The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

Starring:Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Vivien Oakland, Bess Flowers, Kay Deslys, Vera White, Allan Cavan, George Kotsonaros, Glenn Tryon, Tyler Brooke, Martha Sleeper, Lucy Beaumont, Tom Kennedy, Sam Lufkin, James Finlayson, Jack Hill (II)
Director: Leo McCarey, Richard Wallace, Fred Guiol
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Mastered from the original 35mm material, this third volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "Liberty" (1929, 20 min.), "We Faw Down" (1928, 21 min.), the very first on-screen pairing of Stan and Ollie in "The Lucky Dog" (1919, 24 min.), "Love 'Em and Weep" (1927, 24 min.), the Glenn Tryon/Oliver Hardy short "Along Came Auntie" (1926, 24 min.), and the Charley Chase/Oliver Hardy short "Bromo and Juliet" (1926, 24 min.).

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2
Average customer rating:

More rare and mostly wonderful Laurel and Hardy silents

Interesting mishmash

STUNNING!

More Laurel & Hardy silent shorts from the late 1920's

SOME CORRECTIONS REGARDING THIS DVD

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2
Starring: Stan Laurel , Katherine Grant , James Finlayson , George Rowe , and Oliver Hardy
Director: Ralph Ceder , Fred Guiol , and Leo McCarey
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Finlayson, James | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hardy, Oliver | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Laurel, Stan | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Pallette, Eugene | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Stanton, Will | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mccarey, Leo | ( M ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9

ASIN: B00000FE37
Release Date: 1998-12-12

Amazon.com

More rare silents on DVD capturing Laurel and Hardy at their physical best. In Early to Bed, the Boys are totally out of character, as Ollie inherits a fortune and Stanley becomes his butler; in Double Whoopee, they're in perfect form, ripping the dress off teenager Jean Harlow (it's all harmless fun, of course); in Sugar Daddies, an early teaming, they wind up in a historic Long Beach Fun House to get out of a jam; and in Angora Love, their last silent, a goat follows Stanley home with disastrous results. The volume features two more early Laurel solo efforts. In Oranges and Lemons, for instance, he's still in search of a persona, borrowing a little from Chaplin in destroying an orange processing plant. --Bill Desowitz

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this second volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes: "Double Whoopee" (1929, 20 min., silent) featuring Jean Harlow, "Early to Bed" (1928, 20 min., silent), "Angora Love" (1929, 20 min.) and "Sugar Daddies" (1927, 19 min., silent), plus the Stan Laurel solo shorts: "Roughest Africa" (1923, 24 min., silent) and "Oranges & Lemons" (1923, 15 min., silent).

Customer Reviews:

More rare and mostly wonderful Laurel and Hardy silents.......2007-03-26

THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY: VOLUME TWO is part of a ten volume DVD series that presents the silent slapstick comedy work of Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and friends like Charley Chase and Jimmy Finlayson in magnificent 35mm original nitrate negatives and with playful Jazz Age scores.

The crown jewel of Volume Two is a restored nitrate camera negative of DOUBLE WHOOPEE (1929). It is hilarious, with Stan and Ollie as hotel bellboys, Erich von Stroheim's stunt double constantly falling into a greasy elevator shaft, and a teenage Jean Harlow losing her dress as she gets out of a taxi and non-chalantly walking across the lobby. It is a single set comedy and very funny.

My least favorite of this set is EARLY TO BED (1928). Hardy may or may not have inherited a fortune and pretends he is a millionaire, with poor Laurel as his put-upon butler. The action takes place all night all over an empty mansion and is definitely a product of the late Jazz Age. As such, it is worth seeing as a curio. It is shocking how poorly Babe treats Stan throughout.

ANGORA LOVE (1929) has an amiable goat befriending Stan and Babe. With the goat following them back to their rooming house room, the boys constantly need to hide him from landlord Jimmy Finlayson.

SUGAR DADDIES (1927) is another gem with Jimmy Finlayson top-billed and learning one morning that he got drunk and married the night before. The bride and her brother are both comic grotesques. Stan is Finlayson's lawyer and Ollie is his butler, and the nostalgic climax takes place all over the wonderful, long-gone Long Beach Amusement Park. This one is a real treat, especially the climax.

ROUGHEST AFRICA and ORANGES AND LEMONS (both 1923) are both uproarious shorts with just Laurel before he teamed with Hardy. AFRICA is a devastating and witty parody of Frank Buck true-life wild animal adventures. ORANGES has Stan working at an orange picking and packing company, and getting into all kinds of hilarious mischief.

These films run about 20 minutes each, were photographed by legendary later director George Stevens, are in gorgeous studio vault print editions with some restored footage, and have unusually fun new Jazz Age music and sound effects. Total running time is about 125 minutes a volume. I recommend this whole series highly to lovers of silent slapstick comedy and also to younger viewers who are not sure if they like Jazz Age comedy.

Interesting mishmash.......2005-08-02

This disc contains a little of everything, the typical makeup of these discs. Here in particular we have three L&H shorts proper, two of Stan's solo shorts, and one short where they're together but not yet a team. Two of the shorts they made as a team, 'Angora Love' and 'Double Whoopee,' are very funny, showing how quickly they became a real team after finally being officially paired, although it still feels as though something is missing, not being able to hear their voices, since that's a large part of what makes them so funny, how their voices match their onscreen personas and everything that's going on onscreen to a tee. The other team short, 'Early to Bed,' is unusual in that they're a team but have a somewhat different relationship than they usually have, where they're largely at odds with one another, one of the few times Stan actually stands up for, asserts, and defends himself, pretty much coming across as the smarter superior one. The short in which they're together but not yet a team, 'Sugar Daddies,' is very funny, one of their best pre-teaming efforts, since they're acting more and more like a team instead of just happening to be in the same film, sometimes not even in any scenes together. It's also very nice to see Jimmy Finlayson as their friend and equal instead of their foil, and though the repeated gag in this film, of Stan sitting on top of the hunched-over Jimmy as they're disguised as Ollie's wife, is also used in 'Love 'Em and Leave 'Em' and 'Chickens Come Home,' it's so funny and brilliant it doesn't seem old or tired. It's also nice to see the now-largely-forgotten Noah Young as the heavy (i.e., villain) in this film. We just don't make character actors like that anymore.

The two Stan solo shorts included, 'Oranges and Lemons' and 'Roughest Africa' (which also co-stars Jimmy), are two of my favorite of his solo shorts, though they're also both included on 'The Stan Laurel Slapstick Symposium,' and a lot of people might not like the idea of having to purchase two copies of two of the same films. It's an interesting change of pace to see what Stan did in his solo days, and how positively young he looks, how different his hair was before it was shaved for the 1927 L&H short 'The Second Hundred Years,' after which it grew back in a very comic way. Still, it's clear he hadn't yet fully developed a comic persona, had more of an edge (even a meanness, sometimes) to him than his sweet innocent overgrown man-child character we know and love did. He's funny in his solo work, just not very distinct from any number of aspiring comic hopefuls of the era.

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

I will not go into a synopsis of the material as that is readily available but will comment on the series itself having viewed them all.

This is a stunning collection of the early work of the `boys` and is presented from restored 35mm material much of which is taken from the original surviving negatives. Several of the titles in the series, have until fairly recently, been considered lost forever.

Each disc has detailed information on the titles and every film is presented with either the original vitaphone sound on disc (again recently discovered) synchronised with the picture or with a composite vitaphone soundtrack.

Even for those who don`t normally view `silent` movies these are astounding prints of what is now the historic formation of one the most inventive and forever lasting comedy teams ever to grace the silver screen.

Each disc deserves five stars for content, quality and value.

