Re: Genius Press Release: The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection
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Originally Posted by Timothy E
Does anyone know if Bear Shooters has ever been released on DVD, laserdisc, or VHS with all of the cut dialogue intact?
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Yes! It's on this DVD:
Amazon.com: Laurel & Hardy and Friends (Featuring "Our Gang"): Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Frances Bowling, Henry Brandon, Tom Braunger, Bill Cody Jr., John 'Uh huh' Collum, Gino Corrado, Wilma Cox, Patsy Currier, Gordon Do
The only issue with that short is -- the opening M-G-M intro seems to be tacked on from a different film. It has the audio of the lion roaring as opposed to the musical fanfare heard at the beginning of other shorts of the era. But yes, the lines cut from other versions are there.
EDIT: I just got the new Genius set (good deal at Amazon) and I was right -- the M-G-M lion intro should have the music fanfare and not the roaring sounds. (Now does that make any sense at all?) It was interesting to see how over time, some shorts have the roaring over the fanfare, until the fanfare goes away and it's just the sound of the lion roaring.
I still wonder what's up with those "silent lion" intros on certain shorts (certain Laurel & Hardy shorts have it that way too). I wonder if that has something to do with sound and picture elements having been stored separately somewhere along the line, or the various theatrical and TV re-releases.
I am glad I sprung for the set (though with the problems, I wasn't going to spend $60 for it). No, it's not perfect. But I guess I'm the kind of person who pays more attention to what's there, rather than what's not there. After all, I have some of the "botched" shorts on other DVDs, and I have them all on VHS. Somewhere.
