by Mattie Lucas
Cinema from a Decidedly Queer Perspective
Laurel & Hardy: Year Two | 1928
Following their acclaimed Laurel & Hardy: Year One set, specialty label Flicker Alley has released a second look at the early days of their iconic partnership, compiling the ten silent shorts the pair made together in 1928 before transitioning to sound in 1929. While their sound films are arguably more well-known, the duo cut their teeth on silent comedy and were some of the few silent comedians to successfully transition from silents to the sound era.
In 1931, F.W. Murnau made his final film, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, on the island of Bora Bora. It was partly inspired by Robert Flaherty's 1926 documentary, Moana (no relation to the Disney film). Tabu would ultimately be Murnau's final film, he died in a car crash before the film was released. Both Tabu and Moana were examples of ethnographic films that sought to bring exotic locales to life for audiences of the silent era. I found myself thinking about both of these films as I watched Miguel Gomes' latest film, Grand Tour.