More Laurel & Hardy silent shorts from the late 1920's.......2001-05-11

Volume 2 of this series includes four silent two-reelers for Hal Roach-MGM in the late 1920s. "Double Whoopee" was directed by Lewis Foster in 1929, with a story by Leo McCarey and a notable "appearance" by screen siren Jean Harlow (she loses the back half of her dress in a cab door). Laurel & Hardy arrive at a swank New York hotel and are mistaken for visiting royalty until they are revealed to be just doormen. Once they set to work they offend all of the guests, the local cop and a visiting prince. Hardy gets most of the good gags although the best is when Laurel is stripped to his underwear and starts ripping off everybody else's clothes. "Early to Bed," directed by Emmett Flynn in 1928, is an atypical Laurel & Hardy outing because this time the boys go after each other. Hardy inherits a fortune, gets himself a nice new mansion and hires Laurel as his butler. For once, Stan is conscientious about his job, but Ollie decides the best way to enjoy his new wealth and power is to torment his friend, especially when Stan is asleep. Finally fed up, Stan proceeds to destroy everything in the house while Ollie tries to protect his huge vases and other breakables. This is not a great Laurel & Hardy film, but the final routine certainly ranks as one of their best: Hardy takes refuge in an elaborately decorated garden fountain, pretending to be one of the little cherub heads spewing forth water.

The other two shorts are notable simply for the fact George Stevens was the cameraman, on his way to be a celebrated Hollywood director. "Angora Love." aptly enough, involves a stray goat that has attached itself to the boys who take it back to their room despite the "No Pets" rule. This 1929 comedy directed by Lewis Foster from a story by Leo McCarey has the distinction of being the last complete silent film by Laurel & Hardy. The best sequence is when Ollie gives the goat a bath. "Sugar Daddies" is the oldest of the two-reelers, directed in 1927 by Fred Guiol. James Finlayson is a newly-rich oil tycoon who wakes up one morning and is casually told by his butler (Hardy) that he was married last night. Finlayson calls his lawyer (Laurel) and then things get a tad confusing (somehow a blackmailing ring gets involved in this mess). There are two chase sequences, involving a dance hall and an amusement park. Finlayson is really the star of this comedy and the most interesting parts take place in the amusement park, where the routines involve various types of rides that have long ago disappeared. This volume also includes a pair of Stan Laurel solo shorts from 1923, "Roughest Africa" and "Oranges & Lemons" that are interesting curiosities. "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" series is apparently committed to bringing us all of the boys' silent work for Hal Roach-MGM, so we can expect the great, the good and the better luck next time with each disc.

SOME CORRECTIONS REGARDING THIS DVD.......2000-01-15

Just to correct some information regarding Laurel and Hardy Volume Two: The Production Company is Hal Roach Studios, not Image Entertainment. (That's why they had access to the original 35mm camera negatives and sound discs.) The DVD is NOT REGIONALLY ENCODED and will play on any DVD machine (as it states on the package).

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 8

Average customer rating:

Very enjoyable Laurel and Hardy silents
A piece of happiness
Silent Classics From Stan and Ollie
Best in Series
Contains some of their funniest

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 8
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Edgar Kennedy , Thelma Hill , and Ruby Blaine
Director: James Parrott , and Fred Guiol
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

ASIN: 6305908028
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this eighth volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "Two Tars" (1928, 21 min.), "The Second Hundred Years" (1927, 22 min.), "Slipping Wives" (1926, 23 min.), "From Soup to Nuts" (1928, 22 min.), plus the Stan Laurel solo shorts "Scorching Sands" (1923, 15 min.) and "Should Tall Men Marry?" (1927, 19 min., color tinted).

Customer Reviews:

Very enjoyable Laurel and Hardy silents.......2007-04-18

The above-average Volume Eight of THE LOST [SILENT] FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY has two of the funniest shorts the men ever made, TWO TARS and FROM SOUP TO NUTS (both 1928). In TWO TARS, they play two sailors out for a Sunday drive with two pretty women. They get involved in the greatest and funniest traffic jam in movie history, with everyone tearing apart pieces of everyone else's car. And FROM SOUP TO NUTS has Laurel and Hardy as klutzy waiters for a fancy mansion dinner, with hilarious results. Watch Stan serve lettuce in woolen underwear when told to serve the salad undressed. And watch how many times Ollie can trip, fall face first into a cake, and still make it funny. Both of these incomparable comedies have been mastered from the original nitrate camera negative from Hal Roach Studios.

I wish the other four shorts on Volume Eight were this stupendous; they are enjoyable and at least look great, masterered from 35mm camera negatives and with wonderful Jazz Age scores. In THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS (1927), Stan and Ollie are convicts who escape from prison masquerading as painters who somehow end up pretending to be high society servants--before their French police hosts want to see the prison the boys have escaped from!

SLIPPED WIVES (also 1927) stars long-forgotten Priscilla Dean as a bored rich woman who hires Stan to make love to her to make her bored husband jealous. Hardy is a butler.

SCORCHING SANDS (1923), the weakest short in this set, is a one reel comedy with Laurel alone doing a parody of French Foreign Legion adventures. It somehow is not as funny for me as it should be. Maybe if I saw it with an audience.

Same with SHOULD TALL MEN MARRY (again 1927). The tinted archive print could not be more beautiful and the music score is wonderful. But the writing is lacking. In his last solo outing without Hardy, Laurel is working on a ranch with Jimmy Finlayson, his daughter Martha Sleeper, and a stubborn mule. Bad guys steal the daughter; Laurel and Finlayson rescue her. The movie is important because from now on every single film Stan made would have him starring as a team with "Babe" Hardy. But it isn't a very good movie for me. Again, maybe an art theatre audience would make it come alive.

The total running time for this volume is 119 minutes.

A piece of happiness.......2007-01-05

Every piece of those two guys work is only pleasure. I discovered them when I was 5 and now, more than 50 years later, they still make me laugh like a child.

Silent Classics From Stan and Ollie.......2006-05-19

A trio of classic Laurel and Hardy two-reelers highlight Volume 8 in "The Lost Films" series. "Two Tars" (1928), "The Second Hundred Years" (1927) and "From Soup to Nuts" (1928) remain masterpieces of comic invention and timing. The 35mm prints are very good, but the public-domain musical accompaniment becomes terribly repetitive. The remaining shorts in this collection -- the embryonic "Slipping Wives" (1926) and two Laurel solo efforts, "Scorching Sands" (1923) and "Should Tall Men Marry?" (1927) -- are worth seeing only from an academic standpoint. Hopefully, this series will be reissued with stronger music tracks while focusing solely on genuine L&H films.

Best in Series.......2005-06-16

This volume is one of the best of the "lost silent films" collection, comprised of three solid performances from 1928 that illustrate the diversity and sophistication of Laurel and Hardy's comic style. Two Tars implements the vintage L&H formula of orchestrated chaos (repeated in Your Darn Tootin, Big Business, and many other films) to perfection. Two Tars has an appealing breeziness that results from the story's premise: the boys are seamen on leave egged on to perform "senseless acts of violence" by two delectable flappers, inflicted on cars stranded in a traffic jam. The wave of destruction builds to a crescendo of twisted metal until the boys are exposed as the perpetrators, and a short chase ends the film.

The Second Hundred Years, by contrast, has a comic formula that explores fertile new ground for the duo's humor. They are prisoners (shaved heads and all) who through their incompetence can't quite adjust to prison routine. They pull off not one but two disguises, one as painters in order to escape prison, the other as French officials inspecting the very prison they have recently escaped from! The best scene is their attempt to convince a suspicious cop that they are real painters by literally "painting the town" -- including cars, street lamps, and a flapper's derriere. The ballet-like grace with which Oliver Hardy, especially, tries unsuccessfully to imitate a professional painter is priceless. Rotund Hardy has clearly learned from Fatty Arbuckle's ability to mine comic moments from being dexterous in spite of his girth. One leaves this film with the sense that the rich comic situations here could have been developed further, and indeed the basic structure of the film was repeated later in Pardon Us (1931) expanded into a feature length film.

From Soup to Nuts is the weakest of the three, but still entertaining, as the boys are hired by a "nouveau riche" family to serve dinner to a collection of distinguished friends. Most of the happenings are funny because of their predictability -- laws of nature dictate that when Hardy carries a large cake to a dining room, he must somehow fall into it, and the laws of nature are confirmed repeatedly here. The film also contains the popular and voluptuous L&H supporting case member Anita Garvin who performs the same gag with an uncooperative cherry that Laurel does in Second Hundred years.

Each volume in the series contains additional short films either by Laurel or Hardy alone, or by other comics in the Hal Roach factory, and this volume is no exception. These films tend to be at best of purely of historical interest to L&H fans, and at worst, worthless filler. But overall this volume in the series is one of the best.

