Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

I remember about a year or two ago, news broke out about Michael Agee (runner of http://www.halroachstudios.com) about remastering and whatnot all of L&H's pre-1929 shorts, solos, and features into basically an ultimate package. Since we still don't have a decent collection of the sound shorts stateside, I'd love this in the meantime.. I really don't want to invest in the scarce and expensive "Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" discs that were released eons ago, I'd just as well wait.. as long as this boxset is still planned. Any news?

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Hell....it would be about time for those idiots at Hallmark is get the European Universal beautifully remastered complete L&H set and get it issued here in the R1.

My brothers owns it and he went out a bought the multi-R player just to view this set.

Why on earth can't those people(?) at Hallmark realize how popular Laurel & Hardy still are...even though they've done their part to sabotage their memory......

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

They are supposed to be released on May 29, 2007 according to postings on L & H newsgroups.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Correct. This date is also confirmed by the Helpmates tent which publishes a quarterly publication. They even have a picture of what the new box will look like in their Winter edition which just was mailed to subscribers in the last couple of weeks. The editor said that review copies are on their way to him and to expect an update in the next issue.

Steve

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Are these the silent films being released? Also, I heard a long time ago that several Chase films would be included as extras. Is that still the case?

I own the R2 set so I'm not sure I'll be upgrading (unless this has something new).

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

These will be the silent films (these prints are much better than the ones included in the UK set since original negatives are used wherever possible) plus a plethora of other Roach material. A tentative list of contents can be found here

http://www.laurelandhardy.pwp.blueyo...final02-05.pdf

Charley Chase, Edgar Kennedy, Leon Errol, Our Gang, and various other Roach shorts/streamliners are included.

A 150 page book is also supposed to be included which will include pictures of one sheets and possibly some stills.

More info about this set is at this link

http://www.laurelandhardy.pwp.blueyo.../roachset.html

Of course until Image makes their official announcment none of this is confirmed and all the information published above should be treated as tentative.

Steve

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Thanks Steve. I'll probably go ahead and upgrade since (I'm probably in the minority) I think a lot of their silent films are just as good as the sound ones.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

So what happened with this set? Was it released? Delayed? If it came out, where can I snag a copy?

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

The set has not come out yet.

Information has been very scarce. There seems to be a rumor going around on other boards that Image Entertainment will no longer be releasing silent films. However, Image does have the following silents on their release schedule: TRUE HEART SUSIE, THE BATTLESHIP POTEMPKIN, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It is unknown at this point whether the rumor is false or that Image is merely honoring prior commitments.

I don't subscribe to the Laurel & Hardy magazine but have heard that they have a proof set of this boxset. So, it sounds like Mr. Agee is pretty much finished working on it.

We can only hope that Image has merely delayed this release.


George

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

And don't forget Treasures From the American Film Archives vol. III!

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Word from the Silent Comedians forum is that Michael Agee will be offering his set for sale privately, which spells DVD-R to me...

http://www.silentcomedians.com/forum...opic.php?t=397

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Uh-oh

Hopefully, one of the companies mentioned in the thread you posted, step up to the plate and work out a deal with Mr. Agee, even if it means the set gets pared down a bit.

Although I don't know if Milestone is in any position to get these since their own Charley Chase collection is still MIA. I don't suppose there is any news on that one....

George

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

EDIT: confirmed that DVD-Rs are not going to be used (see subsequent post #15 below)

Ugh. I sincerely hope this isn't true. I have an e-mail into someone who should know the truth of what is going on. If/when they respond back to me, I'll post here.

As originally presented this boxset would have been a killer - restored films/soundtracks with great bonus shorts from the Roach vaults in addition to a 150 page book with poster art, stills, etc.

DVD-Rs do not have copy protection...Mr. Agee would be a fool to release his life's work in this format. Copies would show up on ebay within a short time. I have a hard time believing that Kino, Milestone, Laughsmith et al wouldn't step in and work something out with him.

Steve

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

DVD-R's would definitely be doo-doo.
While this may be old news, here's the last word that came directly from Agee regarding the set - you'll even find a pdf file of the brochure mock-up if you just click a-here!

edit: Crap! I might have read a bit earlier to see that Steve already posted the link - sorry, Steve!

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

No problem, Mike. That link has great info and deserves to be repeated.

I have heard back from my contact within the L&H world who knows Michael Agee personally. He confirmed that Mr. Agee was considering a private sale, BUT also said there are no plans to do this via DVD-Rs so we can put that rumor to rest before it starts.

My e-mail was forwarded to Mr. Agee directly and hopefully the man himself will provide an update fairly soon. Given how many years he's put into this I doubt he wants his efforts to be scuttled by internet speculation over whether DVD-Rs will be used.

