DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Laurel and Hardy (1 Viewer)

[Evan Case]

After the Original Trilogy and Raiders, there were no films I wanted on DVD more than Laurel & Hardy's sound shorts.

Over the better part of a decade I filled up nine SLP-recorded tapes with every bit of L&H I could find, and I now have every official film they ever made, barring two Fox pictures, one Hal Roach cameo appearance, the pair of lost films, and most of the available foreign versions (I just found a Spanish version of Blotto the other day with about ten minutes of additional gags!).

I've literally worn some of these tapes so ragged that I became afraid to play them more than once or twice a year.

Words can't express how pleased I'll be to finally start getting their films in a format that won't degrade on me.

Keep them coming! (And remember--no colorization!)

Evan

P.S. Incidentally, has anyone had a chance to check out the 5-disc set released the other day? It's almost entirely made up of their public domain stuff, so I'm a bit wary of the quality (an Amazon review mention The Flying Deuces as being out of sync, for instance). I have a feeling I'll probably pick it up anyway, if only for the supplement disc featuring a lot of old L&H trailers.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Evan,

Let's hope Hallmark & Artisan continue putting
out these shorts. I tend not to be too optimistic
as Hallmark has done very little with The Little
Rascals other than to release a small handful of
titles.

 

[Dan Stone]

You get the choice of the original 1-Channel Mono and a new 2.0 Mono track. I really have no idea what this 2.0 track is supposed to be but I suggest sticking to the original. The 2.0 track has all the dialogue sounding as if it is being spoken in a large hall, which causes echoes that just doesn’t sound like it should.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the difference that the 1.0 track only comes from your center channel where the 2.0 track comes from your left and right main speakers, even though both of these options are still a mono mix? The mix between the two options is normally supposed to be the same and the options are simply a way to switch between which speakers are playing the sound. Based on what you're saying regarding the large hall effect, it sounds like this may not be the case here. I don't have the Laurel & Hardy disc to verify this though.

On other discs where this option is presented, the choice between one channel mono and 2.0 mono is more of a function of how good your center channel is in relation to your main speakers and also as to whether you are viewing alone (where 2.0 creating a phantom central image is easy to achieve) or in a group (where the center channel speaker will lock the one channel mono image to the screen for all viewers).

Hope this might help,

Dan

 

[Paul Drake]

Some interesting behind the scenes information can be gleaned from this posting on the L&H newsgroup. In short, if this doesn't sell, there won't be anymore releases. We are, in fact, lucky to get this one. (I edited out some redundant material)
----------------------------------------
Quote from newsgroup:

Randy Skretvedt, author of "Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies," .... Here's Randy's message:

"As many of you know by now, Artisan will be releasing a new Laurel & Hardy DVD on August 19. It will contain "Sons of the Desert," "The Music Box," "Another Fine Mess," "Busy Bodies" and "County Hospital."

Last month I talked to someone close to the Hallmark/Roach situation and he said the only reason this DVD is being released is because a regional Wal-Mart buyer (whose territory covers the South, mainly, I believe) kept pestering the Hallmark folks for Laurel & Hardy product.
Both this source and the source at Directorsite confirmed that there are at present NO plans to bring out more L&H-Roach sound material on DVD. The disc being made available on August 19 is a "trial balloon"--if it sells well, then Hallmark will consider bringing out more L&H titles.

Hallmark has in the past not only shown no interest in releasing the L&H films on video, but has adamantly refused other interested companies who inquired about leasing the material. One firm made a very generous offer to acquire the Roach films from Hallmark, but was
turned down. What makes this especially frustrating is that Hallmark has also not shown much interest in preserving the 35mm master materials. Essentially, owning the Roach library looks good on Hallmark's list of corporate holdings, and rights to the films are
used as collateral when Hallmark is putting funding together for new "Hall of Fame" productions. Beyond this, Hallmark has seen little value in the films until now.

