Hal Roach

Production

Hal Roach

Born — Died

1892-01-13 — 1992-11-02

Place of birth

Elmira, New York, USA

Known for

Production

Credits

60 titles

Harry Eugene Roach Sr. professionally known as Hal Roach, was an American film and television producer, director, and actor who was active from the 1910s to the 1990s. He is remembered today for producing a number of successes including the Laurel and Hardy franchise, the films of entertainer Charley Chase, and the Our Gang film comedy series.

Known for

Film credits

1910s · 4 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Way Out West poster
7.1

Stan and Ollie try to deliver the deed to a valuable gold mine to the daughter of a dead prospector. Unfortunately, the daughter's evil guardian is determined to have the gold mine for himself and his saloon-singer wife.

Way Out West

1937

Topper poster
6.7

Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.

Topper

1937

Swiss Miss poster
6.3

Stan and Ollie are mousetrap salesmen hoping for better business in Switzerland, with Stan's theory that because there is more cheese in Switzerland, there should be more mice.

Swiss Miss

1938

The Bohemian Girl poster
6.2

Stan and Ollie travel with a band of 18th-century Gypsies holding a nobleman's daughter.

The Bohemian Girl

1936

Pack Up Your Troubles poster
6.8

The story begins in 1917 with Stan and Ollie being drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in World War I. While in the Army, the pair befriend a man named Eddie Smith, who is killed by the enemy during a battle. After the war is over, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City, where they begin a quest to reunite Eddie's little daughter with her rightful family. The task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys discover just how many people in New York have the last name Smith.

Pack Up Your Troubles

1932

Safety Last! poster
7.7

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Safety Last!

1923

Safety Last! poster
7.7

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

Safety Last!

1923

Topper Returns poster
6.5

Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards, accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington, the intended victim. With Topper's help, Gail sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results.

Topper Returns

1941

Sons of the Desert poster
7.1

Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.

Sons of the Desert

1933

Sons of the Desert poster
7.1

Ollie and Stan deceive their wives into thinking they are taking a medically necessary cruise when they are really going to a lodge convention.

Sons of the Desert

1933

Hog Wild poster
7.0

First, Ollie can't find his hat. Then he and Stan attempt to install a rooftop radio antenna.

Hog Wild

1930

Block-Heads poster
7.0

It's 1938, but Stan doesn't know the war is over; he's still patrolling the trenches in France, and shoots down a French aviator. Oliver sees his old chum's picture in the paper and goes to visit Stan who has now been returned to the States and invites him back to his home.

Block-Heads

1938

Merrily We Live poster
7.0

Society matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest find is a handsome tramp who shows up at her doorstep and ends up in a chauffeur's uniform. He also catches the eye of Geraldine.

Merrily We Live

1938

The Devil's Brother poster
6.8

Two wannabe bandits join the service of a dashing nobleman, who secretly masquerades as Fra Diavolo, a notorious outlaw.

The Devil's Brother

1933

The Devil's Brother poster
6.8

Two wannabe bandits join the service of a dashing nobleman, who secretly masquerades as Fra Diavolo, a notorious outlaw.

The Devil's Brother

1933

The Battle of the Century poster
6.9

Fight manager takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect.

The Battle of the Century

1927

The Battle of the Century poster
6.9

Fight manager takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect.

The Battle of the Century

1927

Our Wife poster
7.1

Oliver is making plans to marry his sweetheart Dulcy with Stan as his best man, but the plans are thwarted when Dulcy's father sees a picture of Ollie and forbids the marriage. The couple plan to elope, and run away to a Justice of the Peace. After typical Laurel and Hardy blundering, they manage to sneak the girl away from her father's house.

Our Wife

1931

Moan & Groan, Inc. poster
6.2

The gang goes digging for treasure in an old abandoned house against Kennedy the Cop's wishes.

Moan & Groan, Inc.

1929

Pardon Us poster
6.4

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman.

Pardon Us

1931

One Million B.C. poster
5.8

One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tumak, a young cave man who strives to unite the uncivilized Rock Tribe and the peaceful Shell Tribe, Carole Landis as Loana, daughter of the Shell Tribe chief and Tumak's love interest, and Lon Chaney, Jr. as Tumak's stern father and leader of the Rock Tribe.

One Million B.C.

