Vivendi and RHI Press Release: Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection (1 Viewer)

[Sumnernor]

Originally Posted by Mark Y
Lucky Dog (L&H's very first film together)

This film does have both but not as a pair. The "star" is Laurel, I read somewhere that it was long after this film that they became a pair. This film is not on
the UK set but on the german, I expect in a few days to post my german blurb . I don't consider it to be a rehash of the dutch site. This film was on one of the german disks but as an easter egg! It can be gotten in another disk (I assume also in the UK. I will post it more to indicate what is available rather than someone wanting to purchase the disk.

 

[revgen]

If it's being produced on 10 dual-layer DVD's then it should be fine. There won't be any silents or colorized versions and NTSC resolution is 20% smaller than PAL resolution so more bits are used for each frame.

 

[DeWilson]

....(Volume 7 includes their first talkie, Unaccustomed As We Are, and a 1960s redubbed "talking" version of the silent Double Whoopee. Volume 4 includes They Go Boom! and an alternate silent version of Unaccustomed. As of yet it isn't clear if these two talkies will be on the Essential set -- they appear to be under different ownership in the US -- so these might be worth grabbing while you can.)...

TCM earlier this year aired both "Unaccustomed as We Are" and "They Go Boom" as part of their run of LAUREL & HARDY shorts and features. They were suppled by RHI along with the sound other shorts (one or both had BLACKHAWK FILMS title cards!). So it's a situation where both parties have the rights to these talkies. (Something to do with the fact there were silent versions of both as well,. although the original silent "They go Boom" no longer exists.!)

 

[Mark Y]

TCM earlier this year aired both "Unaccustomed as We Are" and "They Go Boom" as part of their run of LAUREL & HARDY shorts and features. They were suppled by RHI along with the sound other shorts (one or both had BLACKHAWK FILMS title cards!). So it's a situation where both parties have the rights to these talkies. (Something to do with the fact there were silent versions of both as well,. although the original silent "They go Boom" no longer exists.!)

That's interesting, thanks. The history of the "split" ownership of the Hal Roach library and specifically the Laurel & Hardy films is a complicated but interesting (at least to me) subject. In the "Eastern Hemisphere" it's all under one roof. As I understand it, Unaccustomed As We Are and They Go Boom were not part of the TV packages prior to 1986 at all. I know in the case of the former, the soundtrack discs were missing and not discovered until the late 1970s. Not sure what the deal was with the latter. If I recall correctly, Unaccustomed As We Are was included in the 1986 Laurel And Hardy Show TV package, but They Go Boom was not (a couple other talkie shorts were left out of that package too). (Right?) Neither title was among those released on Beta and VHS by The Nostalgia Merchant in the 1980s -- The Hoose-Gow was included on a tape with three other Hal Roach shorts starring other comedians and The Nostalgia Merchant never released The Chimp at all. I don't believe Unaccustomed or Boom ever aired on the AMC cable channel, though as mentioned above both were shown as part of a TCM marathon earlier this year. They Go Boom had some weird "produced on video" titles with the "modern" Hal Roach Studios name (not Blackhawk) -- I know HRS released it as part of a (post-Nostalgia Merchant) VHS series along with a few of the "cut-down" shorts edited from the feature films such as Doughboy Daze and Where To Now.
As far as the "silent versions" stipulation -- I remember reading some newsgroup posts (if I recall correctly, by one of the two L&H authors who have posted in this thread -- by the way, I have both authors' books and they are essential) that Feiner & Co. managed to successfully claim rights to certain films like Charley Chase's On The Wrong Trek (in which L&H have a brief cameo) due to creative interpretation of wording in a contract to the effect that they were granted rights to all of Laurel & Hardy's "non-speaking" films. Supposedly, Our Gang's Wild Poses has been added to that list for the same reason. Regardless of how "legitimate" these claims may or may not have been, at the time I was pleased because certain films ended up being released which otherwise would have remained unavailable in the US at the time, so that was fine with me!

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Another advantage I'll like with the new set is that all the films will be in chronological order. This will make it much easier to locate individual titles you may want to find. I didn't like the way the shorts and features were all mixed up together by "themes" on different discs in the UK set.

