Most people, especially filmmakers and movie buffs, often have stories about how they first came to love movies. I remember certain things, like the first movie I ever saw in a theatre, at 3 years old (Cinderella), and the first real horror movie I saw, at age 10 (Halloween, bright and early on a Saturday morning). The films in high school that inspired me to become a filmmaker included American Beauty and Mulholland Drive. But the earliest love I can remember of movies started at age 7, when my dad introduced me to two guys who have made me laugh probably more than any other actors.

My joy for the Laurel and Hardy films first grew out of the joy in hearing my father’s never-ending laughter. My dad has my favorite laugh of anyone I know, and it’s absolutely infectious. To this day I’ve never heard him laugh so hard at anything but the Laurel and Hardy shorts. As a kid, I wanted to watch the movies all the time because, I suppose, I loved to see my dad so happy. It’s just a natural reaction to love seeing one’s dad completely losing his composure in a fit of laughter. As I got older, still watching the films with my dad, I started to respect them more and more. Now, at 22, I finally understand just how special these two guys are and how we’ll never see anyone like them again.

Laurel and Hardy were teamed in the late 1920’s and they worked together throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s. The last 20’s featured many terrific silent films (my favorite being Big Business), and the late 30’s and 40’s featured many feature films (some of them rather luckluster). Their golden age was betweeen about 1930 and 1935, when they made a handful of special feature-length movies, including Pack Up Their Troubles, Sons of the Desert, and Way Out West, and their famous talkie shorts, which for my money offer the duo’s best work. There are very few duds in the talkie shorts, and many are just priceless. My favorites include Be Big, Helpmates, Towed in a Hole, Dirty Work, and Oliver the Eighth. But the best, and probably the most famous, is the Oscar-winning comedy short The Music Box.

The comedy of Laurel and Hardy stems from the natural and clear affection the men have for each other. The beautiful friendship they have in real life seems to go by unnoticed to most viewers of their films because the characters on-screen don’t always get along. Stan is always the quiet one trying to make things right, and Oliver is always scolding Stan for making things wrong. Their characters are always named Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and each film seems to work as a sequel to the last in terms of the basic relationship between the two. Every storyline is different, their jobs are typically different, but it’s just them.

The classic set-up is that Stan and Oliver have a job to do, and everything goes wrong. In Dirty Work, they have a simple task to just sweep a chimney. By the end of the film, the house is destroyed. In Towed in a Hole, they have a simple task to manage a boat. By the end of the film, the boat is destroyed. You can see the formula. In The Music Box, they a simple task to deliver a piano. It’s a formula that is pushed to the absolute brim with energy, mayhem, and imagination.

Here’s a movie that should be two minutes long. But it’s 30 minutes. How? The writers come up with a dozen ways to keep Stan and Oliver from getting that piano to its destination. The main idea is that they have to take the piano up a giant staircase, and then there’s a lot that complicates this already complicated feat. People block their way, they lose control of the piano at least four times, the front door won’t open so they have to hoist it up to the second floor. The gags are non-stop and absolutely hilarious for the entire running time. If one just watched it on a general level as a funny piece with gags, it works. But it also works as a showcase for two comedians to do what they do best with a purely funny premise as a backdrop.

For those who have never seen a Laurel and Hardy movie, I would start here. And for those who have never seen a Laurel and Hardy movie, how sad! I feel lucky to have a father who brought me up on these short films, because I’m not sure I could fully appreciate them if I had come at them cold at, say, age 20. The experience of watching one of the shorts is one filled with nostalgia. I always think of my dad, and I can’t wait to watch another one with him. To date almost all of the talkie shorts have not been released to DVD in the US (even though everything they’ve practically ever done is available on DVD in the UK). I feel like I have DVDs of everything I love. But there is still a hole missing. The day I can go to the store, buy all the talkie shorts, take a trip home, and spend an afternoon watching Laurel and Hardy shorts with my dad, will be one that’s come years too late. But it’ll be worth the wait.

When Oliver Hardy died, Stan Laurel never worked again, and he said at the time, “The world has lost a comedic genius. I’ve lost my best friend.” It’s the friendship that keeps these movies alive. It’s the friendship that keeps me going back. Laurel and Hardy were the best of friends, and they were and will forever be my heroes. These two guys were the first to make me love movies. And for that, I’m grateful.