What's new

Laurel & Hardy - dvds - advice please....... (1 Viewer)

Richard Hardbattle

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 5, 2001
Messages
146
Can anybody advise me of the best way to go with regards to picking up all the Stan and Ollie classics.
What is currently out, and is the presentation any good. I heard a while ago that Stan Laurels daughter was working on a box set for DVD.
I heard this on the radio in the UK a year or so ago....
Rich
 

alan halvorson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
2,009
In region 1, there are 7 dvds entitled The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy from Image. I can't speak for the quality first hand, but I've heard they're good to ok, considering their age. Try Dvd Price Search and use "Laurel & Hardy" as your search to find out what's included. There's also some stuff on the Madacy label - stay far, far away from these. Other than this, there's nothing, with nothing on the horizon. I hope some L&H enthusiast can correct me. Your rumor is the strongest, and only, one I've come across and I sure hope it's true - we need Laurel & Hardy now!
------------------
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV
[Edited last by alan halvorson on September 05, 2001 at 08:59 AM]
 

Jeff Adkins

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 18, 1998
Messages
2,842
Location
Tampa, FL
Real Name
Jeff Adkins
Unfortunately, some of the better features they did, like Sons Of The Desert are now owned by Artisan. Artisan doesn't show much interest in their classics (Little Rascals, La Dolce Vita, etc).
Jeff
 

Mark Zimmer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
4,318
Actually, there are 9 volumes in the Image set. The first two volumes show up on eBay with some regularity at a decent price, but it's hard to find the rest of them for must less than MSRP. There's a pretty good review of vol. 3 at http://www.silentera.com that gives a decent idea of what the series is like.
------------------
"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."
 

Randy_M

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 25, 2000
Messages
803
Location
Peoria, AZ
Real Name
Randy
From what I understand, these "Lost Films" sets are silent only, and not the 1930's stuff that I and others are clamoring for...
 

Page

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
219
I have a couple of the Image DVDs. The quality is quite good (especially for the age of the films.) The ones I have are silent, but they do have sound effects, music, etc. I'd be interested in L & H's sound shorts, but I haven't heard of any of them coming out at any time or any time soon.
 

Mark Zimmer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
4,318
Double your posts, double your fun...
------------------
"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."
[Edited last by Mark Zimmer on September 06, 2001 at 09:48 AM]
 

Mark Zimmer

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
4,318
IIRC, the classic sound shorts are with Warner, so don't hold your breath waiting for those to be released on DVD.
frown.gif

The Lost Films series does have a few sound shorts from circa 1928-1929, but these are not the most famous ones like The Music Box; many of them are just sound versions of silent shorts.
There are a number of Stan Laurel solo shorts in this series too. I am finding that I think he's funnier by himself. The Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925) satire contained on the upcoming Kino Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920 Barrymore) discs is a scream.
------------------
"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."
 

Danny_N

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 2, 2001
Messages
314
Real Name
Danny
I just posted this in the studios feedback forum. I am new here (lurked a while but L&H got me out :) ) so forgive me if I shouldn't have posted it twice.
The rights to the Hal Roach sound shorts and features are held by Hallmark/Artisan in the USA not MGM. Don't expect anything anytime soon from them. Hallmark/Artisan planned to release a 14 DVD set of Little Rascals material but cancelled that after the release of just one DVD - presumably because they did not make enough money on it. It is more than likely that they feel the same way about the L&H material they own.
In Europe the rights are held by the Kirchgruppe. If you can play R2 material you may want to check out the 11 DVD's Kinowelt has released in Germany thus far. The quality of the DVD's is outstanding if a bit sparse (they usually have only one feature or three shorts). Released so far are:
Be Big/Laughing Gravy (the original and phonetic versions!)
Going Bye Bye/Tit For Tat/Them Thar Hills
Way Out West
Sons Of The Desert
Brats/Helpmates
Our Relations
Big Business/Below Zero/The Music Box
A Chump At Oxford
Come Clean/Blotto/Chickens Come Home
Blockheads
Men O' War/Towed In A Hole/Any Old Port
Planned for October is The Devil's Brother (Fra Diavolo) and for December One Good Turn/County Hospital/Their Purple Moment.
Danny
 

alan halvorson

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
2,009
This may make me give in and buy an all-region dvd-player - I've got to have my L&H!
------------------
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV
 

Richard Hardbattle

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 5, 2001
Messages
146
Thanks for all the advice guys! Off to German Amazon I go!!
By the way, I think I heard the rumour about the box set on Danny Bakers radio show in the UK ..... did anyone else hear it?
Rich
 

Page

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
219
Thanks, Danny, for the tip about those German versions of Laurel and Hardy! I counted 13 titles that are in stock currently and ordered them all. I'll see what shows up.
 

Randy_M

Supporting Actor
Joined
Oct 25, 2000
Messages
803
Location
Peoria, AZ
Real Name
Randy
I don't suppose I'd be able to play the German DVD's on my regular old Sony S570D player and Toshiba 50H81 TV....
These are region 2 and PAL format, right?
 

Danny_N

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 2, 2001
Messages
314
Real Name
Danny
Yes, the German DVD's are R2 and Pal encoded.
If you want to complain about L&H not being available on DVD in the US, this is the address to do so:
(Taken from the official L&H site - http://www.laurel-and-hardy.com/ )
"In the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central and South America please contact:
Marty DeGrazia at
Hallmark Entertainment
1325 Avenue of the Americas, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10019
USA"
 

Danny_N

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 2, 2001
Messages
314
Real Name
Danny
@Page: 13 titles? You must have ordered the 2 "Best Of" volumes then as well. A word of warning, these are truly best of compilations and don't feature full length shorts or features, just outtakes. On top of that I believe they have German subtitles which can not be turned off (the subtitles on the other 11 releases are not compulsory).
Another item of interest I recently found is an Australian R4 DVD (Laurel and Hardy vol 1) which features: County Hospital, Dirty Work, Twice Two, Hog Wild, Going Bye Bye, The Fixer Uppers, One Good Turn, The Hoose Gow. I don't know anything about the quality but at only Aus$18,95 it might be worth a gamble. Personally I am going to wait for further Kinowelt releases.
Danny
 

Page

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 30, 1997
Messages
219
Yes, Danny, I also ordered the two best of DVDs. I went back and forth about ordering them (I knew that they weren't complete films), but they had parts of shorts that weren't already released so I decided to go for them as well. (Maybe they'll give me a better idea of what titles I should order in the future.) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the quality on those two is good.
I'll be bummed if I can't turn off the subtitles, but it's too late to change my order now. (I guess I could call Germany and hope that they can understand my English.)
Thanks again for the info.
 

Mark_Wilson

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 27, 2000
Messages
1,798
Regarding The Little Rascals, that single disc (with Leonard Maltin) was part of a six disc box set in Canada. I picked it up for $49us about a year ago. I also have the single disc that was released in the U.S. and it is identical to the first disc in the box set.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,810
Messages
5,123,556
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top