Comedy Giants : Laurel and Hardy Mural Towers Over Culver City Street Where They Made Their Early Films

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have reappeared on the same Culver City block where they filmed their early movies--only this time their image is larger than life.

The overall-clad comic duo appear in a 23-by-40-foot black and white mural finished last week by Francois Bardol. Painted on the back wall of Stellar Hardware, a fixture on Main Street since 1923, the pair’s familiar expressions of befuddlement and exasperation are drawing cheerful reviews.

“People absolutely go crazy when they see it,” said Rob Barber, the store’s co-owner. “We wanted something nonpolitical. We thought everyone loves Laurel and Hardy. And what a perfect choice it was.”

Barber’s choice also made historical sense. Laurel and Hardy films were made just a few blocks away at the now-defunct Hal Roach Studios. During filming, the city’s 320-foot long Main Street was often used for car scenes.

Barber and his partner, Jack Barton, kept the mural idea under wraps during a year of planning, fearing someone might copy it. They also had to obtain permission to use Laurel and Hardy’s image from the movie production firm that owns the copyright.

The public nature of the mural is especially important to Bardol.

“It’s wonderful,” said Bardol, 37, of Culver City. “Public is what art is supposed to be. It’s not to be kept just for the few people. To have art in public is a civilizing influence.”