I still hope that he can find a distributor. These silent L&H films are classics in the truest sense of the word and I hope that someone will recognize this and partner with him on this. If he's going private I fear the cost will be prohibitive because he'll need to make up the reduced volume with higher prices. As it was, Image was going to charge $200 MSRP for this set.

Steve

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

This project needs to be scaled back in order to succeed. There are at least five discs of non L & H material in the proposed contents that will appeal to Hal Roach comedy buffs more than the casual L & H fans, or first-timers. A lot of them will resist paying what looks to be a premium for a lot of content they don't want. Release the Chase, Our Gang and Streamliners separately if possible but get the price of the L & H material down below $100.00, which is still way too much for most collectors.

The problem, of course, is that most of the other material isn't in demand enough to be able to sell significantly on it's own as a separate release, although a single-disc Our Gang with a reasonable price could probably find an audience. So, if it's not piggybacked on the L & H stuff, we may never see it. But my priority is The Boys and getting a successful release of their material first and foremost.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Why not just divide the set into multiple chronological collections? That would be easier to market, probably.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

I have been reading this thread with interest and thought I would share my thoughts. I am a huge classic film fan, and have always had a certain degree of respect for the output of the Roach studios. I suppose this traces back to my early years watching "Little Rascals" shorts on a snowy UHF channel (Baltimore's Channel 45- Remember Captain Chesapeake, anyone?). I have always enjoyed L&H when I have seen their films, but confess I currently have none of their output in my collection.

The set talked about here is certainly a classic film lovers dream. I believe Mr. Agee has also been trying to do something similiar w/ "Our Gang" silent films as well. Priced reasonably, I would scoop this release up in a heartbeat, and rediscover the talents of Ollie and Stan. At 199.00, I will only dream of owning it.

I too believe they would do better releasing the set in volumes. Sony's new "Three Stooges" collection is a prime example. Dividing it up in years, and priced below 30.00 guarantees a sale from me. I have not seen a Stooges short in years either. But as a film lover, this set chronicles film history, and it's affordable price allows me access to the films without making me cash poor for a few weeks.

L&H silents are wonderful. I would love to have them. But I'm going to have to stand on the side lines here. If anyone buys an extra set by accident, I'll accept gifts! LOL! Just kidding, of course... or am I?

Just my unsolicited 2 cents worth...

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

[quote=Jack Cleveland] ..... I believe Mr. Agee has also been trying to do something similiar w/ "Our Gang" silent films as well..... [quote]

Any info on The "Our Gang" silents?

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Well, Michael Agee's site is down. Looks like this set was a dud. Off to eBay I go..

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

hopefully this happens. I'd love to get this, I'd shelll out the $200 for the big set.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

From Michael Agee:
Still way too expensive considering I won't watch half of the stuff on this.. either way though, it'll be nice to see the remastered L&H,

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Michael Agee's old HalRoachStudios website has been down for months. Is he planning to re-activate it, or will he be taking orders at a different website?

I tried to post the full URL but this pissy forum won't let me, saying it might be spam. :-(

John

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Where did the quote from Michael Agee originate? What is the finalized list of contents, I wonder? And how the hell do we order this set?

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

If that PDF is right, he's cramming too much stuff on these discs and quality is likely to suffer. 251 minutes on one disc? Unless he's going DVD-18, that's really pushing it. I would really rather he JUST did the Laurel & Hardy and gave the films sufficient bit space than trying to shoehorn the entire Hal Roach Studios onto these DVDs.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

According to a posting in the The Laurel & Hardy Forum, someone received the information in a personal email from Michael Agee:-


The forum can be found here, but I think you have to register to read the posts:-

http://laurelandhardyforum.com/forum...=asc&&start=75

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Yeah that blurb from Agee was from a reliable member at the Laurel & Hardy Forum.

As we discussed there, this sounds like a bootleg compiled set.. I'm not saying the quality is going to be lacking, but he's fitting all of this stuff on some cheap dual-layer discs.. so I dunno. There's no guarantee it'll have the nice packaging, either.

Kind of wish I bought the old releases when I had the chance. It's still way too overpriced with half of the crap I'm not interested in.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

So, are there any updates on this set??? It's been way too quiet.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Based on the total lack of news and updates from either Michael Agee or the L&H Mazagine I am now very skeptical this will ever come out. The reports that Agee was going to sell himself did not sound promising and even if he does eventually start accepting orders there is no way I'd trust him with my money. He has a habit of announcing plans that he can't keep.

Re: Any Updates On the Ultimate Early Laurel and Hardy Boxset?

Agee is a good guy just unreliable. A lot of people at the L&H Forum are still in an uproar over this, and with good reason. Sigh, sad.

Volume 9 of the "Lost" films just went over $100 on eBay - THAT'S ONE DVD! There went any hope of collecting these...