Steve Coogan and John C Reilly star as Laurel and Hardy in Glasgow
A MOVIE about comedy greats Laurel and Hardy will recreate their final concert show at Glasgow’s legendary Empire Theatre.
In the picture, Stan & Ollie, Steve Coogan is cast as Laurel, who spent his childhood in Rutherglen, and Boogie Nights star John C Reilly is sidekick Hardy.
The setting for the Empire was recreated on a soundstage at studios outside London.
Sanjeev Kohli, Navid Harrid in the BBC sitcom Still Game, has been cast as the theatre’s boss who welcomes the famous double act for one last time.
Other notable casting includes Trainspotting’s Shirley Henderson, who will play Stan’s wife Lucille.
The story centres on the much-loved comedy pair’s 1953 British variety hall tour when attendances were disappointingly low, but they always managed to make each other laugh and charm their audiences.
𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕙𝕚𝕥, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕠 𝕔𝕒𝕟’𝕥 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕆𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖’𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘-𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕤, 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕆𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣’𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙.
Unlike their first visit to Glasgow in 1947 – when police on horses were needed to control the crowds in Glasgow city centre – the pair played only one week at the Empire.
This time there was no massed throng to greet them, and the whole week went off without so much as a ripple, much less a wave, of publicity.
The duo’s close relationship is explored in the picture and writer Jeff Pope says: “They are living and breathing characters, with flaws and shortcomings.”
Though born in England, Laurel joined his father working in the box office of Glasgow’s Metropole Theatre before moving on to the stage and then silent screen
