Hal Roach Studios in the 1960s | The Birthplace of Laurel & Hardy | A Hollywood Legend

[00:00:00]This is what a real creature seeing. A street in Central Town, a street on one of the more famous movie lots of Hollywood, the Howal Roach Studios. How Roach Studios is going up on the auction block. With me today, a pioneer in film making, a man who's been in it for almost half a century, Hal Roach, Senior. Mr. Roach, I suppose this particular movie lot holds a lot of memories for you, doesn't it?

[00:00:23]>> A great mention. Many memories.

[00:00:27]In fact, this is sort of a place that latch built >> that means that heroid and what are the other comedies that were made here? So number of people at Burous some of the >> [clears throat] >> uh more prominent ones were let me see uh Gene Harow, Edgar Bergman, Milan Monroe, Luffy Bis, Carol Landis, Constantine Joan Bennett, Kat BB Daniels, and Janet Gayard to mention only a few of the girls who worked here.

[00:01:04]And then the men Harold Lide, Lauren Hardy, Carrie Grass, Bing Crosby, our gang, now the little rascals on television, Charlie Chase, Salatard, and Zu Pittz, and Paty Kell are just some of the comedians that worked here in the thousands of two wheel and onehe comedies that were made on this l.

[00:01:25]>> At times, I suppose you can almost hear the laughter ring across the lot. Well, >> rang across the nation for so many years.

[00:01:32]Well, you don't hear much of it now.

[00:01:35]Pretty quiet around here while they're waiting for the sale.

[00:01:39]>> When was this lot built?

[00:01:40]>> 1919.

[00:01:42]This was a bean field.

[00:01:44]And uh we started as a open air studio.

[00:01:49]We didn't have lights at that time. Then lights came in and we enclosed the stages and finally soundproof them for sound.

[00:01:57]Then during the war I was in the air force and the air force took over the studio.

[00:02:04]>> What did the air force do here during the war?

[00:02:05]>> They made besides some training films some very important runs on uh motion pictures simulating the bombing of the Japanese and the far east countries.

[00:02:18]>> And what about after the war? What happened here?

[00:02:21]>> Well, after the war we went into television production mostly. They made a few more comedies, but from then on it was almost exclusively television production.

[00:02:31]>> And now the lots to be sold. Is it still a valuable property?

[00:02:33]>> Oh yes, it's valuable from a real estate standpoint and it's a very usable studio. We have six sound stages and every facility that is necessary to make flying motion pictures and television.

[00:02:47]How Ro Senior of the How Studios to go on the auction block.

[00:02:53]That's the story of a studio. Quiet now, but one that will always hold memories for the American movie goer. As Mr. Roach says, it's the place where laughs were built. Alman, ABC, Hollywood, that it >> isn't there one name you've left off, Mr. Roach?

[00:03:15]>> Oh, yes. One of the greatest humorists of all, Will Rogers. He started his motion picture career at this studio.

[00:03:26]>> You You have something?

[00:03:27]>> Oh, yeah. I want to I want to put my You need me in there? No, sir. No, sir.

[00:03:34]I don't think these streets in the studio that last quiet now, but they'll hold memories for the American moviegoing public for years. Al Man, ABC Hollywood.