Contains some of their funniest.......2005-03-26

This disc showcases some of Laurel and Hardy's funniest and best silent shorts, and I also found there was more variety in the backing music than in some of the other discs in this series. 'From Soup to Nuts' is hands-down the best and funniest one on here, their funniest silent short I've seen so far. Part of what makes their sound shorts so funny is the fact that their voices just totally matched their personalities and physical appearance, adding to already funny situations, but in 'From Soup to Nuts' the gags and situations are so hilarious they don't even need speech to add to the hilarity. 'Two Tars' and 'The Second Hundred Years' are also hilarious and classic, very strong material. The fourth L&H short on here, 'Slipping Wives,' features them together but not really a proper team, though they have more interaction here than in some of their other shorts where they appeared together before being officially teamed. That one is also very strong and funny. Of the two Stan solo shorts featured, 'Under Two Jags' (which admittedly might be a mislabeling of a different film, 'Scorching Sands') is the stronger and funnier, despite the fact that there's not a single intertitle besides the introductory one. In my opinion the weakest one is Stan's final solo short, 'Should Tall Men Marry?' It's well-written and well-acted enough, but just not as interesting, funny, or solid as the other five.

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

Average customer rating:

Out of Sync
Disappointing and misleading silent comedy volume
The Laughs Continue!
STUNNING!
Good material with only minor flaws

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Vivien Oakland , Bess Flowers , and Kay Deslys
Director: Leo McCarey , Richard Wallace , and Fred Guiol
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7

ASIN: 6305462224
Release Date: 1999-06-15

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this third volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "Liberty" (1929, 20 min.), "We Faw Down" (1928, 21 min.), the very first on-screen pairing of Stan and Ollie in "The Lucky Dog" (1919, 24 min.), "Love 'Em and Weep" (1927, 24 min.), the Glenn Tryon/Oliver Hardy short "Along Came Auntie" (1926, 24 min.), and the Charley Chase/Oliver Hardy short "Bromo and Juliet" (1926, 24 min.).

Customer Reviews:

Out of Sync.......2007-04-22

To the point: for much better quality, buy the U.K. version. Not only is the picture clearer, but the synchronization between picture and sound is maintained to end of Liberty. Yes, you'll have to buy an inexpensive Region 2 DVD player, or use your computer, but sooner or later you'll have to do this anyway if you want to see your favorite films before you die. In this LOST series version of "Libery", for some reason the title "I wasn't nipping!" was re-filmed 3 times for a grand total of 17 seconds, putting the sound way, way ahead of the picture for the rest of the movie. How could the distributors not notice this? I always wonder how people stay in business these days with incompetence so rampant, and no one ever double-checks their work...

For historians, this is an interesting collection to watch once, mostly because it contains the first film L&H were in together.

Disappointing and misleading silent comedy volume.......2007-04-15

I adore Laurel and Hardy comedies, both silent and sound shorts. But Volume 3 of THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL ANDHARDY from Hal Roach Studios is a major disappointment. The prints are gorgeous studio prints with lively Jazz Age music scores. But too few of the six silent shorts are true Laurel and Hardy comedies.

LIBERTY (1929) is up first and a true Laurel and Hardy classic. They are escaped convicts who end up with each others' pants on and fish inside on top of an under construction building site in Culver City. Leo McCarey directed and George Stevens photographed this comedy gem.

The other five shorts are a mixed bag. WE FAW DOWN (1928) has a variation on the SONS OF THE DESERT (1934) plot, where the boys tell their wives they are meeting with The Boss at a theater, then getting hilariously involved with two women in a plot too convoluted to describe here. Suffice to say, the theater burns down and Laurel and Hardy have wet clothes in the apartment of the two beautiful women. The wives find that out and wait for the boys to confess. It is good fun.

BROMO AND JULIET (1926) has Oliver Hardy as a chauffeur in one of Charley Chase's funniest comedies, a parody of ROMEO AND JULIET with seemingly everyone drunk except the leading lady. Of course, it has a happy ending and is a very good introduction to Chase's comedy persona.

THE LUCKY DOG (1919), the first real Laurel and Hardy movie, has Laurel starring and Hardy in a small role as a crook. Shown for decades in only a heavily cut version, we owe this complete 24 minute print to the late William K. Everson. It is a rare and fascinating curio, not bad.

ALONG CAME AUNTIE (1926) stars someone named Glenn Tryon, along with Oliver Hardy without Laurel. Tryon is the current husband and Hardy the first husband of a woman who will inherit a fortune from a rich aunt if she can prove she has never been divorced. So Tryon has to masquerade as a roomer and not a husband. Again, not a real L & H comedy at all, but with hilarious slapstick moments.

The film that gives me the most trouble here is LOVE `EM AND WEEP (1927). If you did not know this was a Laurel and Hardy comedy, you would swear it was a full-fledged film noir--happily married Jimmy Finlayson is being blackmailed by nasty Mae Busch, with whom he had a fling in his younger days. Busch wants money, or she will tell the wife everything. Laurel plays Finlayson's secretary, and Hardy has a small role. Laurel and Hardy remade this as a sound short called CHICKENS COME HOME a few years later, with Hardy in Finlayson's role and Busch repeating her villainous role. I did not laugh very much and would love to see LOVE `EM AND WEEP in a theater with an audience to see if they laugh at it.

Again, the print quality is magnificent in this whole LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY series, and the music scores are nostalgic. Volume Three is wildly uneven, but sometimes great. Don't start your collection with this one, unless it sounds wonderful to you from my review. There are better volumes.

The Laughs Continue!.......2006-01-04

We all experience many important "firsts" in our lives that stay with us. First love, first kiss, first Christmas..ect. Well one of the things I remember was the first thing I saw that made me laugh. It was Laurel and Hardy. It wasn't one of the shorts presented here but their movie "Way Out West". From a young child I've always been a fan of their comedy. Knowing this recently I was given several of these DVD collections featuring Laurel and Hardy's silent works, and even solo pieces. I will review each short individually.

LIBERTY (1929, 20 Mins.) - The "boys" were known for their "mixed-up" derby gag, well here they play a variation of it, the "mixed-up" pants gag. While escaping jail the two mix up their pants in a get-a-way car. Only afterwards do they realize what they have done that they seek a place to change pants. This leads the two to find themselves high above a construction site where they are several stories high. In a way the piece is like "Puttin' Pants On Phillip", a short the team made in 1927. But many claim it resembles a Harold Lloyd short. Back in the 1920's daredevil or "thrill" comedies were quite popular and Lloyd, along with Buster Keaton, were known for these comedies. In fact Lloyd did appear in a short where he too was atop a construction site, "Never Weaken (1921)". While the daredevil comedy is not really Laurel and Hardy's strong suit the "boys" turn this into one of their best silent comedies. I'd say one of the top three. *** 1/2 (out of *****)

WE FAW DOWN (1928,21 MINS.) - "We Faw Down" has the boys lying to their wives in order to go out to a poker game. They tell the wives they are going to meet THE BOSS at a theater. Well as things turn out that very theater burns down but the wives see the "boys" with two women whom they innocently helped out when one of the ladies lost their hat.
The theme was later reused in the 1933 film the team made "Sons of the Desert" and the ending was also reused in "Block-Heads (1938)". In fact what Laurel and Hardy did, along with other silent comedians, was simply repeat all of their material for sound, not that there's anything wrong with that. Here is a good idea that simply doesn't seem developed enough, maybe it just needed to be seen in a longer format, but it does have some laughs. *** (out of *****)

BROMO AND JULIET (1926,24 MINS) - On these "Lost" DVD'S not all of the shorts star Laurel and Hardy as a team, this is one of them. These DVD'S sometimes have Charley Chase shorts which Oliver Hardy acted in. I'm glad that we can see some of Chase's shorts, but keep in mind not all of them are good. Though there is a good one on volume 5 of the series. This one can get kind of boring and doesn't really show Chase at his best. ** (out of *****)

THE LUCKY DOG (1917,24 MINS) - The DVD says this was made 1919, IMDB says 1917, I'm going with IMDB, you can chose which one you like.

