Though colorful, this stretch of Sunset is barely more exciting than yesterday’s, in terms of something to write about. With one exception …

Where we parked our car on Vendome Street happens to be the location for one of the funniest movies ever made by Laurel and Hardy in their sound era. Or by anyone else, for that matter. It is “The Music Box,” an inspired two-reeler that, for the first reel, is solely concerned with the guys trying to move an upright piano up a long …

… long …

… loooooooong series of steps. Time after time the piano goes crashing down the steps into the street below, usually rolling over Oliver in the process. Finally, they get it to the top, and the mailman who had pointed out the address from below (and referred to the 131 steps as “the stoop), laughs at them. “You carried that all the way up here? If you’d just gone around, there’s a road that goes right to the top of the hill!” So they look at each other … and carry it back down to their truck.

The area has changed, but the steps are still there, and marked with a sign and a pretty banged up stone marker. In 1933 the lot to the south of the steps was empty, so the cameras were set up there. To the north were bungalows; now it’s a pretty solid wall. But it’s fun to stand at the bottom, look up, and imagine those great old comics working their magic on that very spot.

And now, once again, I hand you over to Lee for some great pictures …

April 29, 2006

© 2006 by John Varley; all rights reserved