "thin".

It was usual for Oliver Hardy to finish their act with a song and, in one rare recording, Hardy sings Shine on Harvest Moon, which he performed in their 1939 film The Flying Deuces.

Big laughs

From Denmark, Laurel and Hardy moved on to a six-week engagement at the Lido in Paris, arriving at the Gare du Nord on 28 October 1947.

Mr Mitchell unearthed archive of their arrival in Paris which includes a French radio reporter pressuring Laurel into performing his famous cry.

Stan Laurel won a special Oscar in 1961 for his contribution to cinema comedy

Stan hated doing that cry, believing it somehow weakened his character, but he kept it in the repertoire because he knew it got big laughs.

After a brief return to the UK for the Royal Variety Show, the duo visited Belgium.

Stan had played Belgium in 1912 at the Palace Theatre in Liege. The show was cancelled after one night and left the cast stranded. But the 1947 trip was a much happier occasion.

The rare recordings were gathered thanks to the large, dedicated group of Laurel and Hardy admirers known as the Sons of the Desert, who find old recordings all over the world and ensure their availability to like-minded individuals.

Laurel and Hardy On Tour will be broadcast 27 July on BBC Radio 4 at 1130 BST. It can be accessed online for seven days via the Radio 4 website's Listen Again page.