 

[lray]

Does anyone have a list of the movies included on this set and possibly what is on each disc? I'm dying to see exactly what we are getting.

 

[Steve...O]

Edit: Ryan's informative post below supercedes this one (Thanks, Ryan!)

 

[rdf8585]

Disc by disc rundown, via Lou Lumenick of the NY Post -
And finally, here's a complete breakdown for the 10-disc "The Essential Laurel and Hardy'' set that will be released by RHI and Vivendi on October 27. It includes all of their surviving talkie features and shorts at the Hal Roach studios, excluding "The Devil's Brother'' and "Bonnie Scotland'' (still in print from Warner) and "Babes in Toyland'' (available from MGM under its reissue title "March of the Wooden Soldiers''). I understand two additional films in which the team appears -- MGM's oddball all-star revue "Hollywood Party'' and the Roach-produced Patsy Kelly vehicle "Pick a Star'' -- may be available from WAC by the end of the year as well.
DISC 1:
UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE 1929
BERTH MARKS 1929
MEN O' WAR 1929
PERFECT DAY 1929
THEY GO BOOM 1929
THE HOOSE-GOW 1929
NIGHT OWLS 1930
LADRONES (Night Owls, Spanish) 1930
BLOTTO 1930
DISC 2:
LA VIDA NOCTURNA (Blotto, Spanish) 1930
BRATS 1937
BRATS 1930 ORIGINAL VERSION 1930
BELOW ZERO 1930
TIEMBLA Y TITUBEA (Below Zero, Spanish) 1930
HOG WILD 1930
THE LAUREL & HARDY Murder Case 1930
NOCHE DE DUENDES (The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case & Berth Marks, Spanish) 1930
ANOTHER FINE MESS 1930
DISC 3:
BE BIG! 1931
CHICKENS COME HOME 1931
Politiquerias (Chickens Home, Spanish) 1931
LAUGHING GRAVY 1931
LES CAROTTIERS (Be Big! & Laughing Gravy, French) 1931
DISC 4:
LOS CALAVERAS (Be Big! & Laughing Gravy, Spanish) 1931
OUR WIFE 1931
PARDON US (extended version) 1931
COME CLEAN 1931
ONE GOOD TURN 1931
BEAU HUNKS 1931
DISC 5:
HELPMATES 1932
ANY OLD PORT 1932
THEMUSIC BOX 1932
THE CHIMP 1932
COUNTY HOSPITAL 1932
SCRAM! 1932
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES 1932
THEIR FIRST MISTAKE 1932
DISC 6:
TWICE TWO 1933
ME AND MY PAL 1933
THE MIDNIGHT PATROL 1933
BUSY BODIES 1933
DIRTY WORK 1933
SONS OF THE DESERT 1933
OLIVER THE EIGHTH 1934
GOING BYE-BYE! 1934
DISC 7:
THEM THAR HILLS 1934
THE LIVE GHOST 1934
TIT FOR TAT 1935
THE FIXER UPPERS 1935
THICKER THAN WATER 1935
THE BOHEMIAN GIRL 1936
DISC 8:
OUR RELATIONS 1936
WAY OUT WEST 1937
SWISS MISS 1938
DISC 9:
BLOCK-HEADS 1938
A CHUMP AT OXFORD - Shorter 1940
A CHUMP AT OXFORD - Longer 1940
SAPS AT SEA 1940
DISC 10:
SPECIAL FEATURES
A Tribute to Laurel & Hardy
On Location with Boys: Virtual Tour of set location and interactive map
Laurel & Hardy Guest Appearances
Laurel & Hardy Trailers
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/dvd_extra_more_southwest_noir_kMtGgEiqkYCxU5baQb9UPL#ixzz1TEv5ye00

 

[JoHud]

Thanks! Glad the speculation over the talkies in the "Lost Films" collections being included can be put to rest. I don't know offhand if there are any new foreign shorts in this new collection. Does not look like it. Still great to get a final list, though.
I'm thinking there is more behind the "Guest Appearances" special feature. Could this include more cameo shorts, or just clips of their appearances?