"The Lucky Dog" has Laurel and Hardy appearing together in a short for the first time, though they are NOT a team. They are rivals. In seems this piece has never been available in its "complete" form until now, aren't we "lucky"? Actually though the short is funny. It moves along briskly, at times I was a little confused as to what exactly was going on, but I went along with it and had some mild fun. Plus fans of the team I'm sure will be curious to see this if only for "historical" purposes. *** (out of *****)

ALONG CAME AUNTIE (1926, 24 MINS) - Harold Lloyd once said that between Stan and Oliver, Stan would have made it as a single. Having seen more shorts with only Stan I think he may have been right. "Auntie" shows how Oliver didn't really have a fully developed persona until Laurel came along. Stan could carry a short by himself I think, but Oliver couldn't. "Auntie" is pretty funny at times, and has a really good situation, sometimes though the slapstick comedy gets in the way, too much beating each other up. But I laughed enough to recommend it. A little crude but funny. *** (out of *****)

LOVE 'EM AND WEEP (1927, 24 MINS) - Like "Auntie" this is a fast-paced comedy that doesn't waste any time getting into things. It was remade in 1931 as "Chickens Come Home". If you've seen that one, James Finlayson plays the Oliver part with Stan playing the same role in both. Oliver has a brief role as a guest at the party. This is actually pretty funny, but I think dialogue was needed. Between the two I think most people will agree "Chickens" is better. Also worth mentioning is Mae Busch plays the same part in both versions. *** (out of *****)

So there you have it. A pretty solid collection of early Laurel and Hardy shorts and solo pieces. Some of the stuff on here is really funny, and the Chase short kind of disappoints. In the end though this is worth seeing, especially if you're a fan. This DVD'S were really designed for us, the devoted fans of the greatest comedy team of all-time. It is very interesting to see how the team grew and chemistry was put in place the more they worked together.

Bottom-line: Mostly good collection of early Laurel and Hardy shorts. These are really essentials for the devoted fans, others I'm afraid may not be interested enough to watch all of them. "Liberty" is the best in the set.

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

Good material with only minor flaws.......2005-02-16

The shorts presented herein are very fine and funny material, even the shorts that aren't real L&H shorts per se because they either appeared together but hadn't been teamed yet or because only one of them were appearing. The strongest material of course comes from the two proper L&H shorts, 'Liberty' and 'We Faw Down'; I also very much like 'The Lucky Dog,' the film in which they first appeared together, even though they were nowhere near getting teamed yet. 'Love 'Em and Leave 'Em' is the original silent version of what later became 'Chickens Come Home'; but for the difference of roles (Ollie and not Jimmy Finlayson plays the blackmailed husband running for mayor in the sound version), it's such a practically word-by-word and gag-by-gag retelling it's uncanny. 'Bromo and Juliet,' the Charley Chase short in which Ollie appears as a police officer, is very funny and enjoyable too; it's a criminal shame that today this great funnyman and performer is all but forgotten. 'Along Came Auntie,' which was rescued from near-decomposition, is also enjoyable, but overall I'd peg it as the weakest of the six shorts presented here. Of course the material on the discs in this collection are fantastic, but it just seems like they were assembled without rhyme or reason, like by theme or chronological order.

There are however a few minor flaws; it appears that this DVD is like the others in this collection in that it just starts playing right away, or at least it does so on my computer's DVD player. You have to click the Menu button on the control bar to be brought to the main menu to select the short you want to see yourself, and if you're only interested in seeing one, four, and six, say, you have to repeat this every time instead of having it automatically start and the beginning and not display the menu by itself until the final short is over. The background music, even if some of it may have been the original backing soundtrack in theatres, can also become repetitive and monotonous. Sure it's not EXACTLY the same throughout every short, but it's not very varied either.

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9

Average customer rating:

Good to fill a hole in your collection, but not for newbies
STUNNING!
Starting to scape the bottom of the barrel here
Thundering Fleas is not on this set, but-
This DVD series is a must for "The Boys" admirers

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Otto Lederer , William Irving , and Wilson Benge
Director: Edgar Kennedy , Fred Guiol , and Clyde Bruckman
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305909490
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this ninth volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "You're Darn Tootin'" (1928, 20 min.), "Why Girls Love Sailors" (1927, 23 min., English & French versions), "Battle of the Century" (1927, 28 min., 2 versions), plus the Oliver Hardy solo short "Wandering Papas" (1927, 20 min.), the Our Gang short "Thundering Fleas" (1926, 22 min.) featuring Oliver Hardy, and the Charley Chase short "Mum's the Word" (1926, 21 min.).

Customer Reviews:

Good to fill a hole in your collection, but not for newbies.......2005-08-03

Perhaps more so than any of the other discs in this series (with the possible exception of the so-called tenth and final installation, 'Laurel and Hardy and Friends,' which only features them in one of their sound shorts and making a cameo appearance in an Our Gang short), this one is meant only for the serious collector or fan. The only two real L&H shorts are 'You're Darn Tootin' (a.k.a 'The Music-Blasters') and 'The Battle of the Century,' which has missing footage from the beginning of the second reel to this day. 'You're Darn Tootin' is one of my favorite of their silents, one of their very funniest, just getting funnier and funnier as the action goes along. One of the other reasons I like it so much is because this is one of the few times that Stan (who's always been my special favorite of the two) actually stands up for himself, defending and asserting himself, almost coming across as the smarter superior one instead of letting himself be pushed around by Ollie all of the time. 'The Battle of the Century' is also quite funny, though it would probably be even funnier if we had the full picture and weren't still missing that footage at the beginning of the second reel, footage vital to the plotline. The famous pie fight at the end, the biggest pie fight ever in a movie, is outrageously funny, although contrary to popular belief, this was not some kind of staple in silent comedy. Whoever keeps saying that most silent comedies consisted of pie fights and police chases clearly isn't familiar with the genre! There's also the requisite pre-teaming short, 'Why Girls Love Sailors,' one of the many times Stan puts on female attire and a blonde curly wig to disguise himself as a woman, perhaps going further in the cross-dressing charade this time than he does in any of the other films he makes himself up as a woman in. Certainly this kind of thing would have brought down the wrath of the Hays Code had it existed back then, with Stan sitting on the laps of the other sailors, flirting with them, and having his skirt blow up far enough to expose the undergarments!

Contrary to what the product description says, the Our Gang short co-starring Ollie, 'Thundering Fleas,' isn't on this disc. In its place we have the Charley Chase short 'Mighty Like a Moose,' in addition to another of Charley's very funny films, 'Mum's the Word.' Sure the plots of these films might not make sense (such as in the former film the husband and wife not recognising one another after both have plastic surgery, even though they've only changed one minor detail, his teeth and her nose), but that's what makes it so funny. Not everything is supposed to make sense or seem rational in a comedy! The disc is capped off with the Clyde Cook short 'Wandering Papas,' which also co-stars Ollie. Clyde was a huge star back in his native Australia, but apparently didn't experience the same success when he came to America and began working at Hal Roach Studios. It comes as no surprise that most of his film roles after the early Thirties were uncredited. I'm sure he was a nice well-meaning guy, and he was funny (I liked this short much better than the other Clyde Cook short contained in this series, 'Should Sailors Marry?'), just really not distinct from all of the other would-be hopefuls also trying to become the next big thing in comedy. He was funny enough, just not anything really special or memorable.

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

Starting to scape the bottom of the barrel here.......2004-10-23

If you are looking to buy just one of "Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy" (shouldn't it be called "found films?) pick a different one than this, the 9th in the series. This particular collection is just for avid L&H fans who want to fill out their collection. The most satisfying film in the set "Your Darn Toootin", follows a familiar formula. The boys are musicians who first disrupt a band concert by missing cues and fighting over a piece of sheet music, eventually spreading mayhem to the entire band. Following an interlude in a boarding house, the boys are trying to make it as street musicians. Eventually, they cause a chaotic scene involving mass gut-punching, shin-kicking and pants-ripping.

