"Duck Soup"

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear in the two-reel short "Duck Soup" (Hal Roach/Pathé, 1927) as the first time they were paired together as comedy leads. Fred Guiol directed. The film starts in MacArthur Park where the boys are trying to elude forest rangers who are determined to conscript them to fight forest fires. A chase ensues, we go to Culver City and then it's time for downtown.

 

Here we're heading south on Grand Ave. toward 7th St. The light-colored three story building to the left of Stan's head is the Criterion Theatre, 642 S. Grand Ave. The building with the arches on the right side of the image is now called the Milano Lofts.

The theatre had opened as the Kinema in 1917. For a history and a number of photos see the Criterion Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site.

Thanks to John Bengtson for all the research and screenshots appearing here. You can read all about his discoveries on his 2020 Silent Locations post "How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup." Also see John's 2023 update that's celebrating a Flicker Alley Blu-ray release "Laurel and Hardy: Year One." Dave Lord Heath has also done a post about "Duck Soup."

Still looking south on Grand but this shot was done farther up on Bunker Hill. We're approaching 5th St. with the now-vanished Biltmore Garage on the left and the Biltmore Theatre hiding just beyond, on the southeast corner of Grand and 5th. Across the street to the right we see the grounds of the Central Library.

Another shot a bit closer to 5th. John notes that the Biltmore Garage was also seen in the 1934 Carole Lombard film "The Gay Bride." That wall we see of the theatre is the back wall of the stagehouse. The entrance was around the corner on 5th.

A view looking back up Grand toward 5th. On the right is the back end of the Biltmore, with a poster up for "Ben-Hur," a film that played a roadshow engagement at the theatre.

The theatre, adjacent to the Biltmore Hotel, opened in 1924. See the Biltmore Theatre page on the Los Angeles Theatres site for some photos and data.

By the time we're a bit over five minutes into the film it's done with downtown and off to Beverly Hills. The film ends with Stan and Oliie fighting a fire near the Hal Roach Studios after they are dragooned by the rangers.

On IMDb: "Duck Soup"   A 21+ minute version of the film is on YouTube from TwinHat.