 

[GregoryMesh]

I'm missing TOWED IN A HOLE from the list above... Should be between THEIR FIRST MISTAKE 1932 and TWICE TWO 1933...

 

[lray]

I'm missing TOWED IN A HOLE from the list above... Should be between THEIR FIRST MISTAKE 1932 and TWICE TWO 1933...

Towed In a Hole missing is very shocking. Lets hope this is a typeing error. Hopefully someone will contact the company and let them know so this can be corrected before the set comes out.

 

[JoHud]

Towed In a Hole missing is very shocking. Lets hope this is a typeing error. Hopefully someone will contact the company and let them know so this can be corrected before the set comes out.

I'm thinking it was a mistake on Lou Lumenick's part when typing up the piece too. Hopefully, a more detailed press release by RHI will be published soon.

 

[lray]

I'm thinking it was a mistake on Lou Lumenick's part when typing up the piece too. Hopefully, a more detailed press release by RHI will be published soon.

Yes I think you must be right, but I've seen video companies screw up big time in the past. Not often , but it does happen.

 

[BarryM]

Well, I've preordered it from Amazon, and as far as probable packaging, it's worthless to agonize about the packaging prior to its release. I'll deal with it when it arrives....and I'll keep my UK set as well.

 

[Tony Bensley]

As a decades long Laurel & Hardy fan, I am extremely excited that the bulk of their Hal Roach talkies are finally getting a much deserved North American (Region 1) release! I'm not at all concerned that "The Devil's Brother"; "Bonnie Scotland"; or "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" aren't included as these are among the few Laurel & Hardy titles that are pretty easily obtainable in Region 1, and whose rights are obviously held by other companies. My big concern is the same as others who have already posted above, which is the omission of "Towed In A Hole" from the list that was graciously posted yesterday by Lou Lumenick of the NY Post. Hopefully, it is only a typo, as all of their other English Version Hal Roach titles are on the list. It would indeed, be a glaring omission if it proves to be excluded from the collection.
For those who may be interested in some of Laurel & Hardy's cameos, TCM Archives L&H Collection has their appearances in "Hollywood Revue Of 1929"; "Hollywood Party" & "Pick A Star"; along with a fragment from "The Rogue Song". It is their segments only, not the entire films. By the way, this 2 DVD set also includes "The Devil's Brother" & "Bonnie Scotland", as well as an interesting TCM Feature Length Documentary called "Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story". Hopefully, the upcoming Essential Collection will have some of the other Laurel & Hardy cameos.
October 25th can't come soon enough! Cheers!!

 

[Steve...O]

False alarm created by Mr. Lumenick:

Direct from RHI:

TOWED IN A HOLE will in fact be included in the set of course. It's the first title on Disc 6. We'll let them know about their mistake (but not THEIR FIRST MISTAKE, as that was noted, not to confuse them into another fine mess).

8 hours ago · LikeUnlike

The "them" being referred to is NY Post. No worries here. I like RHI's humor in their response.

 

Thank you RHI for both your correction & your humor in your response, & not leaving us "Towed In A Hole", LOL!. I still appreciate Mr. Luminick's effort nevertheless.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Thank you RHI for your correction & the humor in your response, & for not leaving us "Towed In A Hole", LOL! I still appreciate Mr. Lumenick's effort, nevertheless!

 

Hopefully Netflix will stream this set at some point (in HD?!)...perhaps the best way to get new L&H fans.

 

[Mark Y]

This is great news and answers a lot of questions. I am very pleased to see that this will indeed include ALL their talkie shorts, including the two previously included in the Lost Films series.
This will be an absolutely essential set, they have the title right on that one! A good analogy would be if for years, the only Three Stooges on DVD were the M-G-M shorts, the Curly-Joe features, and the four public domain Columbia shorts, and then Sony's complete Columbia shorts collection sets came out -- actually, that's not too much of an exaggeration -- glad the Stooges are well-represented, and now L&H too!
I'm not going to fret about the packaging. Besides, the pics we've seen are certainly only mock-ups at this point anyway. Anything could happen.
I am glad to see the greatest motion picture comedy team of all time is finally getting their due!
Thanks!