Laurel and Hardy shorts on dvd? - Page 3

There tends to be a lot of scaremongering crap written about PAL. At the end of the day it means the material runs 4% faster, and that's very slight however you look at it. Some people tend to be more sensitive than others but most won't find it a major distraction. I grew up and became accustomed to PAL yet I also own a significant number of NTSC DVDs. Consequently, one would expect that I would notice the apparent "slowdown" on NTSC discs. However, that's not the case; I know the difference exists but it's not something that I notice at all. Just enjoy your purchase guys and stop worrying about things you may never even be aware of.

Speaking as someone else who also grew up in PAL-land and who has many titles from many different regions - I don't notice a difference.

However, I do appreciate that someone who has only seen NTSC discs may notice a difference.

 

I'm not saying you're accusing me of it, but I want you to know I'm not trying to be a scaremongerer. But I will say that I conintuously noticed the speedup in HOUSE OF DRACULA, which was a film embedded in my brain, both visually and audio-wise, for my whole life. It just moved and even sounded different to me, and that includes the Universal soundtrack music. (In the 1970s I had the audio recorded on cassette, which I used to play - so it is etched in my mind). I watched it twice -- the first time I felt like I was being "rushed" though it. The second time, I felt more adjusted to it. I will concede in this case that had I not ever seen the film before, I may not have noticed.

 

I don't think anyone should speak for everybody. I have read plenty of posts where people have said the PAL takes them right out of a movie, just as I have read many such as yours which say "it's not a big deal, so just be quiet and relax". Everyone will just have to see and hear for themselves to determine what they think. I'll get back to you when I get my Laurel & Hardy set. But I have already looked at some YouTube clips where Oliver Hardy's voice sounded unnaturally higher, and I noticed it immediately.  

I'm certainly not accusing you personally, I wasn't referring to anyone in particular to be honest. It's just that there tend to be a certain proportion of posts where people do indulge in something like scaremongering regarding PAL - to the point where it actively discourages others from trying things out for themselves, and therefore cutting themselves off from a significant number of titles that are otherwse unavailable to them.

 

The difference certainly exists but it won't affect everybody. The point is that people should give it a go for themselves and see if it's something that bothers them. Some will be aware of the speedup, others won't.

Set arrived today. Should be fun to get started on checking them out.

I have both the german Laurel &Hardy as well as the UK version. I bought the UK set because of its price. From what I have read, the colorized L&H on the UK  are not very good and take up space. For a review of the UK set see:

 

http://www.laurelandhardy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/newDVDREV.html

 

Sometime last year  I made a blurb about the German Laurel & Hardy. I don't know if there is any legal problems (?copywrite?) with my blurb relative to a much older post from Holland. The old post from Holland  link is:

 

http://www.blotto.nl/index.php/weblog/dvd/

 

My thing is more up-todate with added information. The Laurel & Hardy from the UK and the german contain the "best" of Laurel & Hardy. I have the impression that the UK set has more of L&H speaking other languages than the german set. I have the feeling that there is more Charlie Chase on the german set. Not included on the UK set was "Flying Deuces" On the german DVD of "The Flying Deuces " ("In der Fremden legion") there is an easter egg of "Lucky Dog" which has Laurel with Hardy but they were not a pair. Some of Laurel and Hardy were issued on FOX but not the best L&H. Warners has issued several L&H  including excerps from "Hollywood Party which is very good L&H (including the egg scene). Warner has also issued "Hollywood Party"  which is not a very good film but worth having for the L&H and  disney cartoon

My set arrived from Amazon UK today. Took a very long time but looks to be well worth it. The packaging is really high quality. 21 DVD's in slim cases in a very solid and classy box.

I watched pretty much an entire disc and must say the quality seems as good if not better than I've seen before on these titles.

So far I'm very pleased.

My L & H set arrived earlier this week. It took a little over two weeks, oh well. I agree - the packaging of the set is very solid. I pulled out a disc and watched "Them Thar Hills" and it has pretty good quality. I did seem to notice the speed up a couple of times, but nothing that really bothered me.

 

I am glad I went ahead and got the region free player and the L & H set. I can now watch L & H whenever I want.

Since the Laurel & Hardy films in the UK are generally from the German company In Leipsig - I would say that the films are "correct" in regards to the audio since the german (and UK) were done from the films - not the US NTSC. Perhaps the UK films played in the US might (I doubt it) have "NTSC slowdown". Where I live in Germany, I am luckily not sensitive to PAL-Speedup or NTSC slow down. I know people who have perfect pitch have problems with music. I am somewhat sensitive to wrong perspectives like thin or fat people. One TV station in Germany (Eurosport) had for 10 days a 4:3 picture which was the wideangle picture squeezed into a 4:3 picture!!!! with thin people. The picture looked ok with the 16:9 - DVD setting. Now they have the (german) TV standard for widescreen (3rd zoom/ letterbox).

U.S. airing on TCM are from the transfers done by RHI Entertainment here is America. 

All this talk of the UK Set vs The German has been confusing - which one is the best? 

 

Quality wise, I think both ought to be good. The UK sources were obtained from Kinowelt in Leipzig who cleaned up the originals. For the money the UK is a steal which is why I bought it- It might be that the Leipzig set has more Charlie Chase and the UK set has more L &H "speaking" other languages as stated in my post 66.I would assume BOTH are good but the UK price is hard to beat. NOT on the UK set is the "Flying Deuces". The german DVDs came out first before the UK set but pricewise you cannot beat the UK set. The "colored" L&H on the UK set are space wasters.
 

Might I add that I might be the only person in the forum who has the German L &H (Some germans call them "Dick and Doof" (Fat and dumb). Most of these were bought early when I started getting DVDs. Most were bought in a circa 2 year time. When I visited the US, I was amazed how little L&H there was. Last year I compared what was on the german set and UK sets. Most important, the best L&Hs were on both sets (except for "The Flying Deuces" which is on the German set. I did not buy that at first since I have what I bought in the USA but someone from another forum stated that the quality of the german "In Der Fremdenlegion" ( "Flying Deuces"). The german DVDs were not cheap and the menus not done very well. So far, people who have bought the UK set - have been quite happy. Sad to say - the US owners don't care about L&H.

Can anybody share any additional details about the upcoming R1 release (on 10/25) of the 10 disc L & H Essential Collection by the RHI / Vivendi Entertainment? Digital Bits has some details, but I would like to find out more about it.

 

Edit: OK - I just scrolled down and found the new thread on this new release. Thanks.

Edited by ChrisALM - 7/20/11 at 12:19pm