Unable to expand his studios in Downtown Los Angeles because of zoning, Roach purchased what became the Hal Roach Studios from Harry Culver in Culver City, California.
During the 1920s and 1930s, he employed Lloyd (his top money-maker until his departure in 1923), Will Rogers, Max Davidson, the Our Gang children, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, Lupe Vélez, Patsy Kelly and, most famously, Laurel and Hardy.
During the 1920s, Roach's biggest rival was producer Mack Sennett.
In 1925, Roach hired away Sennett's supervising director, F. Richard Jones.

Roach released his films through Pathé Exchange until 1927, when he struck a distribution deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
He converted his silent movie studio to sound in late 1928 and began releasing talking shorts in early 1929.
In the days before dubbing, foreign language versions of the Roach comedies were created by reshooting each film in the Spanish, French, and occasionally Italian and German languages.
Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, and the Our Gang children (some of whom had barely begun school) were required to recite the foreign dialogue phonetically, often working from blackboards hidden off camera.

In 1931, with the release of the Laurel & Hardy film Pardon Us, Roach began producing occasional full-length features alongside the short subjects.
Short films became less profitable and were generally phased out by 1936, save for the Our Gang series.
An Our Gang feature film General Spanky did not do as well as expected; Roach continued making the shorts for MGM.

In 1937, Roach conceived a joint business venture partnering with Vittorio Mussolini, son of fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, to form a production company called "R.A.M" (Roach and Mussolini).
Roach claimed the scheme involved Italian bankers (not the government) providing US$6 million that would enable Roach's studio to produce a series of 12 films.
Eight would be for Italian screening only whilst the remaining four would receive world distribution.
 The first film for Italy was to be a feature film of the opera Rigoletto.

This proposed business alliance with Mussolini alarmed MGM which intervened and forced Roach to buy  his way out of the venture.
This embarrassment, coupled with the underperformance of much of Roach's latest feature films (save for Laurel & Hardy titles and the odd non-L&H hit such as 1937's Topper), led to the end of Roach's distribution contract with MGM.
In May 1938, Roach sold MGM the production rights and actors contracts to the Our Gang shorts.
Roach signed a distribution deal with United Artists at this time.

From 1937 to 1940, Roach concentrated on producing glossy features, abandoning low comedy almost completely.
Most of his new films were either sophisticated farces (like Topper, 1937, and The Housekeeper's Daughter, 1939) or rugged action fare (like Captain Fury, 1939, and One Million B.C., 1940).
Roach's one venture into heavy drama was the acclaimed Of Mice and Men (1939), in which actors Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. played the leading roles.
The Laurel and Hardy comedies, once the Roach studio's biggest drawing cards, were now the studio's least important product and were phased out altogether in 1940.

In 1940, Roach experimented with medium-length featurettes, running 40 to 50 minutes each.
He contended that these "streamliners", as he called them, would be useful in double-feature situations where the main attraction was a longer-length epic.
Exhibitors agreed with him and used Roach's mini-features to balance top-heavy double bills.
United Artists continued to release Roach's streamliners through 1943.
By this time, Roach no longer had a resident company of comedy stars and cast his films with familiar featured players (William Tracy and Joe Sawyer, Johnny Downs, Jean Porter, Frank Faylen, William Bendix, George E. Stone, etc.).
Unable to expand his studios in Downtown Los Angeles because of zoning, Roach purchased what became the Hal Roach Studios from Harry Culver in Culver City, California. During the 1920s and 1930s, he employed Lloyd (his top money-maker until his departure in 1923), Will Rogers, Max Davidson, the Our Gang children, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, Lupe Vélez, Patsy Kelly and, most famously, Laurel and Hardy. During the 1920s, Roach's biggest rival was producer Mack Sennett. In 1925, Roach hired away Sennett's supervising director, F. Richard Jones.
Roach released his films through Pathé Exchange until 1927, when he struck a distribution deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He converted his silent movie studio to sound in late 1928 and began releasing talking shorts in early 1929. In the days before dubbing, foreign language versions of the Roach comedies were created by reshooting each film in the Spanish, French, and occasionally Italian and German languages. Laurel & Hardy, Charley Chase, and the Our Gang children (some of whom had barely begun school) were required to recite the foreign dialogue phonetically, often working from blackboards hidden off camera.
In 1931, with the release of the Laurel & Hardy film Pardon Us, Roach began producing occasional full-length features alongside the short subjects. Short films became less profitable and were generally phased out by 1936, save for the Our Gang series. An Our Gang feature film General Spanky did not do as well as expected; Roach continued making the shorts for MGM.
In 1937, Roach conceived a joint business venture partnering with Vittorio Mussolini, son of fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, to form a production company called "R.A.M" (Roach and Mussolini). Roach claimed the scheme involved Italian bankers (not the government) providing US$6 million that would enable Roach's studio to produce a series of 12 films. Eight would be for Italian screening only whilst the remaining four would receive world distribution.  The first film for Italy was to be a feature film of the opera Rigoletto.
This proposed business alliance with Mussolini alarmed MGM which intervened and forced Roach to buy  his way out of the venture. This embarrassment, coupled with the underperformance of much of Roach's latest feature films (save for Laurel & Hardy titles and the odd non-L&H hit such as 1937's Topper), led to the end of Roach's distribution contract with MGM. In May 1938, Roach sold MGM the production rights and actors contracts to the Our Gang shorts. Roach signed a distribution deal with United Artists at this time. 
From 1937 to 1940, Roach concentrated on producing glossy features, abandoning low comedy almost completely. Most of his new films were either sophisticated farces (like Topper, 1937, and The Housekeeper's Daughter, 1939) or rugged action fare (like Captain Fury, 1939, and One Million B.C., 1940). Roach's one venture into heavy drama was the acclaimed Of Mice and Men (1939), in which actors Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr. played the leading roles. The Laurel and Hardy comedies, once the Roach studio's biggest drawing cards, were now the studio's least important product and were phased out altogether in 1940.
In 1940, Roach experimented with medium-length featurettes, running 40 to 50 minutes each. He contended that these "streamliners", as he called them, would be useful in double-feature situations where the main attraction was a longer-length epic. Exhibitors agreed with him and used Roach's mini-features to balance top-heavy double bills. United Artists continued to release Roach's streamliners through 1943. By this time, Roach no longer had a resident company of comedy stars and cast his films with familiar featured players (William Tracy and Joe Sawyer, Johnny Downs, Jean Porter, Frank Faylen, William Bendix, George E. Stone, etc.).
Hal Roach