The second film, "Battle of the Century" follows almost precisely the same formula: displaying ineptitude as professionals (here Stan is a boxer), an interlude scene, this time involving an insurance salesman, (of which the footage is lost), and the famous, chaotic pie-throwing scene. The pie fight is almost worth the price of the DVD, and is much more rewarding than the pants-ripping scene, despite the overall fragmented state of the film. It includes the famous last shot of "Roach sexpot" Anita Garvin, having just executed a perfect fall on a discarded cream pie, demurely shaking her leg in the hopes of dislodging bits of cream from very private locations. (Garvin returns in "Why Girls Love Sailors" in this collection, a weak, early film with only historic interest for L&H fans.

As with the other volumes in the series, this collection contains short films from other Hal Roach actors, as well as Stan or Ollie individually. Two films by Charley Chase are found here, neither of which I found entertaining, as well as an obscure entry by Clyde Cook (deservedly obscure, in my mind). In general, if you're not collectors of Laurel and Hardy films, I would pass on this volume.

Thundering Fleas is not on this set, but-.......2004-08-06

After purchasing this, I was disappointed that "Thundering Fleas" isn't actually on this set (I am a big fan of the silent Our Gangs and I hope that Hal Roach Studies puts some of those out on DVD too), but what is on here is good enough to keep me from wanting my money back.

"You're Darn Tootin" is one of the weaker L&H's. Not much story here. Our heroes get kicked out of a concert band, then thrown out of their apartment, then violently vent it out on each other that leads into a free-for-all involving the whole town. Not in the same league with some of the other stuff here. Then there's two formerly lost L&H's. The Battle of the Century is a LAFF RIOT with the boxing scene with Stan as "The Human Mop" (look carefully to see a young Lou Costello at ringside) and Ollie as his hapless maganer. This is followerd by the legendary pie fight (personally, I think the 3 Stooges topped this in "The Sweet Pie and Pie," but BOTC is funny enough, especially Anita Garvin's bit of pre-code erotica with her pie.

"Why Girls Love Sailors" is a rediscovered treasure. Essentially, it's a great Stan Laurel comedy with Ollie in a bit part as a villan (shades of the first L&H comedy "Lucky Dog"). You've seen the plot detail in the other reviews, and this is really fall down on the floor funny! However, the scene with Stan dressed as a woman flirting with the crude captain while sitting on his lap was enough to make me run for the Pepto-Bismol. YUCK! Much of this comedy is filled with spicy pre-code humor, and even now should be shown with parental caution. But it's a real howler any way you look at it as a whole.

One comedy has the forgotten aussie comic Clyde Cook in a tale directed by Laurel and featuring a clean shaving Hardy as a worker who hates Cooks cooking, and two other comic misunderstanding tales with the also-forgotten Charley Chase. These are also highly amusing. For classic comedy fans, this makes you wanna do like Blazing Saddles and give Hal Roach Studios a Laurel and Hardy handshake.

This DVD series is a must for "The Boys" admirers.......2001-01-12

I just received my ninth (of the ten planned) installment of this MUST HAVE DVD series by the Hal Roach Studios "Lost Films of Laurel And Hardy". These meticulously restored movies are provided with original theatre poster art and film background information making this so enjoyable to watch. (Films as early as 1915. Can you imagine?)

Being re-introduced into the silent era was such a joy after only knowing them (known affectionately as the "The Boys") through the talkies and TV. This DVD collection brought to me a new level of enjoyment watching the golden age of comedy.

I have even joined a "Sons of the Desert" tent. (a world wide group (over 105 tents) of admirers to perpetuate the legacy of L & H. So named after their 1933 film of the same name.) They meet monthly to discuss and watch the 105 films made by "The Boys".

I just wanted to say that this is the best quality picture and sound. Reproduced and digitalized from the original master prints and audio disks.

Laughter through visual comedy is the devine genius of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. They are truely kindred spirits that we can now enjoy for a life time.

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy - The Complete Collection, Vol. 5
Average customer rating:

Leaving Us Laughing

Not my favorite disc, but strong material as always

For L&H fans only, with one exception

This DVD is a Must for Laurel & Hardy Fans

WOW! Hal Roach has put out a masterpiece

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy - The Complete Collection, Vol. 5
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Sam Lufkin , Jack Hill (II) , and Fred Holmes
Director: Leo McCarey , and James Parrott
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Hardy, Oliver | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Laurel, Stan | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Mccarey, Leo | ( M ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Parrott, James | ( P ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305772398
Release Date: 2000-03-14

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this fifth volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "Wrong Again" (1929, 20 min.), "Habeas Corpus" (1929, 21 min.), the first true Laurel and Hardy teaming in "Duck Soup" (1927, 20 min.), "Leave 'Em Laughing" (1928, 19 min.), the Charley Chase/Oliver Hardy short "Fluttering Hearts" (1927, 22 min.), and the Stan Laurel/James Finlayson film "Short Kilts" (1924, 21 min.).

Customer Reviews:

Leaving Us Laughing.......2006-02-16

Laurel and Hardy, to me, are the greatest comedy team in history. Their characters were two of the most likeable people in comedy history. To their fans they will always be these characters. We can never think of them in any other way. Of course in reality they were nothing like them. But despite how often I may watch them (and I do watch them often) I never grow tired of them. Their comedy, at least in the their best movies, is timeless. So here we have a collection of silent Laurel and Hardy comedies. All of which I will review individually.

'WRONG AGAIN' (1929, 20 Mins.) - 'Wrong Again' is simply known to some people as "the one with the horse on the piano". Now while undoubtedly that is the most famous set piece of the short, it is not the only funny bit. 'Wrong Again' is one of the top three greatest shorts Laurel and Hardy ever made. It's structure is almost perfect. There are only a few things I think should have been done differently. For instance, I think Stan should have been the one to first hear about bringing the horse inside the house, not Oliver. Stan seems a little too smart in this one. And it's a little out of character. Usually Stan simply had all the fate in the world in Oliver, here he actually questions him a bit. Still though still is highly recommended. **** (out of *****)

'HABEAS CORPUS' (1929, 21 Mins.) - Here "the boys" are sent by a mad scientist to steal a dead body so the scientist can perform an experiment on it. Though are no real great laughs in the piece but there are enough little ones to keep on watching it. A lot of these silent Laurel and Hardy films had strange plots that were really just excuses to put these characters in the most odd situations simply to see how they would react. Some work and some don't. This one works. *** 1\2 (out of *****)

'DUCK SOUP' (1927, 20 Mins.) - When reading about this one I thought I would love it. This was later remade as their talky "Another Fine Mess" (one of my favorites) because of this I thought I would enjoy this one too. Not so. I don't know if it's merely that dialogue was needed or if the comedy didn't seem to jell as well as it did in the remake or if it was a combination of both. But something is wrong here. I just can't quite put me finger on what it is. All I know is a lot of the jokes fell flat for me. ** 1\2 (out of *****)

'FLUTTERING HEARTS' (1927, 22 Mins.) - Besides seeing all these wonderful early silent efforts from Laurel and Hardy on these DVD's we also get a look at some Charley Chase shorts, a comedian the public seems to have forgotten all about. "Fluttering Hearts", while not a comedy masterpiece, does show Chase in very good form. There are a lot of wonderful bits in the short especially one involving Charley dancing with a life-size doll, (just watch!). *** (out of *****)

'Leave 'EM LAUGHING' (1928, 19 Mins.) - Stan has a terrible toothache and it's keeping Oliver awake. So the two try to yank the tooth out themselves but because it's Laurel and Hardy, this is much easier than it sounds. So Oliver decides to take Stan to the dentist and things just get worst from there. If you've ever seen their feature film "Pardon Us" you'll notice a similarity. The bit plays funnier in the movie but makes for a decent short. *** (out of *****)

'SHORT KILTS' (1924, 19 Mins.) For some odd reason the back of the DVD says this was made in 1936 and has sound, it doesn't! This is an early Stan Laurel piece without Oliver Hardy. It deals with a family feud between two Scotish families. At first I absolutely hated this short. I didn't find it funny and I thought the story was boring, that is never a good sign for a comedy. But eventually the piece won the over. As the short went on the situation seemed to become funnier to me and I started to enjoy the spirit of the piece. *** (out of *****)

Bottom-line: Pretty good collection of early Laurel and Hardy shorts. The best piece on here is 'Wrong Again', perhaps one of their greatest silent efforts of all time!

