Blu-ray Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Laurel & Hardy: Year Two -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Blackhawk Films, as released one of the most important disc sets of 2024 - Laurel & Hardy: Year Two on Blu-ray.

Following up on their initial Year One (1927) release, which covered the pre-history of the pair, Year Two offers ten of their films released in 1928, the official year of their pairing - Leave 'em Laughing, The Finishing Touch, From Soup to Nuts, You're Darn Tootin', Their Purple Moment, Should Married Men Go Home?, Early to Bed, Two Tars, Habeas Corpus and We Faw Down.

I'll not find the time to get through both discs and extras in the near future, but felt it imperative to get a few words posted, as this will probably sell out, and it should be owned by every card-carrying cinema fan.

On a personal level, I always enjoys the Laurel & Hardy films - probably ahead of Minnie's boys. The Stooges (who came later) held no interest to me. Abbot and Costello were fun, but also were never a pair I felt at this level of genius.

Every one of the films on these discs - the Laurel & Hardy productions, along with those of other artists, plus fragments and other shots of interest come together in a meaningful way.

I viewed the first on the disc, Leave 'em Laughing, as earlier in the week I had the pleasure of my very first tooth extraction. This is a great early L & H comedy.

I sampled extras and came upon something else that I found mesmerizing. A 1959 interview of Mr. Laurel by Tony Thomas - running 20 minutes, and covering his entire career. So incredible to hear first hand history.

I'll add more here as I find the time, but wanted to make special note of this release, which is worth its weight in gold. Like a fine wine, opening the case, I was immediately hit by the delicate scents of passion and love of cinema.

That doesn't happen very often.

Absolute quality all the way, with a huge thank you to Jeffrey Masino and Serge Bromberg.

One more point that will be important to the cognoscenti - the disc was authored by Fidelity in Motion.

Image - 4 - 8

Audio – n/a

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Worth your attention - Absolutely

Slipcover rating - n/a

Looks like Film - 10

Very Highly Recommended

RAH



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[Robert Harris]

Should have mentioned, but will not edit.

The purchase of this set will help fund future restoration work.

 

[bujaki]

Best to order direct from Flicker Alley.

 

[Traveling Matt]

Got my copy today directly from Flicker Alley and it's aces. The films look great so far. Much thanks to those involved for the love and attention put into this terrific release!

 

[Robert Harris]

Just realized that while I love these L & H sets, they'll be limited as time goes on, as the extraordinary duo moved into features by 1931. They appeared in The Rogue Song (1930), but chances of that being release are slim to none.

That pretty much leaves us with Years 3 - 5, although I'd love to see Mr. Bromberg work his magic with the likes of The Music Box and the early features.

 

[Rodney]

I received my copy this past week from Flicker Alley, but haven't watched it yet.
So good to read RAH's comments here about it. Keep 'em coming, Robert!

 

[Stefan Andersson]

Update:

"The upcoming two-disc Blu-ray edition of Laurel & Hardy: Year Two, previously announced for release on October 29, will be delayed by one week to accommodate the inclusion of several new pieces of bonus content, including the extant second reel of the 1927 Charley Chase short ‘Now I’ll Tell One’ (courtesy of the British Film Institute.) Once considered a fully lost film, the short features both Stan and Ollie, albeit not yet as a comedy duo.
In addition to ‘Now I’ll Tell One,’ the upcoming set will also include some newly announced alternate audio options, including two vintage Blackhawk Films music tracks on ‘You’re Darn Tootin’ and ‘Two Tars.’ "

https://cinemaretro.com/index.php - Nov. 17 post

 

[Traveling Matt]

Just realized that while I love these L & H sets, they'll be limited as time goes on, as the extraordinary duo moved into features by 1931. They appeared in The Rogue Song (1930), but chances of that being release are slim to none.

That pretty much leaves us with Years 3 - 5, although I'd love to see Mr. Bromberg work his magic with the likes of The Music Box and the early features.

I believe the plan was to only do the silents in this series, which would leave just one more set (1929). I haven't heard of a plan to draw the line with the features. It seems more likely someone, maybe Flicker, would follow up with the sound films. A Blu-ray version of the 2011 DVD set with all the finished UCLA restorations, if they are finished, would be ideal. I skipped the Definitive Blu-ray because of the video issues and the fact it wasn't complete.

 

[Stefan Andersson]

UCLA restorations

About UCLA restorations:

Laurel and Hardy Film Preservation Fund | UCLA Film & Television Archive

www.cinema.ucla.edu

 

[Into The Archives]

That pretty much leaves us with Years 3 - 5, although I'd love to see Mr. Bromberg work his magic with the likes of The Music Box and the early features.