Until about a year ago, our safety net for the preservation of the L&H 35mm materials was Beta-Taurus/KirchMedia, the German-based company
which owned the rights to the films for the eastern hemisphere. But with the collapse and bankruptcy of KirchMedia, the fate of these materials is very much in question. (American billionaire Haim Saban, who made his fortune with the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," recently
tried to purchase key assets of KirchMedia, but the deal fell through as of June 5.)

So, we have an American owner of the L&H talkies which has shown little interest until just recently in preserving or making available these films, and a European owner which is in a state of limbo. This means that the Laurel & Hardy Roach talkie films, and the rest of the Roach library, are as close to extinction as they have been in 50 years.

Therefore--we have a lot riding on the success of the forthcoming L&H DVD. What I fear is that it will only be available for a short time, and only regionally. This happened with an earlier Artisan DVD release of Hal Roach Little Rascals material, which disappeared almost as soon as it was released.

So, loyal L&H fans, pre-order your copy of the new L&H DVD now. Buy several copies, in fact, and raffle them off at your Sons of the Desert meetings--or better yet, donate them to libraries or schools with a DVD collection so that more people can discover this great team, which is on the verge of being totally forgotten, at least in the United States.
----------------------------

 

[alan halvorson]

What a bunch of corporate jerks! The thing is - how will people know about this release? Best Buy, if it carries this title at all, will just stick it back into the oddball or cheapie section. Online buyers will do their duty, but that's not enough. Since it's Walmart that pushed for the title, maybe Walmart will actually stock it and display it where people don't have to search for it.

 

[Eric Peterson]

That's really depressing. How are Hallmark and Artisan connected? Artisan is absolutely terrible and I had fully intended on never buying another product by them again, but I will make an exception for L&H. Any chance of these slipping into the Public Domain so that maybe some smaller company (Criterion, Kino, Milestone) might be able to release these titles.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This is just awful news to read.

 

[Derek_McL]

Yes it is very depressing. As I said in my post I've been very lucky concerning Stan and Ollie. I am concerned about the collapse of the Kirchgroup(they had a not bad website now sadly gone which had a demo of their restoration of The Music Box which was quite impressive)although it doesn't seem to have affected the release of the German DVDs which are projected to almost complete the silent/ sound Roach shorts/features in January 2004. Also Universal are releasing a new series of DVDs in Holland but there haven't been any new official Laurel and Hardy DVDs in Britain for a long time.

I agree with you Alan these corporate jerks obviously don't know what they have on their hands. Despite all the criticism of the discs : too expensive, too few shorts and the dreaded RCE to deter international buyers Columbia are at least making the Three Stooges' films available. Now if there is a market for them with their crude,violent slapstick there should be a market for the sophistication and subtlety of Stan and Ollie.

Here in the UK we are in the middle of showings of almost all their sound shorts early in the morning on mainstream TV (BBC2). Maybe that's what you should aim for in the US so that youngsters can rediscover Stan and Ollie. If Laurel and Hardy are now almost officially considered lesser comedians than the Three Stooges then that just goes to prove what an empty-headed age we are living in.

Do Hallmark/Artisan own all the sound shorts/features ? I ask this because I don't think the Kirchgroup did. MGM or Warner I'm not sure which retained the rights (I think) to Fra Diavolo (The Devil's Brother) and Bonnie Scotland. That seems to be the case in Europe as these titles aren't projected to be included among the Kinowelt DVDs and I've seen VHS releases of these two I think from MGM. It might be different in the US if not theoretically these titles could be available to release. Or have they like March of the Wooden Soldiers (Babes in Toyland), The Flying Deuces and the dreaded Atoll K (Utopia) drifted into the public domain ?

 

[Keith Paynter]

If Hallmark is unwilling to run with future editions, you may wish to consider DVDs from Nostalgia Family Video. They list all the feature films, have several compilations of sound shorts, and even sell the complete collection as a single package. Use the search function.

I can't speak on the quality of these discs, because I don't own any of them. If anyone does, comments would be appreciated.

