This is More Than I Can Stand: A Biography of Charlie Hall Paperback – 1 Mar. 2012

I bet you can't put a whole egg in your mouth without breaking it🤣

Well researched and lovingly put together. All Laurel & Hardy fans should read this book for an insight into one of their main co-stars.

Before I start, I must declare my interest and - dare I say it - bias. I am a member of the Sons of the Desert (the Laurel and a Hardy Appreciation Society), as is the author, so my thoughts are coloured by Charlie’s involvement with Stan and Ollie.Charlie Hall was a fascinating character and there is much still to be learned about the man and his career, though there is an awful lot of both in this excellent biography by John UllahAs the subject was usually only a ‘bit-part player’ it is amazing how much the author has uncovered and the inclusion of fourteen letters in Hall’s own hand was a real surprise.The book charts Hall’s working class roots in Birmingham, his desire not to follow the ‘old man’ down the sewers and his determination to succeed in the burgeoning movie business in the US.He was a carpenter by trade, working for several studios and almost drifted into the movie business when ‘extras’ were required. What there is little doubt about however, is the contribution he made to the success of Laurel and Hardy in appearing in almost 50 films with them.Mr Ullah resides in Hall’s birthplace of Birmingham and his enthusiasm for his compatriot shines through and the family background he discusses has brought members of Charlie’s family into the Sons of the Desert fold. Indeed his younger brother, Frank, also attended early meetings of the Authors Laurel and Hardy club or ‘tent’.There’s even a pub named ‘The Charlie Hall’ which is the authors local!This is a Labour of love which is great read and a must for all Laurel and Hardy aficionados.

An easy and enjoyable read and filled in some extra knowledge for this Laurel & Hardy fan

First, an admission, the subject of this review was my Uncle and my interest is likely to be shared by Fans of Laurel and Hardy or those interested in the early days of Hollywood and the Cinema.For all of the latter this volume is a very comprehensive, very well researched account of an actor, perhaps little known to most film fans but who was deeply involved with many early Hollywood productions and personalities such as Hal Roach, Edgar Kennedy,Fred Karno but most of all Laurel and Hardy. He appeared under his own name in many of their films and became a close personal friend particularly to Stan Laurel.John Ullah has been meticulous in researching Charlie and his family, uneathing much information unknown to me, including a wife ,buried with him in the LA. Inconsistances in previous accounts of Charlie's life have been corrected, his last visit to England in 1938 ( my only memory was of outrageous shoes,but aged 4 that was probably all I saw ) The recollections of Uncles regarding the lack of work in Birmingham suggests he returned to the States in difficult financial circumstances.Communication with his family decreased after the death of Grandmother in 1939 , John Ullah records all known information with great care and presents an interesting, easy to read biography. It gives an insight to the social life in pre-war England and California which, apart from cinema and personal interest, I found fascinating.

Thank goodness for John Ullah for paying tribute to the unsung hero Charlie Hall. Well written and researched, a real fans tribute to such a familiar face to silent film comedy fans.

I'm sure glad that I have this book. It is a welcome addition to any film buff's library, and every Laurel and Hardy fan should have this book. John Ullah has really done a throrough job of researching a hard-to-research subject. Because Charlie Hall was never a starring comedian, there was hardly anything written about him in his lifetime. He rarely appeared in much more than bit parts in films, except for his co-starring roles in a few Laurel & Hardy shorts. After Hall's death, he was mentioned a few times in John McCabe's books, based on thing that Laurel told McCabe about Hall, but this was hardly enough information from which to write a book. This biography gives us a lot more than one might expect to find.I applaud John Ullah for the work that he has done with this book. Through some living members of Charlie Hall's family, John has been able to gather much more information than was ever available before. Most interestingly, he has been able to obtain a number of personal letters that Charlie Hall wrote in the 1930s and toward the end of his life in the late '50s. These letters give us Hall's own narrative of his life, plus insights as to what he thought about a number of things. John Ullah has written of all this in his own clear narrative, presenting a well-organized life story of Charlie Hall. The book concludes with the continuing story of the appreciation of L&H's films and of Charlie's performances with them. John Ullah started The Sons of the Desert's "Laughing Gravy" tent . The tent has made sure that Charlie Hall will continue to be remembered in his native city of Birmingham."This Is More Than I Can Stand" is a very well-rounded book, from Roger Robinson's entertaining introduction to the detailed filmography at the end (which David Wyatt compiled). This book will tell you just about everything there is to be known about Charlie Hall. Anyone who reads this book will be much better acquainted with Mr. Hall. It fills in a great many gaps in our knowledge about this frequent performer in comedy films. He's not so obscure anymore, thanks to. John Ullah's book is indespensable for any L&H buff. Good work! Thank you, John, for this labor of love. I hope that this book continues to be available to us all indefinitely.

There's not much (if anything) that has ever been written about any of the supporting players in the Laurel and Hardy films made at the Hal Roach Studios from 1927-1940. This book is the first of its kind to focus on one of these actors - Charlie Hall. Through interviews with his family members, Charlie himself and many letters Charlie wrote, we get a very good picture of what his life was like. Recommend to anyone who is a fan of Laurel and Hardy and the films of the Hal Roach Studios.

Mr. Ullah has written a marvelous biography of Charlie Hall, a fellow from Birmingham, England, who appeared in bit parts in several hundred films, including about 45 Laurel and Hardy shorts. This book tells us about Charlie and about Laurel and Hardy. Many of Charlie's letters are reproduced, and you can get a good feel for his experience in the hard-hearted Hollywood film factories. Not to be missed.

As a big Laurel and Hardy fun and a devotee of their team , Mae Busch, Billy Gilbert, Jimmy Finlayson, Walter Long,and Charley Hall I raced to get this book. I was very disappointed. Rehashing scenes line by line didn't do it for me. I had hoped for more from Charley himself but it wasn't there.