Laurel and Hardy shorts on dvd? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Zimmer]

Gracias for the info on good versions of Babes in Toyland and Flying Deuces. Is there a good version of UTOPIA put out by anyone?

 

[John Hodson]

Is there a DVD player that features pitch correction? I'm not sure there is. Apparently only 4% of us are sensitive to such things; I appreciate that to the few it may sound like nails down a blackboard, but, having grown up with it, I can never spot it. Well, rarely.

 

[dallhtf]

Original elements on FLYING DEUCES are held by Republic. They own a few titles originally released by RKO.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

And I believe Republic is owned by Paramount, isn't it?

 

[Randy_M]

I also have the UK set, and it looks terrific on my new PAL corrected all region player.

Couldn't be happier with this set.

 

[Mark Y]

Cool...I would love to see an "official" release of The Flying Deuces one day. Never thought I'd ever see an "official" Babes In Toyland, but it's now out there, so maybe there's hope.

 

[Mark Y]

The best one I've seen so far -- and thanks to a tip from a character who goes by the name THE SPACE BOSS -- yes, in all caps -- at the Laurel & Hardy Usenet newsgroup a few years back: Utopia was included as part of a mega public domain set called Family Classics, released through Treeline Films (now Mill Creek). Not perfect by any means, and clearly sourced from a decades-old video transfer with a few minor glitches, but easily the best out there. Unfortunately, that collection seems to be out of print and not only that, at some point I believe Utopia was taken off that set and replaced with some other movie.

 

[Steve...O]

Sadly, there's no update on a R1 release, but....

UCLA has restored "Way Out West" and a 35mm print is to be screened later this month at the Heights Theater in Minneapolis. So, at the very least, it does appear that earlier reports that UCLA was in the process of restoring the L&H catalog were accurate.

Hopefully someday the rights issues preventing a R1 release (the name Richard Feiner keeps popping up in this regard) will get resolved. I have the marvelous UK set, but a proper R1 set would do so much to restoring the L&H legacy.

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THE HEIGHTS THEATER AND THE BLOCK-HEADS TENT OF THE SONS OF THE DESERT PRESENTS
"WAY OUT WEST" (1937) - NEW RESTORED 35MM PRINT!!
SUNDAY APRIL 25, 2010. 1:30PM.
ALL SEATS $10.00
Advance tickets available

New RESTORED 35mm print from the UCLA FILM & TELEVISION ARCHIVE!!

“WAY OUT WEST” (1937) Starring STAN LAUREL, OLIVER HARDY, JAMES FINLAYSON. Directed by JAMES HORNE. You will not want to miss this opportunity to see LAUREL AND HARDY in their greatest feature film, presented in a beautifully restored 35mm print! Film historian, Hal Roach biographer, Laurel and Hardy expert and author Richard W. Bann wrote of the 35mm Stan and Ollie experience, “Those of us who have seen WAY OUT WEST scores of times tend to take it for granted until we have the opportunity to screen a 35mm print with a live audience. Then it becomes a totally different experience, a film we hardly know at all! Something intangible happens in a theatrical situation that is positively absent in front of a television set.” UCLA’s restoration provides the best available print since the film was released 73 years ago!

This special screening will also feature:
* A surprise silent short subject!

35mm print courtesy The UCLA Film and Television Archive and RHI Entertainment. Preservation funded by the Film foundation.

 

[John Morgan]

I bought the England set sometime ago. Although it is nice to have them all together in a set, I really can't believe these are restored "best" versions of the films. Some look pretty good, but others are still in terrible condition.

As far as I know, all the surviving nitrate and primo materials are at UCLA. I don't know if any restoration has started or if they are just housed there waiting for funds to do something with them.

For me, and generally speaking, the best prints of the shorts were the ones distrubuted by RHI and played on WOR for years and in syndication. I realize that a really proper restoration (finding and restoring original titles, etc.) would be very expensive and because the ownership is not a studio per se, the costs may not be deemed worthy enough in terms of sales, but I would think if they looked at it as an asset that have legs, Hi Def masters could be done once and for all for future DVDs as well as playing on cable and other uses.

And I still can't understand how the OUR GANG sound shorts, and after coming out looking great on laser, could have been such a mixed bag when released on DVD with substandard masters being used in some cases....and this from the same company that did the laser disc sets. Did they just grab wrong masters from the shelf?

Anyway, I think the Laurel and Hardy Roach/Laurel and Hardy sound shorts and features is perhaps the greatest "missing in action" on R1 DVD. I hope this is rectified before I leave this earth.

 

[Traveling Matt]

I can't believe we're still without L&H in R1, this late in the game.
The Minneapolis screening sounds like great fun, however, and UCLA's work might be a great encouragement to start getting properly restored material to disc. Hopefully they're handling shorts as well as features.