 

[Derek_McL]

What about the Robert Youngson compilations ? Mr Youngson made a series of compilations of mostly silent comedy in the 50s /60s mostly released through Fox or M-G-M. I've always wondered who owned these now. Youngson seemed determined to reintroduce Stan and Ollie's silent work to a new audience and although his films were often cursed with obnoxious commentary tracks the prints used were always superb. Many Laurel and Hardy and other silents including the celebrated custard pie fight from The Battle of the Century were only saved from extinction because Youngson selected them for inclusion in his films.

Interestingly one of these compilations The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy is available in Region 2. Who would sanction DVD releases of other titles like MGM's Big Parade of Comedy, The Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy was King ,Days of Thrills and Laughter and Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20s ?

I know this is mostly silent material which is already available in the Lost Films series but also in the 60s there was a compilation of sound shorts : The Crazy World of Laurel and Hardy followed by a made for TV compilation The Best of Laurel and Hardy. This isn't ideal (clips rather than complete films) but I doubt Hallmark owns all this material and maybe there is a chance it could come to Region 1 DVD.

 

[Evan Case]

Keith, that website seems too good to be true...

Surely more folks would've heard of their availability if if practically their entire Roach and public domain archives were out on DVD.

This warrants further investigation.

...as for Hallmark... they have become well-hated in L&H fan circles, and for good reason, as you can see.

Evan

 

[Derek_McL]

Indeed these versions of Stan and Ollie are likely to be poor quality bootlegs but if I didn't have access to the excellent German,British discs and TV broadcasts (in the UK) I'd be tempted. A real fan wants all the Stan and Ollie sound shorts and at least a half dozen features on DVDs of some description. Interesting to see if anyone has experience of this company. There is a lot of interesting stuff here.

Probably Region 1 fans will just have to hope the new official disc sells in sufficient numbers to generate a series. If Artisan won't do it someone else should or investigate other footage/material of interest that might not be owned by them as I have been suggesting in my previous posts.

 

[Randy_M]

Well, I just placed a test order of a couple of DVD's from Nostalgia Family Video (one feature and one collection of shorts).

I'll post back as to their quality after I receive them.

They've GOT to be better than my deteriorating VHS tapes.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Their About Us page mentions some of their criteria, which appears to indicate they have a solid reputation.

I first heard about them through several eBay auctions, and they appear to have a very diverse catalogue of rare titles, and are not in the low calibre videos like Shokus Video or Video Yesteryear (they used to have an online website catalogue, but seem to have vanished).

 

[Lee Bombard]

What's the deal with Nostalgia Family Video anyway. They pretty much have the whole L&H sound catalog available on DVD. How is that possible? Aren't these copyrighted? How can it be that no one has heard about this till now?

Anyone?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Would very much like to hear a review of
these Nostalgia Video releases.

Glad somebody else is being the guinea pig
in buying these first.

 

[Lee Bombard]

Well I placed an order for one of the compilation DVD's last night from Nostalgia. I just couldn't resist.
If this looks anywhere near decent...I'll go broke.

Regards,
Lee

 

[Paul Penna]

The Nostalgia Family Video L&H DVDs have been discussed on the alt.comedy.laurel-hardy newsgroup, including reports from people who've gotten them. Mostly positive, it seems to me. They're DVD-Rs, BTW.

 

[Lee Bombard]

They're DVD-Rs, BTW

Well that explains alot. Is it fair to call these bootlegs then?

 

[Roger Rollins]

The Nostalgia Video releases are most DEFINITELY bootlegs .

The only Laurel & Hardy films that are genuinely in the public domain are:

THE FLYING DEUCES (1939)
UTOPIA (a/k/a ATOLL K) (1950?)

and a short subject called A TREE IN A TEST TUBE.

Everything else they did is protected by copyright. A re-working of their feature PICK A STAR (which is part of the MGM/Turner library owned by Warner Brothers) is bouncing around in a re-titled version called MOVIE STRUCK, under the guise of PD, as is an abridgement thereof called A DAY AT THE STUDIO. However, these films also violate the original copyright of PICK A STAR and are therefore being distributed illegally.