Laurel and Hardy in The Battle of the Century (1927) 

Lou Costello is really hard to spot because he’s much younger and much thinner. Also, Bud Abbott isn’t with him. Lol! There’s a relatively good shot of him at 2:14.

Costello failed in his attempts to enter the movies at this time. He left Hollywood, returning to New Jersey, where he ended up meeting Bud Abbott -- and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Tunney-Dempsey fight was September 22, 1927. BATTLE was released to theaters on December 31, 1927 -- a pretty quick turn-around, even for the silent era!

hey at what time do you see costello? thanks

@@misterme795 Costello can be seen around the 5:53 minute Mark on in the bottom right corner. He's right in between two guys with the handkerchief in his left pocket. Wikipedia "He (Costello) can also be spotted sitting ringside in the Laurel and Hardy film The Battle of the Century (1927)."

Glad you enjoyed it! You are welcome.

@@MediaArchiveMike broadcasting these films is important job, not just for us senior citizens but for newer generations to see also, as they sadly stopped airing on television many decades ago. i thank you again sir. God Bless 🌺

I agree. the sound tone alone tells you the music is from a different century than what's going on in the film.

@@xak999 You're right. That might be why it's so jarring.

Thanks for that intro to Bix. Googled the word. Realized Dorsey was kickin it w him at the time. Picked out Davenport Blues out of the blue. Replayed battle of the Century w/ Bix, as you suggested, and everything is back aligned in the universe.

@@juano578 LOL! :)

The soundtrack was slapped together from Public Domain recordings to avoid copyright infringement. The score on the commercial release of this film (L&H Definitive Restorations) is a wonderful -- COPYRIGHTED -- score! Richard W. Bann's commentary track on the DVD and BluRay releases (which is longer than the 18-1/2 minute film) is wonderful and informative.

Yes it was.

For over 55 years, only 3-1/2 minutes of the pie fight was extant, comprised of the footage of BATTLE OF THE CENTURY that was used in Robert Youngson's compilation THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY in 1957. In 1975, Leonard Maltin discovered a nitrate copy of the first reel of the film in the archives of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. The footage was restored to the film, but is missing about 1-1/2 minutes from the end of the reel. Production stills and captions filled the gap. In 2015, film collector Dr. Jon Mirsalis discovered that he had the complete second reel of BATTLE in a 16mm print down from the original 35mm camera negative. It had been made by Robert Youngson as a reference when he was producing his hit 1957 compilation. The 400-foot reel of 16mm film sat unnoticed for 58 years, having gone through many collectors' hands following Youngson's death. Everyone presumed the reel of film was just the 3-1/2 minute long sequence used in GOLDEN AGE. Mirsalis realized the reel was a full 400 feet rather than a mere 50 feet, and when he screened the film, he discovered he had "found" a long-lost part of comedy film history. He had a new negative made of the positive 16mm print, and the film was digitally restored. Since then, the print has since fallen victim to "vinegar syndrome," so the discovery and restoration came in the nick of time or the complete second reel would have been lost to history! The only commercial release of the footage is on the DVD "Laurel & Hardy -- the Definitive Restorations" -- All films from 1927 and earlier are now in the Public Domain. THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY was released on December 31, 1927.

@@tracym.tolzmann3596 Thank You for sharing this information.

The commentary track would be on the DVD release, I think it was part of a Laurel and Hardy boxset. You can Google it to be sure which release it is on before you try to find it on Amazon or Ebay.

This was uploaded from the Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations, available on DVD and Blu ray.

@@85gripen Thank You.

The film image is in the Public Domain -- the audio commentary tracks are newly copyrighted, as is the score for the film that was custom-made for the DVD release "Definitive Restorations," so they are NOT PD. The soundtrack on this RU-vid posting is made up of Public Domain recordings and not specifically synchronized to the film.

She was the woman Stan Laurel kept chasing in Putting Pants on Philip, also released in 1927. My favorite is Anita Garvin slipping on the pie in The Battle of the Century though. Her appearance was a favor to the boys during lunch break shooting another film on the Roach lot. She did it in one take!

Actually, I believe that’s Clara Guiol, who also was pied in Shivering Shakespeare (Our Gang) two years later. Leonard Maltin has often confused the two.

@@jb20092009 IMDB believes this to be Dorothy Coburn... "Dorothy Coburn’s credits: Pie Victim Boarding Auto (uncredited)"

He had a unique skill! Glad it got documented here! 🙂

I tried!