Not my favorite disc, but strong material as always.......2005-08-03

Though most of the shorts on this disc aren't among my favorites of their silent career, they're quite strong regardless. Most of the other discs in this series only have two or three L&H shorts proper, but this one boasts a total of four--'Wrong Again!,' 'Duck Soup,' 'Habeas Corpus,' and 'Leave 'Em Laughing.' Probably my favorites of this batch are 'Duck Soup' and 'Leave 'Em Laughing.' The former is one of the titles most often cited as the first "true" L&H pairing, even though they're not wearing the exact outfits we're used to seeing them in and their relationship and mannerisms still haven't completely congealed. And it was also strong and funny enough to be remade in the sound era as 'Another Fine Mess.' 'Leave 'Em Laughing' utilises a gag they used in several other films as well, such as the sound short 'Blotto,' that of starting to laugh and then getting more and more out of control, practically collapsing and rolling on the floor because they're so carried away with laughter, them and all of the people around them. 'Wrong Again!' features their famous gag of putting the horse on the piano, thinking that Blue Boy refers to the name of the rich man's stolen horse and not the title of the famous painting that is on its way to being returned to him as they're wreaking havoc in his fine mansion. 'Habeas Corpus' isn't my fave of their silents, but it's got some really good moments in it, even if a lot of it does seem a little hokey and predictable. It's also mentioned in the liner notes that this was one of the true lost films in this collection, rescued when it was literally on the brink of decomposition, so much so that the original nitrate totally disintegrated shortly after it had been pressed onto safety stock. That was a really close call fans had to losing this film for good!

The remaining two are 'Fluttering Hearts' and 'Short Kilts.' The former is a very funny Charley Chase film, co-starring Ollie; one wishes Charley's name and face were better-remembered today, since he was easily one of the funniest silent clowns, more deserving of a re-evaluation and renaissance than someone like Harry Langdon. 'Short Kilts' is one of Stan's solo films, and is pretty good, but it's also available on 'The Stan Laurel Slapstick Symposium.' I'm not really a fan of getting duplicate material; the people who put this fine series together might have chosen to release more of Stan's solo films that weren't already commercially available, like 'Mud and Sand' or 'Monsieur Don't Care.'

For L&H fans only, with one exception.......2004-09-06

For those who associate silent film comedy with pies and police chases, "Wrong Again" might be a revelation. Made in 1929, the year that film studios converted to making talking movies, this film is a fine example of the extent to which silent comedies had been refined and perfected since the days of Mack Sennett. It is the best of this volume of comedies starring Laurel and Hardy and other stars of the Hal Roach studio (including Laurel and Hardy in solo or supporting performances).

The world seems to be divided neatly into two groups: highly devoted L&H fans, and those who don't appreciate their humor. Much of their humor boils down to a set of recurring themes: premeditated pain directed at each other or someone else, destruction of property, "scare" humor, and humor resulting from uncontrollable laughter. Usually mixed with these elements are the duo running away from the law or from other trouble. This collection contains examples of each of these components. In general, L&H fans will savor this collection, while others might find a lot that is tedious and predictable.

"Wrong Again" however is different; it contains little or none of the typical L&H elements, but focuses more on the pure chemistry of their partnership, as well as their individual characters: the naive, child-like Stan and the arrogent, but equally clueless Oliver. The story is simple: the famous painting "Blue Boy" has been stolen; the boys are stable hands taking care of a horse named "Blue Boy"; they assume the horse has been stolen, so they try to return it. From this basic misunderstanding there emerges a number of clever situations, with the climax being attempts by the duo to place "Blue Boy" on a grand piano, as requested by the home owner, who is of course upstairs out of view of the proceedings the whole time. The film is a showcase for the depth of the duo's comedic talent: the naive clown Laurel paired with a great comic actor. In general, I find "Wrong Again" to be a silent film classic that reaches an artistic level close to that achieved by Keaton and Chaplin. Its level of sophistication looks more forward into the era of the "screwball" comedies than backward into the Chaplin era, not surprising given that the director of the film was Leo McCarey, the "inventor" of the screwball genre.

Among the other films, "Duck Soup" is interesting as the first film in which L&H star as a team. It's facinating as a film insofar as the basic chemistry of the duo appears almost complete in this film -- aside from the lack of the standard bolder hats, and other changes in their appearence, it's clear that the team's character emerged basically fully formed from the start.

This DVD is a Must for Laurel & Hardy Fans.......2000-04-18

I started collecting Laurel & Hardy films in 8 mm. back in the 1960s. Today, the video and sound qualities are better than ever and Volume 5 of the so-called Lost Films of L & H series in DVD is an absolute must for true fans. Among the many treats is the first "team" film, DUCK SOUP, that turns out to be the predecessor of their 1930 talkie, Another Fine Mess. In both cases, the plot - by Stan's father no less - gets in the way. But here, in DUCK SOUP, the Stan and Ollie characters are only partially developed and they just don't seem much like the Laurel & Hardy we know and love - sort of the way they became later in those awful 1940s films for Fox and MGM when they just didn't act like themselves.

Another highlight is the Charley Chase film, FLUTTERING HEARTS, that had me wondering why Hal Roach never gave him a chance in feature films during the sound era. This film is a surprise bonus if you expected to find only Laurel & Hardy.

The picture quality varies from very good to stunning. For whatever reason, WRONG AGAIN seems derived from two different sources. Various shots in the same scene will be sharp as a tack while others will appear soft. If there is one shortcoming, it's in the liner notes that should tell us more about the film sources. In both HABEAS CORPUS and SHORT KILTS, a small white box in the lower right of the screen is apparently hiding some logo; I suspect it's a cable station. But I'm just carping. It's a great DVD release and I had a ball.

WOW! Hal Roach has put out a masterpiece.......2000-03-19

WOW! Can I say anything more! Hal Roach has put out a masterpiece. The DVD volume five contains six of their funniest silence to date. Like in volume Four we were blest with "Bacon Grabbers" which no one has ever seen unless you were in the theaters 70 years ago. In volume five we have "Leave'em Laughing" which I have only seen bits and pieces of and is restored to its original color tents when it was first release. The second reel of this film has Laurel and Hardy on laughing gas in their Model "T" Ford on Main Street in downtown Culver City. There are no other actors who can laugh in character like Stan and Ollie. The second reel of "Fluttering Hearts" has to be Hardy's best solo performance. Charley Chase baits a very drunken Hardy with a department store dummy (this is an only couples speakeasy). Hardy falls head over heels for this dummy in what is said to be the best of all the Charley Chase Comedies thanks to the excellent support of Oliver Hardy. The film "Short Kilts" a solo by Stan Laurel with Jimmy Finlayson was so good, I watch it five times Thursday after receiving the DVD in the mail. The McPherson's and the McGregors are feuding clans liken to the Hatfields and Mccoys. Things really get out of hand during a game of musical chairs. As the head of each clan trade insults at various member of each family, Stan has enough, and elopes with his betrothed. Would be brother-in-law Jimmy Finlayson does the same after Stan says no. Finally, all is at peace, everyone is married to their intended, and even young Mickey Daniels (of the Our Gang fame) along with the first leading lady (of Our Gang) Mary Kornman tries to tie the knot. But, peace is short lived, and another game of musical chairs leads to the fade out brawl. The other three are "Wrong Again", "Habeas Corpus" and "Duck Soup."

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 6

Average customer rating:

A lot of fun
must buy series
STUNNING!
Excellent compilation of classic comedies.
Laurel & Hardy take on each other this time around

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 6
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Vivien Oakland , Harry Bernard , and Jimmy Aubrey
Director: Lloyd French , Hal Roach , and Frank Butler
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00004S8A3
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this sixth volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "That's My Wife" (1929, 20 min.), "Flying Elephants" (1928, 20 min.), "Putting Pants on Philip" (1928, 20 min.), the Glenn Tryon short "45 Minutes From Hollywood" (1926, 20 min.) featuring the first pairing of Stan and Ollie in a Hal Roach film, the Charley Chase/Oliver Hardy short "Crazy Like a Fox" (1926, 23 min.) and the Stan Laurel solo short "The Soilers" (1923, 10 min.).

