DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Laurel and Hardy Vol. 2 (1 Viewer)

[BarryR]

Wow! Talk about a huge thread to happily wade through!

I almost feel like I'm a pushing a piano up a flight of stairs.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Holy smokes! Where did this news come from?!?!! (Even Bill and the rest of the "Bits" gang don't have this on their upcoming cover art page!)



We can only hope that Hallmark fails and someone else ends up with the properties.

I am so glad I spent a lot of time last year watching eBay auctions for the old 3M L&H laserdiscs and converting them to DVD's myself. Way Out West looks its best domestically on that disc, and I strongly recommend that if you can, try to sucessfully bid on a copy. Since Block-Heads only otherwise legally exists on a handful of used VHS tapes, I may as well take the plunge, because it's the only one of their (personal) Top 5 that I don't have (have WOW, SOTD, Pardon Us and Our Relations from the 3M releases), and I will eventually try to get The Bohemian Girl and Saps At Sea.

Sorry to hear that you don't think Way Out West isn't their greatest film. I'm not sure where you rate it, but personally, I think it is their best paced and most charming feature, despite reportedly being made at a time when relations between Stan and Hal Roach were probably at their lowest. "The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine" is charming, but nowhere near as joyous as the rear-projectioned dance number "At The Ball, That's All". I challenge anyone to sit there and keep a straight face throughout the sequence.

It's a shame that while Hallmark considers the materials they have to be commercially worthless, they continue to use them with people who know their real value to obtain financing to make a cheesy made-for-TV movie that I possibly could care less about.


********TCM subscribers take note****************

This is no April Fools Joke!

All day on April 1st, Turner Classic Movies will be running Laurel & Hardy features and shorts:

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/S...005|0|,00.html

The schedule is as follows:

6:00 AM MGM's Big Parade Of Comedy (1964)
7:30 AM Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
8:45 AM The Devil's Brother (1933)
10:15 AM Beau Hunks (1931)
10:45 AM The Bohemian Girl (1936)
12:00 PM Them Thar Hills (1934) "Pom, Pom!!"
12:30 PM Tit For Tat (1935)
1:00 PM Pick A Star (1937)
2:30 PM Chickens Come Home (1931)
3:00 PM Nothing but Trouble (1944)
4:15 PM Air Raid Wardens (1943)
5:30 PM A Chump at Oxford (1940)
6:45 PM Swiss Miss (1938)
8:00 PM Way Out West (1937)
9:15 PM Sons of the Desert (1933)
10:30 PM The Music Box (1932)
11:15 PM Block-Heads (1938)
12:30 AM Pardon Us (1931)
1:30 AM Blotto (1930)


Also watch for several Harold LLoyd classics on April 4th and Marx Brothers films on April 8th, and Chaplin & Keaton (MGM) on the 11th.

 

[Daniel Windsor]

Yeah, I can see why people would buy the pathetic US discs


Back of the UK box here

 

[Daniel Windsor]

You know you want it!

Suits you, sir!

 

[Daniel Windsor]

Incidentally, my favourite L&H film is Way Out West.

Just love it to pieces.

 

[John Whittle]

What happened to the RHI/Hallmark UCLA project to restore these films?

I seem to bremember that eight or so years ago, many of the "restored" prints ran on AMC on the Saturday Morning/Matinee Show.

This was a big deal back then and now Lions Gate is back using the old transfers.

Anyone know what happened? Is there a problem with using the UCLA restorations?

John

 

[Evan Case]

I'm torn.

I want to support R1 L&H, but Hallmark/Lion's Gate/whoever is making it really difficult.

I've been stuck with well-worn AMC'd tapes of these titles for over a decade now, and it actually sounds like those tapes might be preferable to the "new" DVD volume.

Perhaps I'll just tape the April 1st TCM marathon versions instead.

Can't be any worse, I imagine.

This whole situation is damn ridiculous.

Evan

 

[John Morgan]

I wonder what source TCM is getting these films from? I would assume Hallmark, but it would be nice if they were cleaner editions. Anyway, my DVR will be going all day. Hope this ain't an April Fools joke.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Since I don't have the luxury of TCM, I've ordered the disc from Amazon, just for "Block-Heads". I'll reserve judgment until then about watching eBay for Nostalgia Merchant VHS tapes...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm probably going to order the UK set
any day now.

Quick question....

Is PAL an issue here? I have a player that
will output PAL but I am concerned about speedup.

 

[Steve...O]

There is a 4% speedup with the UK set (as there is with any European L&H release).

However my personal experience is that I have yet to notice it when watching the DVDs. Hasn't bothered me in the least. Besides, in my opinion, the films/shorts are too funny to waste time timing them with stopwatches trying to find the speedup.

I recognize that the noticability of PAL speedup varies from person to person so this is one of those "your mileage may vary" situations. I'm definitely not trying to start another one of those PAL speedup debates that pop up here from time to time.

Steve

 

[Keith Paynter]

You'll notice it more with the music than anything. If you've watched a lot of Hal Roach shorts, you'll know the LeRoy Shield cues backwards and forwards. I for one can recognize PAL speedup for music that I am very familiar with.

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

I've been showing the Hal Roach shorts via German DVD to kids and adults for years now, and nobody's ever noticed a speedup.

 

[Jim Douglas]

I bought the R2 21 disc set from Amazon UK before I even bought a player. I bought a Phillips 642 from Target and had a few problems right away but it was easy to make region free. Since they didn't have anymore Phillips players and I had a Best Buy voucher I used it to get a Toshiba 3960. Easy to make region free and does PAL to NTSC.
Not one of the top players out there but it works for what I need it for. I just use the interlaced output to my Pioneer Elite 630 and it looks good.

