“The Music Box” (1932) is a Laurel and Hardy MGM comedy that won the first Academy Award for Best Live Action Short (Comedy). In 1997, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, as it is probably one of the most popular shorts that the team made. The premise is that the two are attempting to move a piano up a large flight of stairs into the home of the woman who purchased it as a birthday surprise for her husband. Below, Oliver points to the long flight of steps that they must climb WITH the piano.
How that flight of stairs looks today. Yes, they are still around!
There’s even have a sign denoting their historic landmark status:
Another view of the steps from the 1932 film:
A badly worn plaque is embedded into the steps:
As you can imagine, the boys struggle with the crated piano. Multiple times they manage to get about halfway up, and then the crate slides back down to the bottom.
One of these comedy bits involves Lilyan Irene, who plays a nursemaid. Needing the boys to get out of her, of course this causes them to lose the piano, once again. Irene mainly had a career of uncredited roles in movies such as “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935), “The Little Princess” (1939), “Journey for Margaret” (1942), “Till the Clouds Roll By” (1946), and her final film, “Million Dollar Mermaid” (1952.
At the bottom of the stairs, things get nasty between the three, involving a kick in the nurse’s behind, a slap to Laurel…
and a bottom of milk over Hardy’s head. Don’t mess with the babysitter!
In another bit, you can see poor Hardy getting steamrolled by the crate as it soars back down to ground zero:
The classic Hardy stare:
How the view down the steps looks today:
The matching down view from the movie:
The boys do finally reach the top, where we see this side shot of Laurel:
…followed by a cut to a set built on a soundstage.
While the top of the stairs doesn’t have the ornate home from the movie, it does have some vintage-styled lamp posts:
A sign exists at the top of the stairs as well:
And yes, I climbed up all 133 steps, but did not make Willis do so. He stayed behind for this one.
See more Laurel and Hardy Music Box steps photos at my main website.
