To The Last Page

Although ‘he’ is never actually named, there’s no question that the third-person pronoun that is the subject of John Connolly’s surprising new novel is based on the life of the partner of one Oliver Norvell ‘Babe’ Hardy, the two of them forming the greatest comedy partnership in movie history. Over the course of the book ‘he’s’ reminiscences reflect on the likes of Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Leo McCarey, Hal Roach, Mack Sennet and other names now mostly forgotten from this period like Larry Semon and Broncho Billy Anderson, who were nonetheless influential names in the Golden Age of Hollywood Comedy. It was also the Golden Age of Hollywood vice and scandal, and Connolly’s novel quickly demolishes any remaining romanticised view you might have had of the movie stars of the silent era, the comedy short and the expansion of the industry into feature films. It might also cause you to view the beloved and untouchable duo of Laurel and Hardy in a new light, but while Conno...