Babes in Toyland/March Of The Wooden Soldiers, Best Release from Legend!? (1 Viewer)

[ScottR]

Robert, does your dvd from Nostalgia have the original Babes in Toyland title and no additional copyright at the end?

 

[RobertGr]

Scott on my dvd copy the original opening is the same with the MGM Lion and the building blocks then freezing on the block that says MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS at the end it does not have the Samuel Goldwyn copyright though.

The quality though is outstanding. For years I was writing to Criterion asking them to release the film, I would think they would do an amazing job on this film. This film is crying for a restored version off of the o-neg if it does exist.

At one point the company that owned the film PRIME TV Films (now defunct) was going to send me the press sheet on the film containg the costs of production and grosses etc and the usual info on the filming of movies that press sheets provide but sadly they never did.


Intersting tidbit on the use of WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF under the scene where Barnaby kidnaps Elmer the Pig, when approached Walt Disney gave his blessing as he was a huge Laurel and Hardy Fan!!!!

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Wow, is it christmas already ? Sorry, I couldnt resist when I saw this thread.

 

[RobertGr]

Hey after all Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum gave Barnaby his Christmas present "In the middle of July."


: )

 

[Steve...O]

Interesting stories, RobertGr; thank you!

When Michael Agee was putting together his LOST FILMS OF L&H series together he had access to some of the original negatives for these films which is incredible considering most of them dated to the 1920s. It is entirely possible that the original negative exists for this film since Roach apparently had a good preservation policy. It's always amazed me that with so much silent era stuff lost forever that only 1 L&H short is missing entirely.

I held my nose and bought the legend disc due to their promise that the B&W image was true B&W and not the color turned down. It did meet my expectations although it wasn't perfect. Was the Nostalgia Family Video release a legit release? I thought they were a "grey market" outfit, but I could be mistaken.

Legend films could be seen as saviors of public domain material if they truly restore the B&W versions but because I have to pay for colorized versions to get their discs, I've only bought the L&H one. No need to encourage bad behavior, in my opinion.

The absence of the Roach sound library in R1 continues to be one of the glaring embarrassments of the DVD era.

Steve

 

[RobertGr]

Steve thanks for the kind words, I find your posts to rank with Joe caps as some of the most informative and enjoyable reading.

The Roach library is one of the most amazing film collections and sadly the one that is terribly unavaiable. His sound output was awesome and still holds up. In my opinion though the biggest mistake he made was trying to outlcass MGM in the late 1930's. He used the success of Laurel and Hardy to build his studio into a wannabee feature factory and he failed, Sure the three TOPPER films were successful but today when you think of Roach you think Laurel and Hardy and The Little Rascals.


When wonders if his studio would have survived longer had he not canned Laurel and Hardy and sold off Our Gang. After 1940 his studio really was mired in debt than the war broke out and his studio was commandered by the War dept. After the war his studio pioneered TV production but sadly his Sson Hal Jr was no filmmaker.

On Babes in Toyland it was one of the 3 Laurel and Hardy features he let go from his ownership, with BONNIE SCOTLAND and FRA DIAVLO going to MGM and whom knows whom getting BABES IN TOYLAND.

I actually got to meet Spanky before he passed away and the love he had for Roach and the Lot of Fun was clearly evident.

On the films I don't know why Blackhawk FIlms/Dave Shephard did not retain the home video rights as their prints were the best for many years.


I really did not know much about Nostalgia until I bought first the VHS tape of BABES then the DVD but the title looks great compared to others I have seen. The also had/have some of Laurel and Hardy's other Roach films

: )

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

"Legend films could be seen as saviors of public domain material if they truly restore the B&W versions but because I have to pay for colorized versions to get their discs, I've only bought the L&H one. No need to encourage bad behavior, in my opinion."

Absolutely. I think if the dopes at Legend released their films on two discs sold separately, one with just the colorized crap and the other with a true B&W restoration, they'd soon discover how little support there is for their Crayolization of the classics. Until then, they ain't gettin' any o' my dough.

"The absence of the Roach sound library in R1 continues to be one of the glaring embarrassments of the DVD era."

Yep. Right up there with the Max Fleischer cartoons. And the Republic serials.

I wonder what Steve Beeks is watching right now?

movies, fun, and more! www.inthebalcony.com

 

[baracine]

The colour on the Legend Films release ain't too shabby either... You might be interested in this dvdtalk.com thread on the latest Legend Films releases. It has lots of screen caps: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....t=legend+films

 

[John Hodson]

Baracine; please, for pity's sake not here!

 

[AndrewR]

LOL!

 

[Larry Sutliff]

MGM is releasing an MGM HOLIDAY CLASSICS set this October. It includes MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS, but Amazon and other sites I've checked don't specify whether it's the 1934 version. Does anyone else have any info on this? Thanks in advance.

 

[chrisBeckett]

Larry, if any help Movies Unlimited (http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musit...asp?sku=D53244) list Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel for the cast so it looks to be the 1934 version.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Thanks, Chris!