Never been a Wheeler and Woolsey fan. I’ve always felt more attuned to “the boys,” Chaplin and Keaton. Or if teams, Laurel & Hardy, or the Marx Bros.
Never did I ever believe that a Wheeler and Woolsey film would be restored.
Never did I ever expect a Wheeler and Woolsey film to arrive on Blu-ray.
But here we are, in yet another of a continuing wonderful parade of surprises from Warner Archive.
I can understand why this Wheeler and Woolsey made it to the fore.
It gives us “Spanky” McFarnland.
Margaret Dumont, not as a Marx Bros. foil.
And last but not least, it’s directed by George Stevens, who toiled throughout his early years on the Hal Roach lot, before moving to RKO, Universal, and some others, where he eventually directed some decent pictures.
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey came out of vaudeville, and after appearing together in the 1929 film version of Rio Rita, were teamed in about twenty films, before Mr. Woolsey’s death in 1938.
What is rather unexpected here is to see one of their films fully restored from the camera negative, in close to the pristine a condition of its original release in 1934.
Personally, as a huge fan of Mr. Stevens’ work, I applaud this as one more addition to his canon on Blu-ray, giving us a glimpse of how he handled comedy in 1930s.
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD – Oh, yes!
Recommended.
RAH
Never did I ever believe that a Wheeler and Woolsey film would be restored.
Never did I ever expect a Wheeler and Woolsey film to arrive on Blu-ray.
But here we are, in yet another of a continuing wonderful parade of surprises from Warner Archive.
I can understand why this Wheeler and Woolsey made it to the fore.
It gives us “Spanky” McFarnland.
Margaret Dumont, not as a Marx Bros. foil.
And last but not least, it’s directed by George Stevens, who toiled throughout his early years on the Hal Roach lot, before moving to RKO, Universal, and some others, where he eventually directed some decent pictures.
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey came out of vaudeville, and after appearing together in the 1929 film version of Rio Rita, were teamed in about twenty films, before Mr. Woolsey’s death in 1938.
What is rather unexpected here is to see one of their films fully restored from the camera negative, in close to the pristine a condition of its original release in 1934.
Personally, as a huge fan of Mr. Stevens’ work, I applaud this as one more addition to his canon on Blu-ray, giving us a glimpse of how he handled comedy in 1930s.
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD – Oh, yes!
Recommended.
RAH
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