# ID this Laurel & Hardy Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 27, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864 "2023-01-27T01:43:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/1 "2023-01-27T01:43:58Z")
Trying to ID a Laurel & Hardy movie. All I remember is a scene where they had been locked in the basement of the Empire State Building. They thought they were on a submarine and were turning all the valves to try a sink it. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/2 "2023-01-27T01:47:33Z")
[Who Was That Lady?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Was_That_Lady%3F) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/3 "2023-01-27T01:52:32Z")
Well, I’m old, but I was sure it was Laurel & Hardy, but maybe not. I’ll have to look on you tube. Thanks for the hint. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/4 "2023-01-27T02:06:00Z")
This is the movie/play of which _ **True Lies** _ was a loose remake. In the first movie, Tony Curtis’s wife was played by Janet Leigh; in the second, Ahrnold’s wife was Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Tony and Janet IRL. I caught _ **Who Was That Lady?** _ on TV one night after I had seen _ **True Lies** _. I thought it looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it until it came to the “torture” scene, which was a dead giveaway. (Larry Storch made a great villain!) It’s odd that I don’t recall it being in B&W; maybe I was watching a colorized version. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/5 "2023-01-27T04:30:44Z")
I was a big fan of L&H in my teens and 20s (I’m 67 now), and I believe I saw _most_ of their shorts and features at least once, and I’m quite sure that I never saw a scene like that. Given my failing memory, and the possibility that I may have somehow missed one or two titles, I won’t say definitively that it’s not L&H, but it just doesn’t _feel_ like them. I will be truly shocked if that scene was in a L&H film. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/6 "2023-01-27T04:53:18Z")
I guess it’s a false memory then. But I think I remember Stan doing his kind of whining and panicking as they turn all the valves they can find. I looked on you tube and “who was that lady” seems not to be there. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/7 "2023-01-27T05:11:24Z")
Well, just to prove the fallibilty of my memory, when I searched on “Laurel and Hardy” and “submarine,” I turned up this film, _[The Big Noise](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Noise_(1944_film))_, which I certainly never saw, and the title of which I have zero recollection. If you had asked me ten minutes ago if the boys ever made a film with that title, I would have answered no with a pretty high degree of confidence. (To be fair to myself, it is one of their last _and least_ movies.) Unfortunately for you, however, if you read the Wikipedia summary, you’ll see that it does not seem to include the scene you remember. As a former vice president once said, what a waste it is to lose one’s mind, or not to have a mind. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/8 "2023-01-27T05:15:22Z")
Yeah, I looked at that one, but it’s not it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/9 "2023-01-27T10:08:42Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I looked on you tube and “who was that lady” seems not to be there. Are these images close? [![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/c/c26fdf109df4e7c72c108581416b1f85d033483b.jpeg) ](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/c/c26fdf109df4e7c72c108581416b1f85d033483b.jpeg) [![](http://cartelesmix.es/cartelesdecine/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/quieneraesachica60108.jpg) ](http://cartelesmix.es/cartelesdecine/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/quieneraesachica60108.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/10 "2023-01-27T14:26:04Z")
Yes! I think you’ve got it! Must go reprogram memory bank. I hope I don’t need to reformat… 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/11 "2023-01-27T14:31:37Z")
I never really noticed it before, but: Tony Curtis, when young and slim and doing a taken-aback look that’s not _quite_ wide-eyed, really does have more than a bit of Stan Laurel about him… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/12 "2023-01-27T15:33:51Z")
So did Dick van Dyke. I think it was common back then. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/13 "2023-01-27T20:49:35Z")
Van Dyke « borrowed » a lot from Stan Laurel, as he acknowledges here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oUJ93Jtll1M/maxresdefault.jpg "Dick Van Dyke talks about how he met Stan Laurel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJ93Jtll1M) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/14 "2023-01-27T21:05:24Z")
I remember when Stan passed away in 1965. Dick hosted an hour-long tribute to him on CBS: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/euUslWqNH5Q/hqdefault.jpg "A SALUTE TO STAN LAUREL (1965)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euUslWqNH5Q) I grew up watching Laurel and Hardy late Saturday nights on WCCO in Minneapolis. They were the last thing on before the station signed off around 2:00 or 3:00 am. I was already familiar with their shorts by the time I was five. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-laurel-hardy-movie/978864/15 "2023-01-30T15:19:41Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I was a big fan of L&H in my teens and 20s (I’m 67 now), and I believe I saw _most_ of their shorts and features at least once, and I’m quite sure that I never saw a scene like that. > > Given my failing memory, and the possibility that I may have somehow missed one or two titles, I won’t say definitively that it’s not L&H, but it just doesn’t _feel_ like them. I will be truly shocked if that scene was in a L&H film. I agree! I think I’ve seen all of the L&H movies and shorts. My son was on a L&H kick from the age of 2 until the end of his life. We watched every one of them multiple times. The OPs description is not a bit familiar.