BOOTLEG FILES 925: “A Salute to Stan Laurel” (1965 TV special with an all-star cast).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Not cleared for home entertainment release.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Doesn’t seem likely at the moment.
You may be wondering why there is a photo of Fred Gwynne’s Herman Munster on top of an article about “A Salute to Stan Laurel.” After all, “The Munsters” share no common ground with Stan Laurel, either as a solo performer or in his teamwork with Oliver Hardy. However, the inclusion of Herman Munster – playing a violin, no less – in a celebration of Stan Laurel is typical of the incoherent nature of this bizarre production, which arguably deserves to be considered on any list of the worst television specials of all time.
Laurel passed away on February 24, 1965, at the age of 74. Nine months later, CBS put forth a television special called “A Salute to Stan Laurel.” Why did it take nine months for this tribute to get produced and released? It is a mystery, to be certain, but even more mysterious is why this tribute mostly ignores its subject. Indeed, “A Salute to Stan Laurel” offers no biographical insight into the British-born funnyman’s life and career.
This special is hosted by Dick Van Dyke, who knew Laurel during his final years and delivered the eulogy at his funeral. Van Dyke had no creative control over this offering, which only included a handful of scenes from Laurel and Hardy silent comedies that were being excerpted in Robert Youngson’s then-current compilation release “Laurel & Hardy’s Laughing 20s” – but those clips are not identified by title, and they gave the false impression that the celebrated duo were merely silent movie slapstick comics.
The special begins by assaulting the viewer via a silly song-and-dance sequence with men in fat costumes (pretending to be Hardy) jumping about with women who are supposed to be Laurel – everyone wears the derby headgear that was the duo’s trademark. The sequence is too silly for words, but at least an effort was made to recall Laurel and Hardy.
Perhaps the most famous segment of this production was a pantomime set in a park featuring Buster Keaton, Lucille Ball, and Harvey Korman. Keaton was terminally ill and would pass away a few months after taping this, but he effortlessly presents sublime physical comedy while Ball steps back from her usual front-and-center persona to support Keaton in his antics. Korman is barely recognizable as a cop who plays the villain in the piece. It’s a cute little offering, but it has nothing to do with Stan Laurel.
From there, the rest of the segments spend more time riffing on the supposed protocols of silent film production, with no regard to Laurel’s output or the Laurel and Hardy modus operandi. Bob Newhart does a monologue as a film director, Audrey Meadows spoofs the serials popularized by Pearl White, an extended sequence about the disastrous direction of a silent movie romance features Cesar Romero and Tina Louise being upstaged by Louis Nye’s obstreperous mood music violinist – Herman Munster crashes through a door as Nye’s replacement – and Phil Silvers waxes with faux nostalgia over his alleged silent movie childhood.
Van Dyke adds to the confusion with a bumbling-stumbling bit that looks like an outtake from his sitcom. Carl Reiner, the creator of Van Dyke’s show, was among the writers on this debacle, but his comedy style is nowhere to be seen. The entire production is saddled with a blatantly phony laugh track that only accentuates its absence of mirth.
The one moment where Laurel is in the spotlight involves a very serious Danny Kaye posing with the honorary Academy Award presented to Laurel in 1961. Kaye accepted this on his behalf during the awards ceremony and a few seconds of home movie of Laurel clowning with the statuette is shown. Another serious note has Gregory Peck (of all people) coming out to discuss the Motion Picture Relief Fund, which was receiving a donation based on the production.
“A Salute to Stan Laurel” was broadcast on CBS on November 23, 1965, and was widely panned for failing to salute Stan Laurel. William K. Everson, in his groundbreaking 1967 book “The Films of Laurel and Hardy,” dismissed the production as “banal and insulting” while Van Dyke later expressed unhappiness at the finished product.
This production has never been made available in any commercial home entertainment release, but an unauthorized posting is on YouTube. And, in fairness, it should be acknowledged that the irrelevant Herman Munster cameo is the funniest bit in this otherwise dismally unfunny mess.
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Randy Skretvedt said that the special was the idea of Saturday Evening Post photographer Gene Lester, a fan and friend of Laurel, which would’ve centered more around Laurel and why he was important, but at some point Lester lost creative control of the show to network people who “knew” how to make television, and things went predictably south from there. A passion project got hijacked by business as usual.
Your one piece I couldn’t read. I watched this when it aired (I was 9 years old) and even then I knew it was terrible, and had nothing to do with Stan. I didn’t want to revive unpleasant memories.