He Made a Fine Mess of Things : Film: Hal Roach, the man who gave the world Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, 'Our Gang' and a million laughs, is honored this week as he celebrates his 100th birthday.

By BERNICE HIRABAYASHI

Jan. 16, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

While Stan Laurel struts down the street in a kilt, his embarrassed uncle, Oliver Hardy, tries frantically to break up crowds of gasping onlookers who have never seen a Scotsman’s garb before.

Perplexed by the attention, Laurel pauses, on top of an air vent. The result is uplifting humor, and it exposes Marilyn Monroe as a copycat.

The kilt may be an unfamiliar sight, but the setting for the 1927 Laurel and Hardy film “Putting Pants on Philip” is unmistakable. It’s Culver City’s Main Street, looking remarkably like the way it is today.

Filmmaker Hal Roach, who celebrated his 100th birthday Tuesday, often used the town as a backdrop. Roach built his studio in Culver City in 1920, and it was there that he produced comedies starring Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy and the “Our Gang” crew. He closed the studio in 1963.

All that remains today is a plaque in a tiny park at Washington and National boulevards. The park has room for one picnic table and a trash can.

Hal Roach Studios may be long gone, but Roach himself was beaming with health Saturday at a ceremony held in his honor in his erstwhile hometown. About 200 people gathered on the steps of the Thalberg Building at Sony Pictures Studios to hear him speak.

Using a cane to make his way to the podium, Roach recalled Culver City’s beginnings. It was little more than bean fields tended by migrant workers, many of whom he put to work on his studio lot, he said.

The movie legend seemed touched that so many people showed up for the ceremony.

“It’s pretty sweet of Culver City to get all you people to come out here and hear me talk,” he said.

Many in the crowd hadn’t needed much persuading to show up. Bob Satterfield, for example, drove from San Bernardino and was joined by seven other members of the Laurel and Hardy fan club, Sons of the Desert.

“If it wasn’t for Mr. Roach,” he said, “there wouldn’t have been any ‘Our Gang’ or Laurel and Hardy, and the world wouldn’t be as good a place. He brought so much laughter to all of us. . . . We’re here to honor Hal Roach.”

Sons of the Desert, named after a 1932 Laurel and Hardy film that parodied fraternal organizations, has 10,000 members worldwide, Satterfield said.

Another person who traveled far to see Roach was former “Our Gang” member Dorothy deBorba, now a resident of Livermore, Calif., in the Bay Area.

DeBorba, 66, played the part of Echo, the gang’s sweetheart character, from 1930 to 1935. She pulled a picture out of her purse, which showed her in a frilly dress hanging out with the gang, her hair in Shirley Temple-style ringlets.

DeBorba fondly recalled the close-knit atmosphere of the studio. Roach held family-style Christmas parties and had one of the children’s classrooms located right above his office, she said. The children attended class between filming sessions.

“I always thought a lot of (Roach) and I still do,” she said. “He was big and burly but he didn’t growl. And he never talked down to us as little kids.”

Saturday’s ceremony also launched a yearlong commemoration of the 75th year of Culver City’s incorporation as a city.

City Council members, local officials and community leaders thanked Roach for his contributions to Culver City and for accepting the title of honorary chairman of the 75th anniversary steering committee. Jody Hall-Esser, the city’s chief administrative officer, presented him with a key to the city, and Police Chief Ted Cooke named him honorary police chief and gave him a badge.

Meanwhile, a television crew from Amsterdam captured the ceremony for viewers of Dutch national television.

“I think Laurel and Hardy are more popular in Europe than here,” said NOS Dutch National TV interviewer Tonko Dop.

Dop said the crew originally came to film Culver City landmarks for a special on Oliver Hardy. They were happy to learn that Roach would also be in town.

Plans for 75th-anniversary events are still in their early stages, steering committee chairwoman Linda Brady said. They include a film festival of productions made in Culver City, a symphony concert and “lots of small-town festivities.”

A parade is also possible, but it would have to be small because “we have the shortest Main Street in the United States,” Brady said.

Hal Roach’s Films

Born on Jan. 14, 1892, Hal Roach began his career at Universal as a bit player and stuntman. His formed his first comedy studio in 1915. Roach prospered in the ‘20s and ‘30s, branching out into feature films, dramas and action pictures. The following is a partial list of his films. “Just Nuts”

“Lonesome Luke”

“All Aboard”

“The Flirt”

“From Hand to Mouth”

“Haunted Spooks”

“High and Dizzy”

“Number Please”

“I Do”

“Never Weaken”

“Our Gang”

“Safety Last”

“The Devil Horse”