The Battle of the Century

19271927
PassedPassed
19min

Oliver Hardy, Dorothy Coburn, Charlie Hall, and Stan Laurel in The Battle of the Century (1927)

Fight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant f... Read allFight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results.Fight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results.Fight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results.Fight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results.

Directors
- Clyde Bruckman
- Leo McCarey(supervised by)
Writers
- H.M. Walker(titles)
- Hal Roach(uncredited)
Stars
- Stan Laurel
- Oliver Hardy
- Jack Adams(uncredited)

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 1 win

Ellinor Vanderveer in The Battle of the Century (1927)

Ellinor Vanderveer in The Battle of the Century (1927)

Ellinor Vanderveer in The Battle of the Century (1927)

Oliver Hardy, Charlie Hall, and Stan Laurel in The Battle of the Century (1927)

Dorothy Coburn in The Battle of the Century (1927)

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

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

Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and Eugene Pallette in The Battle of the Century (1927)

The Battle of the Century (1927)

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

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

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

Stanleyas Stanley

Manageras Manager

Undetermined Roleas Undetermined Role
(uncredited)

Pie Victim in Top Hatas Pie Victim in Top Hat
(uncredited)

Corner Manas Corner Man
(uncredited)
…

Pie Victim Boarding Autoas Pie Victim Boarding Auto
(uncredited)

Ringside Spectatoras Ringside Spectator
(uncredited)

George B. French

Dentistas Dentist
(uncredited)

Woman Who Slips on Pieas Woman Who Slips on Pie
(uncredited)

Sewer Workeras Sewer Worker
(uncredited)

Barberas Barber
(uncredited)

Pie Deliverymanas Pie Deliveryman
(uncredited)

Bit Partas Bit Part
(uncredited)

Ringside Spectatoras Ringside Spectator
(uncredited)

Ringside Spectatoras Ringside Spectator
(uncredited)

Boxing Refereeas Boxing Referee
(uncredited)

Spectatoras Spectator
(uncredited)

Ring Announceras Ring Announcer
(uncredited)

Directors
- Clyde Bruckman
- Leo McCarey(supervised by)
Writers
- H.M. Walker(titles)
- Hal Roach(uncredited)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

Berth Marks

7.0

Two Tars

7.3

Hog Wild

7.6

Helpmates

7.8

Come Clean

7.3

The Second 100 Years

6.9

The Second 100 Years

The Finishing Touch

7.3

The Finishing Touch

One Good Turn

7.2

Wrong Again

7.1

Unaccustomed As We Are

7.1

Unaccustomed As We Are

Do Detectives Think?

6.9

Do Detectives Think?

We Faw Down

7.0

Fight manager (Hardy) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Laurel) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results. —Herman Seifer <alagain@aol.com>

1920s laurel and hardy fight manager hit with a pie national film registry 2 more

Taglines
- The comedy that you've read about, heard about, and waited for. (Print Ad- Eugene Register-Guard, ((Eugene, Ore.)) 30 January 1928)
Genres
- Short
- Comedy
Certificate
- Passed
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
For years only the pie fight sequence had survived in a somewhat condensed version, as prepared for inclusion in the Robert Youngson documentary The Golden Age of Comedy (1957). There was one video restoration by the Museum of Modern Art in the 1970s that used portions of the script, combined with still photographs, to give an idea of what the first reel was like. Blackhawk Films released this sequence. The complete second reel was located in 2014 and restored to this short. It was a 16mm safety from the collection of Robert Youngson.

Goofs
In the final scene, a woman slips and does a pratfall onto a pie on the sidewalk, but when she gets up to leave, the sidewalk is free of pie debris.

Connections
Edited into The Golden Age of Comedy (1957)

Top review

Very Funny Even in Fragmented Form

In its original form, this was probably one of the best of all of the Laurel & Hardy short comedies. It's too bad that it no longer exists in complete form, but what remains is still very entertaining. It has an even better variety of gag material than usual, with excellent timing and a good supporting cast to help out. The prize fight sequence is a hilarious take-off on the controversial Dempsey-Tunney fight that at the time was still fresh in everybody's mind. The pie fight sequence is still as good as or better than the many attempts to imitate it. It combines escalating chaos with plenty of creative gags. The now-missing portions of the film seem to have tied everything else together very nicely. The Nostalgia Archive reconstruction at least gives you some idea of what it would have been like in its original form, by using the continuity scripts. And even in the fragmented form that remains, it's very funny.

helpful•14

2

Snow Leopard
Feb 18, 2002

List: Wacky boxing

Release date
- December 31, 1927 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Official site
- Official Site
Languages
- None
- English
Also known as
- Битва століття
Filming locations
- Culver City, California, USA
Production company
- Hal Roach Studios
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Runtime
- 19min
Color
- Black and White
Sound mix
- Silent
Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1

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