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The Music Box Overview:

The Music Box (1932) was a Short Films - Film directed by James Parrott and produced by Hal Roach.

SYNOPSIS:

Stan and Ollie of the Laurel & Hardy Moving Company attempt to deliver a player piano to "1127 Walnut Avenue" -- the house "right on top of the stoop." But, as luck would have it, the "top of the stoop" is atop a seemingly endless flight of stairs, and the duo must contend with some crazy mishaps and comic characters along the way.

The film stars legendary duo, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, with support from Lilyan Irene (a sassy nursemaid), Sam Lufkin (an angry police officer), and Billy Gilbert as the ever-impatient Professor von Schwarzenhoffen!

The Music Box won the first Academy Award for Live Action Short Film (Comedy) in 1932, and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1997 by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Source: article by Annmarie Gatti

For pictures of my visit to The Music Box Steps, click here.

(Source: article by Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub)

The Music Box was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1997.

Academy Awards 1931/32 --- Ceremony Number 5 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Live Action ShortHal Roach, ProducerWon
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The Music Box BlogHub Articles:

Doris Day gets her due at The Music Box Theatre

By Stephen Reginald on Nov 1, 2019 From Classic Movie Man

Doris Day gets her due at The Music Box Theatre For several weekends now, The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, has been screening classic Doris Day movies. The series is titled “The Inimitable Doris Day” and the films have been screened, for the most part on Satur... Read full article

2018 Noir City Chicago August 17 – 23 at the Music Box

By Stephen Reginald on Jul 23, 2018 From Classic Movie Man

2018 Noir City Chicago August 17 – 23 at the Music Box FRI, AUG 17TH, 2018 TO THU, AUG 23RD, 2018 Festival Passes - $85 GA/$75 MBT Members | Opening Night Tickets - $12 GA/$9 MBT Members | Single Feature Tickets - $11 GA/$7 MBT Members Doube Feature Tickets - $15 GA/$12 MBT Members (Incl... Read full article

Classic Movie Travels: The Music Box Steps

By Annmarie Gatti on Jun 16, 2016 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Walking in the Steps of Laurel and Hardy! The Music Box Steps have long been high on my list of must-see classic movie sites. But, even I was surprised by the overwhelming giddiness I felt when my doppelganger film-fan-friends* and I piled into a car and commenced on our quest to find the infamo... Read full article

Hitchcock/Truffaut at the Music Box

By Stephen Reginald on Dec 26, 2015 From Classic Movie Man

Hitchcock/Truffaut at the Music Box Hitchcock/Truffaut is a new documentary, directed by Kent Jones, playing at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL, through December 31, 2015. In 1962, Francois Truffaut persuaded Alfred Hitchcock to sit with him for a week long interview... Read full article

"Sparrows" Lands at the Music Box

By Janelle Vreeland on Apr 18, 2013 From Curtains

"Lillian Gish is the kind of woman who needs to be saved from the ice floe. Mary Pickford is the kind of woman who will save you from the ice floe." - Christel Schmidt Mary Pickford will forever be the spunky, tough young woman with the angelic face and head full of golden curls. Although she did... Read full article

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The Music Box Quotes:

Stan: Don't you think you're bounding over your step?
Ollie: Where there's a will, there's a way.
Nursemaid: And not only that, he kicked me.
Policeman: He kicked you?
Nursemaid: Yes, officer, right in the middle of my daily duty.
Policeman: Oh, he kicked you did he?
Ollie: That's the house up there; right on top of the stoop.
Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen: Gentlemen, is there anything I can do to show you how sorry I am?
Ollie: [smiling] Just sign here.
[as he takes the top off the pen, ink explodes into the Professor's face. He chases Stan and Ollie out of the house. Fade]
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The Music Box Facts
The mansion at the top of the stairs was not really at the top of the stairs, but was a set on the Hal Roach Studios lot. The actual stairs led to a cul-de-sac.
The film was reportedly half-improvised and was made mostly as a contractual obligation between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and Hal Roach.
The monumental staircase in the film still exists, in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles, between 923 and 937 Vendome Street. There are 131 steps.
According to a 1960s interview with Billy Gilbert for the Blackhawk Films catalog, the object Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had to carry up the stairs was changed from a washing machine (in the earlier silent version, Hats Off) to a piano because a piano, while heavy and massive, is also delicate. Gilbert also said that several dummy pianos were made up for the film, and a number of them were completely destroyed. He used a German accent in the film to avoid confusion with James Finlayson and Edgar Kennedy, who also played comic villains in Laurel and Hardy movies.
This is reported to be a remake of one of their earlier silent films, Hats Off, which is presumed lost.
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