Customer Reviews:

A lot of fun.......2005-08-03

Though there are only two L&H films proper on this compilation, they're among their funniest silent output and two of my own personal favorites of their silent shorts. I'll admit it did take me awhile to really warm up to their silent work, since like most modern-day fans I came to them through their sound shorts and was very familiar with how uncannily their voices matched their personalities and all of the onscreen action. But we don't even need sound to laugh hysterically at 'That's My Wife' (one of quite a number of times Stan dons female attire in their career!) and 'Putting Pants on Philip.' People will probably never stop arguing over which was the first true L&H short, when they stopped just being together in the same film without being part of a planned team, but 'Putting Pants on Philip' is one the titles that comes up most often as the first true teamed effort. (The other two that most commonly are argued as being the first are 'Do Detectives Think?' and 'Duck Soup.') They're not wearing their bowler hats, and their screen personalities aren't the ones we know and love just yet, but for the first time they seem to be part of a team and not just in the same film together through happenstance. The other L&H short, 'Flying Elephants,' is just bizarre, and not really because it was made after their teaming despite how they appear as rivals. The subject matter itself, prehistoric days, is strange, to say the least, certainly one of the weirdest films they ever did.

'45 Minutes from Hollywood' is one of those early shorts where they're together but not yet a team, and indeed, apart from 'The Lucky Dog' (1919?), this is their very first time appearing together in the same film. The film itself is mildly entertaining but nothing special, and probably wouldn't even be remembered today were it not for the historic value. Overall it's just a vehicle for Glenn Tryon; based on the two Glenn Tryon shorts included in this series, it's hard to say just why Hal Roach, who was usually such a wonderful judge of funnyness, thought he had the potential to become a big-time comic leading man like Harold Lloyd. Glenn just doesn't seem like anyone special, indistinct from any number of minor would-be comic stars of the Twenties.

We also have the Stan solo film 'The Soilers' (which is also included on 'The Stan Laurel Slapstick Symposium'; I wasn't keen on buying another copy of a film I already own); it's pretty good but demonstrates that alone Stan was just lacking that special something to make him a big-name star and recognisable screen presence. The final two shorts are some quite funny ones from the forgotten star Charley Chase, 'Crazy Like a Fox' (which also briefly co-stars Ollie) and the bonus short 'The Way of All Pants.' Unlike the few Glenn Tryon shorts included in this series, based on the Charley Chase shorts included on these discs I've become a big fan. Hal Roach was being a good judge of humor when he often said that Charley was the funniest fellow he'd ever known.

must buy series.......2005-05-10

This series is a great treat for fans of silent comedy. The package covers have rather poor art but inside is a small booklet with color repros of the posters and little writeups on each pic with a color lobby card repro on the back. #6 even had a surprise bonus of a Charley Chase 1 reel. He is a wonderful talent who should be better known. Well worth the price.

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

Excellent compilation of classic comedies........2002-05-26

This DVD entry is heaven for fans of old time silent comedy. The three L&H shorts, though lesser-known are are brilliant in their way, especially "That's My Wife." "Flying Elephants" is a bit lame, due to the funny caveman bit seeming rather trite nowadays, but the Boys do their best with it. "Putting Pants on Philip" is always funny due to the superb comic acting of Stan and Ollie in roles other than their traditional personnas. "45 Minutes from Hollywood" is the weakest entry here, though it features Stan and Ollie in small -- but thankless -- roles. The bonus short "The Way of All Pants" is not only a nice surprise, but a little gem starring Charley Chase. Too bad it's only one reel (one suspects it was originally a two-reeler, judging from the jumpiness of it). Content of this disc rates the highest accolades, due to the stars. Quality-wise, most of the source material is fairly decent -- my main complaint is that the same old music track is repeated endlessly and gets annoying quickly. There has to be something else available.
Otherwise, this is a must for the L&H fan.

Laurel & Hardy take on each other this time around.......2001-05-16

Volume 6 of "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" continues to mix classic shorts with lesser works of historical note. In "That's My Wife," Hardy's wife has left him in disgust right before his rich uncle arrives and reminds him that he will inherit everything as long as he is happily married. The only logical thing to do is to have Laurel dress up as Mrs. Hardy. The happy couple take the uncle out for a nice time at a night club, where eventually the truth is revealed and a bowl of soup adds insult to injury. Of all the many times Stan ended up in a dress, this is the best of the bunch. Despite its title "Flying Elephants" (which has to do with a sight gag) this 1928 Hal Roach-Pathe film directed by Frank is the famous one set in the Stone Age where the King has declared all bachelors must get married or face banishment and/or death! Both Stan and Ollie are interested in the same woman, the daughter of James Finlayson, who has a toothache as an additional concern. Might be the only Laurel & Hardy film where one of the boys kills the other. "Putting Pants on Philip," directed in 1927 by Clyde Bruckman, has Hardy as J. Piedmont Mumblethunder who greets Laurel as Philip, his dimwitted nephew from Scotland. The entire point here is to replace Philip's kilt with a pair of pants and stop him from chasing every flapper in sight. This is another rare one where the boys work against each other. "45 Minutes From Hollywood" is the 1926 Hal Roach two-reeler in which the boys both appear for the first time, although not together. Actually, Stan is made up with a big moustache to look just like Jimmy Finlayson. You will see every contract player on note in the Roach stable except for Charley Chase. Chase and Hardy team in the 1926 short "Crazy Like a Fox," while Laurel is represented by another 1926 film, "The Soilers" in the solo efforts tacked on at the end of this DVD.

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 4

Average customer rating:

STUNNING!
Solid compilation
Some solid laughs from the end of the silent era
gems....
Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy 4

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 4
Starring: Sammy Brooks , Kathleen Collins , Clyde Cook , William Gillespie , and Helen Gilmore
Director: James Parrott , and Jess Robbins
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9

ASIN: B00003ETPD
Release Date: 2000-01-04

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this fourth volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes: "They Go Boom!" (1929, 20 min.), "Their Purple Moment" (1928, 21 min., silent), "Bacon Grabbers" (1929, 20 min., silent), "Unaccustomed As We Are" (1929, 18 min.) in an alternate silent version of their first sound short, the Clyde Cook/Oliver Hardy short "Should Sailors Marry?" (1925, 22 min., silent), plus the Charley Chase short "On the Wrong Trek" (1936, 19 min.) featuring a cameo by Laurel & Hardy.

Customer Reviews:

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

Solid compilation.......2005-02-14

I wish the films in this series had been put out in chronological order on the discs instead of having shorts from different years rammed together, but even for being assembled in a less than ideal fashion, this is fine material. The package also contains information about and synopses of the films presented, including information about films which were on the verge of decomposition or, like some of the films on this volume, which hadn't been heard with the proper soundtracks in decades.

Apparently a number of people dislike 'They Go Boom!,' but I love this short. That might be because it's been years since I've had the opportunity to see any of their sound shorts which are new to me, since AMC no longer shows them and I've been making do of a tape with five of their sound shorts on it for too many years now (when are we American fans going to get real DVD treatment of all of their sound shorts like the Brits have?!); still, I find this short hilarious. They often recycled elements of past shorts and movies; in this movie I recognised one of the gags in the later 'Busy Bodies,' the nail in the wall going right into a waterpipe, with predictable results. Elements of 'Bacon Grabbers' (another great short presented here) also resurface in 'The Music Box.' The other strongest work on here comes from 'Their Purple Moment' and 'On the Wrong Trek'; I love the L&H cameo appearance in the latter Charley Chase short!

'Should Sailors Marry?' is enjoyable and funny, but overall doesn't seem quite as strong as the rest of the shorts, and really only seems to have been included because Oliver Hardy appears as a doctor, a bit more than halfway through the piece. 'Unaccustomed As We Are' is funny, but should have stayed a talkie. This picture does not work as a silent film. At all. There are some bits of it that are great silent comedy, but they're cancelled out by the most intertitles in any L&H short. The humour in this piece derived from a combination of speech and slapstick, but there are just WAY too many intertitles explaining what's going on and what's being said to get as much humour out of it as there is in the original talking version. It's in the same vein as how some late silent pictures were later rereleased with sound dubbed onto them--it took away from how the story was being conveyed, and clearly UAWA was specifically built to be a sound comedy, not a silent comedy.