Worth picking up the box set. Mine arrived a little beat up from Amazon UK (very poor packaging) so instead of returning it they offered me a 10% discount. Very happy with the purchase.

Jim

 

[Rob_Ray]

Hello, Randy Skretvedt here. Some years ago I wrote a book called "Laurel & Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies," and I have been an admirer of the boys for over 40 years. I'm certainly not happy with the way Hallmark is treating the films. (Someone close to the situation told me that Hallmark really is only interested in having the Roach library in its corporate holdings as potential collateral when they're raising funds to make new "Hallmark Hall of Fame" programs. Several companies have offered to purchase the Roach library from Hallmark, or to make licensing deals for DVD, but Hallmark has refused all offers--while doing precious little with the films themselves. One bright note is that Hallmark donated all of the 35mm nitrate material to the UCLA Film and Television Archive last year--after almost deciding to destroy it!)

These films have been printed and re-printed almost constantly, worldwide, for close to 70 years, so it's frankly amazing that the current prints look as good as they do. I think the new Hallmark DVD actually looks pretty decent. At least there's nothing as blatantly stupid as using an old TV-package master, with added fades and background music, as they did with the earlier "Sons of the Desert" release.

Rob Ray and I compared the transfer of "Way Out West" on the British box set with the new Hallmark DVD, and actually found that the new American one was superior. The British one is rather severely cropped (you can really tell the difference during the "eat the hat" sequence), and it generally looks murky compared to the new Hallmark. Also, the British DVD was transfered at 25 fps, and the difference in pitch and tempo is noticeable. The sound quality on the American disc does have some hiss, but at least it hasn't been tweaked to the point that all room tone is gone (as on that awful so-called restoration of "Frankenstein" a few years back).

I was very happily surprised at the quality of "Block-Heads." This is a title that has always suffered from soft focus. The print used here is very sharp and clean, and the only defect is some slightly rough sound during reel three.

"Chickens Come Home" is missing the main title (which, on the Film Classics reissue print used as the source, mis-states it as "Chicken Come Home"). There are also two strange instances where a gap in the sound track is filled with seeming random moments from elsewhere in the film. There is a brief section (during the scene where Mae Busch and Stan are struggling outside for the car keys) where there's a rather nasty negative scratch on the left side. Otherwise, it's a fair-looking copy. I *have* seen one that's a bit sharper, but I've certainly seen many others which look worse. (By the way, I have never seen a copy of "The Midnight Patrol" that wasn't battered.)

It'll be interesting to see TCM's Laurel & Hardy festival on April 1 and compare those versions with the new DVD. In the meantime, though, I for one think the new Hallmark DVD is much better than the first--it's not perfect by any means, but it's not an embarrassment, and at least Hallmark is showing *some* interest in using the Roach L&H library. You'd think somebody at the company would realize that those films have been solid money makers for 70 years.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Thanks for that last post. I'll most definitely pick up the new Hallmark DVD.

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

Mr. Skretvedt's book is never far from my workstation, and is consulted by me on an ongoing basis. It's a must-have for L&H fans.

I have heard that a few of the British DVDs are not up to the quality of the German originals; I wonder if that is the case with WAY OUT WEST, which looks terrific on my German disc. In any case, I'll skip the Hallmark disc, as I do with all their product.

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks for your post Mr. Skretvedt. Your book is the most informative book I've ever read about not only the making of L&H films, but about the making of classic films in general. I encourage all L&H fans to seek out a copy; you won't regret it.

I don't have the German discs for comparison, but I do have the English discs. Although I'm happy with the set, I was quite annoyed that there is a very noticeable splice during the "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" song. I have never seen a problem with this scene before so I have no idea what happened. I could probably forgive it, but it happens in one my two favorite L&H scenes of all time (the other being the "At the Ball" sequence).

Also, the UK Blockheads print is reported to be missing a brief segment of dialogue. As far as I know, the German disc has this dialogue.

Aside from these disappointments the UK discs are wonderful as I'm sure the German discs are as well.

Given Mr. Skretvedt's endorsement, I "may" hold my nose and get the new Hallmark disc if only to remedy the two issues I had with the UK set.


Steve

 

[Lee Bombard]

I would also like to chime in and say what a fan I am of Randy Skretvedt's fantastic book on the boys. After years of being somewhat of a L&H fan I decided to go "Hog Wild" and pick up as many books on their films as e-bay could provide. I discovered that Mr Skretvedt's book was "highly recommended" by The Los Angeles Chapter of the International Laurel & Hardy Society.

http://www.wayoutwest.org/books/index.html

I also found that this book was one that regulary sold on e-bay for somewhat higher prices than most. It seems that it's reputation preceeds it

I also own the UK 21 disc set and had decided not to buy this new Hallmark disc...perhaps now that Randy has provided some positive comparisons, I'll give it a look.


Thanks for the info Randy...and for the great read.

Regards,
Lee

 

[Evan Case]

Loved your book, Mr. Skretvedt. Truly my favorite work on L&H (and I'm not just saying that because you might read this! ).

I too bit the bullet on release day, purchasing the DVD against my better judgment.

I thought Chickens Come Home looked pretty beat up, but found the two features suprisingly tolerable.

I also heard the bizarre audio splice during "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." Definitely not something that was there on my old AMC version, or the "Trail of the Lonesome Pine"/"Babes in Toyland" cds.

Evan