Silver Lake celebrates 25th anniversary of Music Box Steps Family Festival

Sophie Flay Image
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Silver Lake celebrates 25th anniversary of Music Box Steps Family Festival
Neighbors and film fans gathered at Laurel and Hardy Park in Silver Lake for the 25th anniversary of the Music Box Steps Family Festival.

SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Silver Lake Improvement Association held the 25th annual Music Box Steps Family Festival in Silver Lake last Saturday.

The Music Box Steps are the center piece of a 1932 Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy short film: "The Music Box"

It's a simple story ... of two boys delivering a piano to her house, and that takes 30 minutes, and all mayhem ensues in only 30 minutes," said Historian Stan Taffel.

It's the first film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short subject.

Festival goers had the opportunity to see a reenactment of famous parts using the steps from the film.

One of the actors had a special relationship with the film.

"I was lucky enough to have a relative in the film. I'm not playing him but he played the professor and his name is Billy Gilbert and he was my great uncle so I'm here to honor him as well," said actor Bryan Cooper.

"It's really cool, it feels like a community. It feels like everybody came out to honor the film today and check out the step," he said.

The festival screened the 30-minute short several times to give the community a glimpse into old Hollywood.

"Sadly, the Hollywood of today doesn't bare much resemblance to the Hollywood of the past except in Silver Lake, they embrace everything they have, and by gathering every year in this park, it's their way of saying thank you, we remember and we rejoice," said Taffel.