Oliver Hardy Collection

This collection is comprised of the early silent films by the heavier half of the famous comedy duo, all made prior to Laurel and Hardy's official partnership. Shot while the comic was making a name for himself at numerous studios from New York to Jacksonville, the selection also includes some of Hardy's films from his early Hal Roach days, including 45 MINUTES FROM HOLLYWOOD, the duo's first collaboration under Roach. Larry Semon, to whose dimwitted employee Hardy often played the overbearing boss, co-stars in THE SHOW and THE SAWMILL. HOP TO IT! co-stars Bobby Ray, with whom Hardy enacts a bellhop routine that could be the apotheosis of slapstick. All of the films demonstrate the genesis of a true comic genius who went on to set a standard for comedy that endures to this day.