 

[Matt Stieg]

According to a post from July 29, 2009 on the official Laurel & Hardy website, Genius and RHI are apparently working on a set similar to the Little Rascals set from a couple of years ago that is supposed to come out in the fall of '10. I haven't heard anything since that post.

 

[WadeM]

Originally Posted by Matt Stieg

According to a post from July 29, 2009 on the official Laurel & Hardy website, Genius and RHI are apparently working on a set similar to the Little Rascals set from a couple of years ago that is supposed to come out in the fall of '10. I haven't heard anything since that post.

I hope it happens!

 

[John Sparks]

Does having all 10 volumes of The Hal Roach Studios of "The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy" count?

 

[Steve...O]

Originally Posted by John Sparks

Does having all 10 volumes of The Hal Roach Studios of "The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy" count?

Absolutely! The very first two DVDs I ever bought back in '99 were Vol 1 & 2 of the "Lost FIlms" series.

These were fun to watch although by today's standards they could be done so much better.

Thanks to the Matt for the info about the Genius rumor. I sent them an e-mail via their website; we'll see if they respond.

The Way Out West restoration I mentioned above was funded by Martin Scorcese's Film Foundation. He's gone up even higher in my book.

 

[Jon Martin]

Originally Posted by Matt Stieg

According to a post from July 29, 2009 on the official Laurel & Hardy website, Genius and RHI are apparently working on a set similar to the Little Rascals set from a couple of years ago that is supposed to come out in the fall of '10. I haven't heard anything since that post.

Is Genius still in business? They used to release all the Weinstein films, but TWC has moved to Sony. The Genius website hasn't been updated in a while, and the RHI link on the site is dead.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Jon Martin is dead.

They are still around they just made an exclusive deal with Best Buy to distribute WWE Blu-ray titles to them. They also released last month a RHI title CARNEY, which played on the Syfy channel. Genius Products is still more or less a distributor with RHI involved with the release of the Little Rascals and hopefully Laurel & Hardy. I guess we will see.

RHI's new site is http://rhitv.com/ I appears to be very active listing upcoming releases for the next four months. Nothing that I would want to buy, but each to their own.

 

[Steve...O]

For what it is worth, Genius did not respond to my e-mail query about the potential L&H releases. Not that I expected them to, but they've responded to my e-mails in the past on other matters. It's also possible that they are under a "gag" order until an official announcement is made (at least that's what the optimist in me thinks )

 

[Steve...O]

A couple of things:

a) I had a chance to view the UCLA restoration of "Way Out West". To sum this up in a single word: incredible. Easily the best I've seen this film look and sound. Apparently a mint nitrate print was found awhile back and this was combined with another high quality print to create the new 35mm print that is now circulating. I would imagine that the few flaws that existed in the print could be fixed digitally. The screening I saw was viewed by a sellout crowd of 400 people who were laughing and applauding throughout.

b) home video news isn't that great. The update I heard was that a complete set of Roach talkies had been set for USA release very soon but unspecified issues have arisen that have halted this. I will try to do some networking to determine how serious these issues are.

Bottom line is that if a theater in your area books this Way Out West print, make time to see it.

 

[JoHud]

Yeah, that UCLA restoration was gorgeous. Had no idea there were 400 people in that theater! I pre-bought the tickets thanks to this thread.

Also, there was an announcement of another possible Laurel and Hardy screening this Fall at the same theater. Perhaps another restoration?

 

[Steve...O]

Originally Posted by JoHud

Yeah, that UCLA restoration was gorgeous. Had no idea there were 400 people in that theater! I pre-bought the tickets thanks to this thread.

Also, there was an announcement of another possible Laurel and Hardy screening this Fall at the same theater. Perhaps another restoration?

Joe - glad to see another HTF member got to enjoy this. I wasn't privy to the entire discussion but apparently one of the reasons the screening started a few minutes late is that there were still people lined up to come into the theater. Since my wife and I traveled a long distance to attend this we showed up at the theater very early so I could be assured of getting good seats. I really didn't know if very many would show up, but wasn't going to take any chances. When we saw people lining up 15 - 20 minutes before the theater even opened that proved L&H can still draw a crowd in 2010.

From what I was told at the event, "West" is the only L&H film that UCLA has restored. The fall event likely to be one of the Warner owned titles ("Bonnie Scotland" or "Devil's Brother") simply because those titles, along with the Fox titles, are the ones easily obtainable in the 35mm rental market. Finding Roach era product in 35mm is very difficult because many of the prints are now in the hands of private collectors.

My biggest fear about a R1 release is that whoever does release these won't invest in new transfers (thus duplicating Hallmark's awful releases) or they'll license the restored European versions but not retransfer them to convert them from PAL (causing blurring). Hopefully RHI (the current rights holders) will treat these with the respect they deserve and ensure releases that compare to the high quality enjoyed by A&C and the 3 Stooges.