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

[rob kilbride]

I certainly can live with it too, I just wanted to make sure that this wasn't a glitch. Thanks for confirming this for me guys.

 

[Randy_M]

The only thing that really p*sses me off about the L&H is the music added to the 'Wax Eating' scene.

This was TOTALLY unnecessary, IMHO.

Other than that, I love the disc.

 

[alan halvorson]

Jeff: I'm pretty certain that what Paul is referring to is the first 6-dvd box set of The Little Rascals - their is a second set that has not been released and it's looking like it never will be. What you have pointed out are single disc releases, not the box sets.

 

[Paul Penna]

For a rather depressing, but authoritative, report on the state of the L&H sound film elements, and the masters from which the current Artisan DVD derives, check out this article posted today on the alt.comedy.laurel-hardy newsgroup, referenced below in the Google archive:

here it is

There's more from the same person later on in the thread.

 

[Patrick McCart]

That post is horribly depressing....

I'm seriously hoping another studio will buy the Hal Roach library from them and do SOMETHING.

I seriously think we should tear apart Hallmark's office a la Big Business (or Two Tars) with involvement from all the Sons of the Desert tents. They need to come to terms.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Regarding those postings by Mr. Agee, I can only say :frowning: and .

 

[Keith Paynter]

From Michael Agee's Google Post



This explains the 3 extra fade-outs and fade-ins. Sons Of The Desert is presented from a made-for-television cut. So much for a proper presentation.

At least all the shorts escaped this treatment.

Did anyone else notice that the menus are really, really, really loud?

 

[Eric Peterson]

What a sad state of affairs. I would definitely purchase any and all L&H or Our Gang that was released, but it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon.

Is this Hallmark the same company as the Greeting Card company? If so, I will no longer be supporting them.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Jeff: I'm pretty certain that what Paul is referring to is the first 6-dvd box set of The Little Rascals - their is a second set that has not been released and it's looking like it never will be. What you have pointed out are single disc releases, not the box sets.

No, Paul referred to the single disc Little Rascals disc that Artisan released a couple of years ago. Re-read the post and you'll see that. He stated that the disc had gone out of print and that Artisan was done with Little Rascals. I was just pointing out that both statements are incorrect.

The first 2 discs from that 6 disc box from Cabin Fever are identical in content and quality to the 2 discs from Artisan. Cabin Fever's library is owned by Hallmark in the States.

Jeff

 

[Hal D]

I ordered my copy of the new dvd and haven't received it yet. I am angry about these idiots adding music to the fake fruit eating scene in SOTD. I owned a 16mm Blackhawk print years ago and loved it as it was! I suggest everyone support Nostalgia Family Video. I'll bet their copy of Sons Of The Desert is original. Those morons at Hallmark sicken me. We should all create our own greeting cards. I do already. It's not hard. By the way, I still haven't received an answer about Nostalgia and their products from the Bits. (Remember guys-I should promise to never mention them)How rude!

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Evan,

Unless you have money to burn, avoid the Passport Video box set at all costs. The audio on THE FLYING DEUCES is so badly out of sync that the movie is unwatchable. There is another DVD of THE FLYING DEUCES available from Alpha Video www.oldies.com which is also a public domain print but is far superior to the Passport disaster. It's also a bargain at $5.00.

Let's hope that all L&H fans buy the Artisan set and convince Hallmark that there is a market for these films.

 

[SteveP]

Picked this up today and don't think the added music cues do substantial harm to the films--although I still don't approve. Spotted the added fades right away as not original to the continuity and yes--the menus ARE loud.

 

[Evan Case]

Thanks for the update, Rickey.

I'm still on the fence about the box set because of the extras disc with all of those old trailers, but I really don't want to reward a company for putting out so shoddy a product. Out of curiosity, how is the print quality for the films in the box set? Public domain films are such a crapshoot (my Flying Deuces VHS looks awful, but my Utopia/Atoll K looks quite nice, for tape).

...

Also, I don't think I will be supporting Nostalgia Family Video's bootlegs. Even beyond the questions of shady legality, the price is too much, averaging about the same price ($15-$20) as the Artisan disc for half the content (1 feature or 4 shorts vs. 1 feature and 4 shorts)--and on DVD-r, no less. Perhaps if I didn't have essentially the whole set on VHS already, I'd be more tempted, but for now I've got to hold out hope for a legitimate release instead of paying hundreds to those with no legal claim to the films (that I'm aware of).