When that time comes, I hope he doesn't reinvent the wheel as UCLA has a fanatastic presevation FGM from the nitrate OCN's and perfectly restored track on The Music Box, perfomred by Mr. MacQueen. The recent 35mm prints from this restoration are wonderful.

 

[Robert Harris]

When that time comes, I hope he doesn't reinvent the wheel as UCLA has a fanatastic presevation FGM from the nitrate OCN's and perfectly restored track on The Music Box, perfomred by Mr. MacQueen. The recent 35mm prints from this restoration are wonderful.

And should have been released untainted in the earlier (non-Blackhawk) product.

 

[Bart T]

In 2023 Serge Bromberg was interviewed by Patrick Vasey for the L&H Podcast , and apparently he is only going to restore the silents. The restoration of the talkies will remain the domain of Jeff Joseph, who was responsible for the "definitive restorations." A shame, because mr. Bromberg does a much better job. If you look at the one title they both restored (Battle of the Century) the Bromberg version looks superior to the JJ-version, even though they both used the same source material.

 

[Albert71292]

Still waiting on mine. Pre-ordered back in late September. Got an email on November 11th saying it wouldn't arrive until November 26th.

 

[Bart T]

I'm also still waiting. But that's also because I pre-ordered it from amazon and not directly from Flicker Alley. With Flicker Alley shipping to the Netherlands was really expensive, I would have paid a total of $ 100 including shipping and import taxes. With amazon it's only $ 60,- And despite it being in stock, they still haven't shipped it yet. You get what you pay for, I guess.

 

[Bart T]

I'm also still waiting. But that's also because I pre-ordered it from amazon and not directly from Flicker Alley. With Flicker Alley shipping to the Netherlands was really expensive, I would have paid a total of $ 100 including shipping and import taxes. With amazon it's only $ 60,- And despite it being in stock, they still haven't shipped it yet. You get what you pay for, I guess.

And still nothing. I should have gotten it by now, but according to the Amazon website "this package is delayed due to severe weather in the delivery network".

 

[TheSteig]

Ill get this one eventually !

 

[samkydd]

I'm in UK and usually get US discs from WOWHD or rarewaves but neither have it in yet.

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

My only beef with these fantastic restorations is the marring of the title card with the new copyright text. It's not as egregious as the old days of watermarks in the corner of the entire video for dvd releases (never stopped anyone from copying anything), but it is still, in my opinion, an unnecessary addition as the opening logo and restoration text is fully adequate to show who did what and who is responsible for the visual feast we are to behold.

For the quality of the work done on these films, credit where credit is due, but maybe not on the original titles? Bob Furmanek restored Africa Screams but didn't superimpose his name in the film proper.

Just imagine if Warner had done the same thing with their restored Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies-- restore the opening titles, some possibly not seen in decades, but add on new text with:

(c) 2024 Warner Bros
warnerbros.com

I guarantee that pitchforks and torches would be brandished, and a recall demanded.

That said, I could just go for a Year Three right about now.

 

[Into The Archives]

My only beef with these fantastic restorations is the marring of the title card with the new copyright text. It's not as egregious as the old days of watermarks in the corner of the entire video for dvd releases (never stopped anyone from copying anything), but it is still, in my opinion, an unnecessary addition as the opening logo and restoration text is fully adequate to show who did what and who is responsible for the visual feast we are to behold.

For the quality of the work done on these films, credit where credit is due, but maybe not on the original titles? Bob Furmanek restored Africa Screams but didn't superimpose his name in the film proper.

I am not sure how Year Two was authored; however, Year One broke up each short in various ways, so if you were going to rip it and watch it on your iPad, as I do sometimes when I’m traveling, it won’t all be together in order. I had not experienced this before

 

[Tony Bensley]

I am not sure how Year Two was authored; however, Year One broke up each short in various ways, so if you were going to rip it and watch it on your iPad, as I do sometimes when I’m traveling, it won’t all be together in order. I had not experienced this before

This also makes it a real bugger to view on a Blu-ray drive when using Leawo Blu-ray Player or some other non DRM (Barely to non functional Blu-ray Disc menu!) supported software. I have to sift through several titles to find the one that isn't broken up and/or screen flipped in some way!

That said, I'm looking forward to getting the Year Two Blu-ray set, which I suspect is my Christmas gift that has been stuck in the mail due to our near month long Canada Post strike. Now that it appears they're being legislated back to work as soon as early next week, hopefully I'll have it if not before Christmas, than perhaps early in the New Year? Better late than never, I guess.

CHEERS!