1940

One Million B.C. poster
5.8

One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tumak, a young cave man who strives to unite the uncivilized Rock Tribe and the peaceful Shell Tribe, Carole Landis as Loana, daughter of the Shell Tribe chief and Tumak's love interest, and Lon Chaney, Jr. as Tumak's stern father and leader of the Rock Tribe.

One Million B.C.

1940

Tit for Tat poster
7.0

Stan and Ollie have set up their own electrical appliance store but, unfortunately for them, the grocery right next door is run by the man and wife whom they encountered in "Them Thar Hills" (1935). Stan and Ollie go and visit to offer the hand of friendship, but the grocer again becomes convinced that Ollie and his wife are fooling around.

Tit for Tat

1935

Two Tars poster
6.8

Two sailors on shore leave rent a car and go on a drive with their dates, but soon get involved in a huge traffic jam with dozens of ill-tempered motorists. A minor collision sets off an escalating series of retaliations.

Two Tars

1928

Babes in Toyland poster
6.3

Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby, enraging him.

Babes in Toyland

1934

Beau Hunks poster
6.8

Stan and Ollie join the French Foreign Legion after Ollie's sweetheart rejects him.

Beau Hunks

1931

One Good Turn poster
6.9

Down and out Stan and Ollie beg for food from a friendly old lady who provides them with sandwiches. While eating, they overhear the lady's landlord tell her he's going to throw her out because she can't pay her mortgage. They don't realize that the old lady is really rehearsing for a play. Stan and Ollie decide to help the old lady by selling their car. During the auction a drunk puts a wallet in Stan's pocket. Ollie accuses Stan of robbing the old lady, but when the truth is revealed Stan takes revenge on Ollie.

One Good Turn

1931

Bonnie Scotland poster
6.6

Stan and Ollie stow away to Scotland expecting to inherit the MacLaurel estate. When things don't quite turn out that way, they unwittingly enlist in the Scottish army and are posted to India.

Bonnie Scotland

1935

About Face poster
6.6

Two Army sergeants disrupt a bar, a party and an Army-Navy dance.

About Face

1942

The Fixer Uppers poster
6.8

Stan and Ollie are greeting card salesmen who agree to help a woman put a spark in her loveless marriage by making her husband jealous.

The Fixer Uppers

1935

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case poster
6.9

The boys think their days of fishing to feed themselves have come to an end, when Stan's rich uncle Ebenezer dies leaving a large estate. But they soon learn that Ebenezer was murdered and all the relatives, including Stan, are suspects.

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case

1930

The Music Box poster
7.5

The Laurel & Hardy Moving Co. have a challenging job on their hands (and backs): hauling a player piano up a monumental flight of stairs to Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen's house. Their task is complicated by a sassy nursemaid and, unbeknownst to them, the impatient Prof. von Schwarzenhoffen himself. But the biggest problem is the force of gravity, which repeatedly pulls the piano back down to the bottom of the stairs.

The Music Box

1932

Call of the Cuckoo poster
5.8

Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.

Call of the Cuckoo

1927

Unaccustomed as We Are poster
7.0

Laurel and Hardy try to entertain a female neighbor, unbeknown to Hardy’s wife.

Unaccustomed as We Are

1929

Unaccustomed as We Are poster
7.0

Laurel and Hardy try to entertain a female neighbor, unbeknown to Hardy’s wife.

Unaccustomed as We Are

1929

Bacon Grabbers poster
6.4

Two debt collectors try to repossess a console radio.

Bacon Grabbers

1929

Bumping Into Broadway poster
6.9

A young playwright spends his last cent to pay the past-due rent for the pretty dancer who's his boarding house next-door neighbor. Soon after, he winds up at a gambling club, where he wins big - just before a police raid.

Bumping Into Broadway

1919

Bumping Into Broadway poster
6.9

A young playwright spends his last cent to pay the past-due rent for the pretty dancer who's his boarding house next-door neighbor. Soon after, he winds up at a gambling club, where he wins big - just before a police raid.

Bumping Into Broadway

1919

Towed in a Hole poster
7.0

Although they are successful fishmongers, Stan convinces Ollie that they should become fishermen too, but making a boat seaworthy isn't an easy task.

Towed in a Hole

1932

Laughing Gravy poster
7.2

Stan and Ollie try to hide their pet dog Laughing Gravy from their exasperated, mean tempered landlord, who has a "No Pets" policy.

Laughing Gravy

1931