By Mark McConville
STUNNING colourised pictures of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy have been released to coincide with the new film about the famous comics.
The incredible images show the svelte Laurel and plump Hardy smirking as they look side on at the camera, speaking with each other and posing with props while dressed as prisoners.
Other striking shots show Laurel pulling a funny face for the photographer, Hardy smiling as he puts on a tie and Hardy staring in bemusement as Laurel gives him a thumbs up.
The original black and white photographs were painstakingly colourised by housewife Nicola Branson (47) from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK.
“Laurel and Hardy was a childhood memory for myself and my sister, and a few others of the silent movie era,” she said.
“Even without words these style of actors had the ability to make people laugh with their crazy antics.
“The photos I decided to enhance with colour, show the comical side and personal sides of Laurel and Hardy through twenty years of their professional lives.
“I’m looking forward to watching the new film release showing the aftermath of their famous working life and how they dealt with the new era of film and its  introduction of colour and sound.”
Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird from a screenplay by Jeff Pope. Based on the lives of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, the film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Laurel and Hardy were a comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. The team was composed of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). They became well known during the late 1920s through the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous bully Hardy.
“I enjoy bringing that person or persons in the black and white photo to life, where upon seeing the digital colour added people’s amazement of how they may have remembered that person in life,” added Nicola.
“To bring back memories some people may have forgotten or not noticed on an original black and white photo. Restoring also brings back details that may have been lost over time.”
