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TCM Archives: The Laurel And Hardy Collection in April (1 Viewer)

Eric Peterson

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I'm not a very big L&H fan, but I love supporting classic movie releases, so I will most likely pick this up.


No kidding! What a travesty that this company holds some of the greatest comedy releases of all time and sits on them like so much toilet paper. I would pay a grand amount of money for a complete "Our Gang" collection with bonus materials. There are even a few of the kids left for possible bonus materials, but they're dying off fast. Butch & Porky both passed away recently.
 

Randy Korstick

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Couldn't agree more Joe. Warners dropped the ball on this set. It will probably be overpriced too.
I don't understand why some here don't seem to think that those of us that want Air Raid Wardens and Nothing But Trouble should be allowed to have them and releasing them as a set makes the most sense as these would not be big sellers on their own. There are many comedies like the Austin Powers films and any "Comedy" by Jim Carrey that I would rate among the worst comedies ever made but I would never say that they should not be released on DVD for those that do want them.
 

Mark Zimmer

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Yeah, it's like everyone says Keaton's work for Educational is terrible, but the ones I've seen aren't terrible at all. They're not great but they're better than a lot of material with a higher reputation.
 

John Morgan

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Most L&H fans agree that all of the team's films made after A CHUMP AT OXFORD (with the exception of the often-charming JITTERBUGS) were downright awful & sad to see.

Wasn't the Roach SAPS AT SEA done after A CHUMP AT OXFORD? I think it is one of their better forties films.
 

BarryR

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SAPS AT SEA was made around the same time under the same auspices of Hal Roach.

I think WB did the right thing not including the later films, which should be available separately. The '40s MGM films are totally of a different stripe, in tone and quality, and just don't mesh as a boxed set.

As for Fox, I agree that JITTERBUGS is the best example of their post-Roach productions.
 

Matthew H

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I think they could have included them as just individual releases, even with no extras for all I care. I'm a completist and want ALL of their films on DVD. I don't believe Air Raid Wardens or 'Toruble' will ever make it onto this format.
 

Michael Elliott

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It's very doubtful if they can't even make a Laurel and Hardy box.

So....how can one view these films? Are they ever shown on TCM or were they ever put out on VHS?
 

Randy Korstick

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They were both released on VHS in the early 90's and they very rarely appear on TCM. 3 of the 6 Fox films appeared on VHS around the same time and these films used to rarely appear on AMC and now very rarely appear on FoxMovie Channel. I think the obscurity of these films is part of the appeal to me and the 1940's feel which is quite different from their 1930's films. I'm not sure why but I do find the two MGM films of this time to be weaker than the Fox films. So at least we are getting the Fox films. One of these "The Dancing Masters" remains their only full length film that I have never seen. But it is doubtful that Nothing but Trouble and Air Raid Wardens will ever see a release on their own so they really should have been included on the Warner set. On Another note aren't Warners suppossed to be releasing a Abbot and Costello Box soon that was to include: Rio Rita, Lost in a Harem,
In Hollywood and a restored version of Meet Captain Kidd. Anyone have any new info on this?
 

Charles H

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During the final days of LD, MGM put out a wonderful collection of all their talkie Buster Keaton films (including FREE AND EASY available on the Archives). It was a wonderful collection that included a non-pd print of PARLOR, BEDROOM, AND BATH and a never-on-video THE PASSIONATE PLUMBER. For historians and completists, it was essential (warts-and-all). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!
I hope that WB does a Three Stooges collection--with their color shorts. Their participation was limited to Guest Star status in their features, but it would be nice to see a box with more than mere excerpts. You gotta love a rarity like HOLLYWOOD PARTY that features Laurel & Hardy, the Stooges, Jimmy Durante, Robert Young, and a full-color cameo by Mickey Mouse.
 

Tory

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On another another note: What are the chances of a complete Wheeler & Woolsey boxset with the original Rio Rita, The Cuckoos, Dixiana, Half Shot at Sunrise, Hook, Line and Sinker, Cracked Nuts, Oh! Oh! Cleopatra, Caught Plastered, Peach-O-Reno, Girl Crazy, Hold 'Em Jail, So This Is Africa, Diplomaniacs, Hips, Hips, Hooray!, Kentucky Kernels, Cockeyed Cavaliers, The Nitwits, The Rainmakers, Silly Billies, Mummy's Boys, On Again Off Again, High Flyers and throw in Small Timers, Everything's Rosie, Too Many Cooks, The Hollywood Handicap, A Night at the Biltmore Bowl, Cowboy Quarterback, Las Vegas Nights, Innocently Guilty and even something like Laugh and Get Rich starring Dorothy Lee.
 

BarryR

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Yeah! Wheeler & Woolsey! My favorites are DIPLOMANIACS and THE CUCKOOS.

:D
 

Michael Elliott

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Thanks for the info. On another board someone said TCM is going to have several L&H films on in April so perhaps these missing few will show up then.

Even if the films are bad I'd like a chance to see them since I own the R2 box and will buy the Fox and Warner Collections. I'd hate to own every L&H film except for a couple. :)
 

Steve...O

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Nothing But Trouble was on TCM within the last several weeks. Air Raid Wardens has been shown within the last couple of years.

I wouldn't be surprised if they air again around the time this set comes out.

Steve
 

MarcoBiscotti

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was any of this content made available on the UK released 21-disc set?

Is there reason to hold off on purchasing that with the possibility of more L&H surfacing in R1 anytime soon?
 

Tory

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In regards to the UK set it is worth a purchase but the PD material on it is about to get a quality release within the US through Image alongside solo works of theirs and possibly many shorts featuring Charley Chase, Hal Roach's Rascals, Edgar Kennedy, and I believe Harry Langdon but the bulk of the UK set is not in the Public Domain but owned by Hallmark, what drizzles out Laurel & Hardy releases in the US very slowly in very poor treatment.
 

chrisBeckett

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Jonathan, that's amazing as it is not supposed to be released until 18 April, even more so considering you live in the UK.

I also dislike the digipaks that require you to remove a disc to get to a lower one so that is an annoyance. Great news regarding the transfers. Do you know if the set is actually multi-region like some other Warner releases have been or is it purely region 1?

Thanks,
Chris B.
 

chrisBeckett

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Thanks for that. If a R2 release does follow and is exclusive to HMV, hopefully it will not be like the Tarzan set which does not contain the extras the R1 set has.
 
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I got mine and I'm in the UK too. Makes a change.

And a pleasant one. These are not anywhere near the duo's best films, imo (BONNIE SCOTLAND is fairly weak)but they're much less painful to watch than the Fox ones. WB have once again done a grand job, and the gatefold packaging roughly follows the SIERRA MADRE, ROBIN HOOD format, with original poster artwork inside.

(I don't like the overlapping discs either but these days they're so prevalent that I'm just glad when the hubs aren't those rock-hard ones that lacerate your thumb and yet still don't release the disc.)

I haven't watched the films yet or the feature-length doc entitled HOLLYWOOD SHORTS but from a quick look, the PQ seemed good. I have, however, watched the short clips of L and H's cameo appearances and they're an absolute treat. I'd never seen them before and it's great to have them collected here.A really wonderful extra for fans of the duo.

It's just a shame that there doesn't seem to be a definitive doc about the boys that could be included as an extra. The BBC made a good one many years ago but I can't recall any others.

Still, fans should be pleased with this release. I'm looking forward to the commentaries. A pity that WB doesn't own the R1 rights to the other films but they've at least given these two films the care they deserve. :)
 

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