Had a few minutes between 4E and Ray Saturday, so I stopped by the Laurel & Hardy steps in Silver Lake.

Thanks, Doug. I wanted to go there earlier in the year, but my poor planning ruled it out.

I have to say, the steps aren't as impressive now as they were in the movie!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Thanks, Doug. I wanted to go there earlier in the year, but my poor planning ruled it out.

I have to say, the steps aren't as impressive now as they were in the movie!

I grew-up and have lived within ten miles of the steps for 55 years and have yet to pay my respects. Shame on me.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
I have to say, the steps aren't as impressive now as they were in the movie!

Yeah - that's Hollywood for you!

quote:

Originally posted by jkt:
I grew-up and have lived within ten miles of the steps for 55 years and have yet to pay my respects. Shame on me.

I know! That's worse than living within five hours of Edinburgh and never visiting Scotland.

Sorry, I won't do it again.

...impressive in the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_48V-BwNws

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:

quote:

Originally posted by jkt:
I grew-up and have lived within ten miles of the steps for 55 years and have yet to pay my respects. Shame on me.

I know! That's worse than living within five hours of Edinburgh and never visiting Scotland.

Sorry, I won't do it again.

In Phil's defense, there is a language barrier.

quote:

Originally posted by fjp451:
...impressive in the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_48V-BwNws

I showed this very YouTube scene to Mr B a couple weeks ago on my iPhone. He was amazed - and laughed heartily!

quote:

Originally posted by jkt:
In Phil's defense, there is a language barrier.

You have me there!

When I was in the
neighborhood of nine or ten years old...
...my dad got rid of an old upright piano that was in the basement. The problem was, of course, getting the darned musical contraption up the stairs to the alley, or at least outdoors. The way the house was built, you walked out of the basement, you walked into a small part of the house, all fully enclosed (an ancient add on)...where concrete steps went to the right, and to the left to doors that went outside. My dad finally chose rightly, to the right. And all along the way going up, the corners broke and chipped away from the concrete stairs.

Years later, many many many years later, I had the opportunity to walk those same stairs. And there, as if carved forever, were the chips and corners carved away by the moving piano.

And so, I wonder, is it possible....that those Music Box steps have never been fully repaired (let's say some attempt was made)...not fully repaired and dings and cracks and missing corners of those stairs still remain from the original Laurel and Hardy piano rolling down from high up to the street level? W0W!

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
The problem was, of course, getting the darned musical contraption up the stairs...

That's why you should always play a guitar rather than a piano.

quote:

My dad finally chose rightly, to the right.

Is this comment some thinly-veiled political point? (smiley face)

quote:

And so, I wonder, is it possible....that those Music Box steps have never been fully repaired?

Let's go find out. Meet me at 4E's Saturday morning at 11.30, and we'll go from there. It's in the neighbourhood. Then we'll go to King Kong at 2 pm.

Who's in?

Thanks, Doug Spaulding, for posting the pictures! How does the neighborhood seem now? A few years ago I talked to someone who said he'd never take anyone there again, as the last time he went, a murder occurred just ten minutes before.

Thanks, fjp451, for posting the You Tube clip! Obviously, the stairs were much more photogenic without the buildings and railings on either side. Not only has that changed, but so have the rules on police brutality! It seems the police had quite a reputation back then that the LAPD tried hard to change in the 1960s. If you watch "Adam-12," some episodes deal with the old-timers adjusting to the new rules--about not intimidating or roughing up suspects.

Nard, thanks for the insight on moving a real piano. I was wondering how they made the box in the movie light enough to do all it did (including apparently run over Ollie) and heavy enough to survive going up and down those steps. Would a balsa wood crate survive such treatment?

Doug and jkt: language barrier? I speak fluent Scots! Look: Hoots mon, there's a moose loose aboot this hoose.

Nard: I've posted this link before, but here is a detailed instructional film showing precisely how to move a piano up the stairs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzEBLa3PPk

dandy: I was just about to suggest that the magic of movies is such that they didn't actually have to have a piano inside that crate. But you beat me to it.

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
How does the neighborhood seem now? A few years ago I talked to someone who said he'd never take anyone there again, as the last time he went, a murder occurred just ten minutes before.

I was only there a few minutes, but it looked OK to me. No murders during the time I was there!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
Doug and jkt: language barrier? I speak fluent Scots! Look: Hoots mon, there's a moose loose aboot this hoose.

Phil: Post a picture of you eating Haggis and I'll believe it!