Evan

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Evan,

I haven't looked at the other discs yet -- I was so annoyed by the audio synch problem with THE FLYING DEUCES that I put the whole set aside. However, I do want to check out the L&H appearance on "This is Your Life" so I'll try to let you know in the next day or two how it looks.

I watched SONS OF THE DESERT from the Artisan DVD on Saturday, and generally I'm satisfied. I wasn't bothered by the music but I did notice the odd scene changes -- I see now that this master was made for television and they were leaving a place to insert commercials. Otherwise, the print is generally in very good shape. As for the audio, I agree with Ron -- the Dolby Digital 2.0 track is much better than the original mono track. The original mono track is very noisy with a tremendous amount of hiss. The Dolby Digital track is much cleaner.

 

[StevenFC]

Thanks for the review. It's on my buy list for sure. Perfect or not, I'm just thankful someone is releasing Stan and Ollie DVDs. I hope I'll see a good DVD of Pardon Us someday too. And I can hardly wait for the Marx Brothers DVDs coming out next year!

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Evan,

I've gone through the entire Passport Video "Laurel and Hardy Collection" and I'm now prepared to give it a qualified recommendation.

1. "The Flying Deuces" is unwatchable due to a glaring audio synch problem. Alpha Video's release is much better.

2. "Utopia" looks okay but the sound is very noisy.

3. "Be Big" has somewhat of a soft picture but otherwise appears to be intact and the sound is decent. "The Lucky Dog" is a 1917 silent short starring Stanley and featuring Ollie in a supporting role. The first reel looks pretty good but the second reel has a washed-out look to it. Still, it's eminently watchable.

4. The "This is Your Life" program looks its age but the entire show is there, including commercials. The sound is decent enough and the show itself is a real time capsule, and something every L&H fan will want to see. "Laurel and Hardy In Film" is actually a collection of trailers for many of their feature films. The trailers are in surprisingly good condition (the trailer for "Fra Diavolo" is identified by an alternate title, "Bogus Bandits."

5. The print of "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is really quite good, and it also sounds fine. It's obviously taken from a TV print (otherwise it would have the "Babes In Toyland" title card), but it's a good, solid presentation.

So while the discs of "The Flying Deuces" and "Utopia" are sub-par, the remainder of the collection is good enough to justify the price.

BTW, I just checked and DVDPlanet.com is sold out of the Artisan set.

 

[RickardL]

Hmm, I just saw the comparison between the Artisan Sons
of the Destert and the Kinowelt one; Kinowelt wins
big in PQ!! Amazingly better details and
no cropping!
Are the UK R2 releases by Universal the same as the
German Kinowelt ones?
And does the German Kinowelt Way Out West/Zwei ritten nach Texas
contain English dialogue?

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

 

[Derek_McL]

Earlier in this thread on page one I mentioned I had eight of the Kinowelt discs which are generally excellent. They also contain the original English soundtracks which you can play without subtitles. I think the Universal UK DVDs are derived from the same restored European masters prepared by the Kirchgroup (now sadly out of business). The shorts and features on both sets of DVDs begin with the same picture of Stan and Ollie and then a description of the restorations.

Universal in the UK seem to be very slow with their Laurel and Hardy releases : I think its at least two years since the last one so I invested in the German discs (they are way ahead in terms of releases) on a recent trip to Berlin. Considering what I'm hearing about the attitude of Hallmark to these comedy classics and the possible state of the US masters I'm glad I did.

 

[RickardL]

Derek, I just wanted to double check for Way Out West
because amazon.de only lists German audio for that one
but lists both English and German for Sons of the Desert.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

A few comments on the Artisan release:

The "1.0 mono" original is actually encoded as 2.0, but it is still mono and it still sounds better than the "restored" 2.0 mono track as Michael mentioned in his review.

Good grief! I agree that the menu is obnoxiously loud.

Considering that they have around three hours of program content, I am completely satisfied with the extras they provided. The source tapes have enough issues without adding compression artifacts to the mix.

I hope this thing sells well enough to motivate Artisan to spend some money on the catalog.

Regards,