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Post by angilasman on Jul 19, 2011 11:46:53 GMT -5
In the past year or so I've become a fan of this classic comedy team, or at least tried to. You see, few of their best films from the late '20s and '30s are commercially available in the US at present. I've bought some of the few DVD releases, rented a couple of old tapes from the library, caught a few TCM airings - and when TCM had their L&H marathon a few months ago I was overjoyed: I taped the whole thing on... tapes (my DVD recorder having recently gone kaput) and when I went to pop in the first VHS a few days later (to watch Sons of the Desert) my trusty ole' VCR metamorphosed into an evil tape eater! I just couldn't win. Now, finally the long-in-development US Laurel and Hardy megaset (all the talkie Hal Roach stuff not released) is coming! www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/313141/vivendi-and-rhi-press-release-laurel-hardy-the-essential-collection... and because when it rains it pours: the long out of print Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy (their silent stuff) has popped up on Hulu for free! www.hulu.com/the-lost-films-of-laurel-and-hardy
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jul 19, 2011 12:22:38 GMT -5
I remember a day during the brief period I attended elementary school in Port Clinton. They brought everyone into an assembly where they could show us classic films or short films such as vehicles for the Little Rascals and Laurel & Hardy. The Laurel & Hardy title we were watching seemed genuinely funny when we were watching it.
Recently, I watched Flying Deuces. However, I wasn't impressed. Maybe I need to find a better example of their work. There's a lot of classic comedian vehicles that I've never seen (Laurel & Hardy, Marx Brothers, Abbott & Costello, Buster Keaton). I try to broaden my horizons, but it's easy to get dissuaded when a particular "classic" just seems too dated.
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Post by angilasman on Jul 19, 2011 12:57:35 GMT -5
^The Flying Deuces is probably the best film they did away from the Hal Roach studio
... in other words, still not very good (I did like the suicide gag, though).
Try Way Out West, it's probably their best feature. In my opinion only bad things date, the good stuff stays good. The Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton seem fresh and new to me.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Nov 3, 2011 20:52:24 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't notice this thread until just now. I was lucky enough to buy all the "Lost Films of..." DVDs when they were released and found a place that had all the Hal Roach talkie shorts and full length films on DVD. I assume they were done from video transfers but they looked really good.
Looking at the collection I like that the shorts are in order of release, but there are a few full length films missing from those years. I think it's because the films are available elsewhere, like "Fra Diavolo" and "Bonnie Scotland" is on the WB release "TCM Archives The Laurel & Hardy Collection." And "Babes in Toyland aka: The March of the Wooden Soldiers" which has many public domain releases, but is best seen on a recent MGM release which uses the original 35mm print.
I notice that there's only one version of "Laughing Gravy." There are actually two versions. Laurel and Hardy didn't like the original ending so they re-filmed a new one, and that was the version seen until the late 80's, when the original ending was found and restored to the print. I'm not sure which ending the version on this set has.
All that being said, I'm still bookmarking it. I'm too much of a fan and I have to know!!
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Post by angilasman on Nov 7, 2011 11:06:58 GMT -5
^Just watched Laughing Gravy: you watch the normal version first, then there's a title card, after which the "lost" alternate ending plays.
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