March of the Wooden Soldiers: The Amazing Story of Laurel and Hardy’s “Babes in Toyland”

On this day in 1934 Hal Roach released his deeply twisted Christmas classic Babes in Toyland a.k.a. March of the Wooden Soldiers starring Laurel and Hardy et al. It’s the day of the year when I usually re-share my 2014 post about the film, with all of its links to my posts on the various artists connected with the film. Today, however, there’s fresh news to report. Author Randy Skretvedt, whom I’ve come to regard as THE Laurel and Hardy man, has just released his new book about the film and related topics such as the original 1903 Victor Herbert operetta, and the subsequent screen adaptations. It looks to be the definitive tome on the topic (Skretvedt is the real deal) so it’s definitely going to be a must as a holiday gift for the classic comedy and Christmas cultists in your life. Definitely order a copy. And while you wait for it to arrive, feel free to peruse my more modest explication here.