Some solid laughs from the end of the silent era.......2004-10-12

This collection, featuring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as well as other stars from the Hal Roach Studio, will be an essential addition to loyal fans of the comic duo, who will be easily convinced to buy this, as well as the other volumes in the series. For those with a broader interest in silent screen comedy, but who are not necessarily die-hard L&H fans, this collection is as good a representation of the best of the duo's silent and early sound output as any others in the series, but no better.

L&H may not have been the first silent comic team, but they were the first to illustrate the potential of two funny men who became funnier as the result of the ability to play off the personality of the other. However, "They Go Boom", which starts the volume, is a very weak early sound film, offering mostly crude physical humor based on accidentally inflicted pain and discomfort, combined with a weak dialogue. "Their Purple Moment", a silent from 1928, offers a stark contrast, and is the best of this volume. It is light, energetic, perfectly paced, and full of refined visual humor about two husbands trying to escape the wives and paint the town. In general, the best of their silent films, including this one, seem to be those with future great directors Leo McCarey and George Stevens (as photographer) in the credits. McCarey and Stevens also supervised "Bacon Grabbers", one of their last silent films. This one also has a number of clever scenes, as in the opening. They play "repo agents" and they've received their assignment. The difficulty they have just leaving their office with the papers to serve in their hands and their hats on their heads aptly illustrates the extent of their comic grace.

The other L&H film in this volume includes "Unaccustomed As We Are", a silent version of their first talkie; it is, however, too overloaded with dialogue titles to make a good silent film. The other two selections, starring Clyde Cook in one and Charlie Chase in the other, are forgettable.

gems...........2004-07-23

The lost films of laurel and hardy collection are my proudest possessions as far as dvds go,,,this is a must have for any fans laurel and hardy or fans of old time comedy,or silent films,these are just as good as their talkies,which is rare for that time period.........

Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy 4.......2002-07-04

This item has no spoken dialogue. Disappointed....

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7

Average customer rating:

PLAYABLE IN ALL REGIONS
More for hardcore fans than newbies
STUNNING!
Very good for old school
There's Something "Lost" In These Lost Films

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7
Starring: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Edgar Kennedy , Mae Busch , and Thelma Todd
Director: Hal Roach , Lewis R. Foster , and James Parrott
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

ASIN: 6305837287
Release Date: 2000-05-30

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this seventh volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes: Their first "talkie," "Unaccustomed As We Are" (1929, 21 min.), "Should Married Men Go Home" (1928, 22 min., silent), a special talkie version of the silent "Double Whoopee" (1929, 19 min.) created by the Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society with voices by Stan and Ollie impersonator Chuck McCann, "With Love and Hisses" (1927, 24 min., silent), "Sailors Beware" (1927, 26 min., silent), and the "Hal Roach All Star Comedy" series short "Mixed Nuts" (1934, 18 min.).

Customer Reviews:

PLAYABLE IN ALL REGIONS.......2006-05-14

Amazon misstates the facts regarding in which DVD Region these discs will play. ALL TEN of the "Lost Films Of Laurel And Hardy" series of discs are REGION ZERO, which means they will play ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. You can buy with assurance that the discs will perform perfectly as designed.

More for hardcore fans than newbies.......2005-08-03

Like most of the discs in this series, this seems to be geared more towards the hardcore fan as opposed to someone who's just getting into the boys or who's never seen any of their stuff before period. This is one of the discs, however, that starts to have more material of interest to really hardcore fans as opposed to even a fan who isn't that new but still likes this kind of obscure stuff. Probably my favorites on this disc are 'Unaccustomed As We Are' and 'With Love and Hisses.' UAWA was the boys' first talkie, as evidenced by the clever title, and while it's pretty funny and entertaining, it feels kind of rushed, and like they were overcompensating for the new medium of sound, by how much dialogue there is, kind of like showing off that they could really talk now. It's the same reason the silent version of this short doesn't work, because of an overabundance of dialogue. However, this whole short was classic enough that they remade it as the final third or so of one of their very best movies, 1938's 'Blockheads.' 'With Love and Hisses' is actually a pre-teaming effort, but is one of their funniest, since they're moving towards being more and more of a real team even though they were only cast together in the film by happenstance. It contains some incredibly racy scenes in the end, stuff that very soon the Hays Code would make illegal. Stan, the sapheaded new recruit, is supposed to be guarding the clothes of the soldiers, Ollie included, who are going skinnydipping, and manages to burn them in the campfire when he decides to join them. A group of women are passing by, and they have to hide behind a billboard; to make matters worse, there is going to be an inspection of the unit that very day. As Ollie shouts in consernation in a hilarious intertitle, "Holy Mike--I forgot about the inspection--and here we are--*raw*!"

'Should Married Men Go Home?' is another L&H short, and it's also quite strong and funny, though not one of my favorites of their silent career. It also contains the "fifteen cents" gag at the soda shop that was later used in their third talkie, 'Men O' War,' and was even funnier then because the humor was really dependent upon dialogue. I actually liked the version of 'Double Whoopee' with sound dubbed in better than I had expected to, but it can get more than just a little annoying, having sound effects and speech dubbed in when it was already funny and self-explanatory enough already. Who thought this was a good idea? Although at least it was done pretty tastefully, instead of being used as a device for making fun of silent film like is too often done when people dub in sound effects and made-up lines and voices. 'Sailors Beware' is another pre-teaming effort, but is also quite good and entertaining. The lowest point on this disc is the 1934 sound short 'Mixed Nuts.' It's only mildly entertaining, and pretty topical to the Depression era. I agree its inclusion probably was a mistake and they meant to include one of Stan's solo shorts of the same name.

STUNNING!.......2005-03-16

Very good for old school.......2004-12-02

I quite enjoy Laurel and Hardy, and the lost films series of DVDs are adequate. Unfortunately, there is still not a complete collection of their work available in the US (their available work, that is, since some films are lost).

If you enjoy Laurel and Hardy, they're worth a look - but be warned! Most of the films are silent. They're still quite good, mind you, I enjoy them immensely. But they do have a different flow and feel to them vs. the talking shorts they did in the 30s.

The dvds usually contain about 4 Laurel & Hardy shorts and about 2 "miscellaneous" shorts. Sometimes there will be older films with only one of the boys, but not both. Typically there's at least one Charley Chase short. Chase was a fine actor of this era that is sadly forgotten (seriously. Try searching online for "forgotten charley chase"). The Chase shorts are very good and enjoyable.

The "Mixed Nuts" short on this disc is, as best as I can tell, a mistake. The one included was from 1934, and does not have Laurel or Hardy in it. It was a Hal Roach film, directed by James Parrott, so it's not completely out of place. But, I'm willing to bet that they had actually intended to include the "Mixed Nuts" from 1922 which featured Stan Laurel 5 years before the team up.

There's Something "Lost" In These Lost Films.......2003-06-22

I think like most people my first introduction into Laurel & Hardy's films were through the "talkies". By watching short subjects like "Brats", "The Music Box", "Me & My Pal", & "Helpmates". And their feature films like "Way Out West" "Sons of the Desert", "Swiss Miss", & "Pardon Us".

Growing up Laurel & Hardy were my childhood heros, and I don't know what that says about me as a person. I would watch their movies religiously. I knew all the gags. I could see them coming a mile away, but I always laughed. And even to this very day, after some 15 years once in a while I'll still watch them. And that was what made them so special. The characters they played were so likeable. You didn't mind watching them over and over. Even if you knew the bits, you just still liked to take some time out of your day and watch these two characters. I personally think of Laurel & Hardy as the greatest comedy team in history. What other comedy team has managed to still make of laugh for the past 80 some odd years? And who still have fans all over the world? The only other team I can think of is The Marx Brothers.

Someone let me borrow this dvd knowing how much I enjoy their comedy. I've seen very very few silent Laurel & Hardy comedies. On this dvd there are 6 short subjects, 5 on which star Laurel & Hardy. "Mixed Nuts" made in 1934 does not include them, therefor I will not review it. I will go through each short individually.

"UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE" (1929) - This is billed as their first talking picture. The chemistry is in place but the piece feels rushed. It's 21 minutes and it doesn't allow "the boys" to go into their facial expressions..ie Stan's blank stare Oliver's disgusted look as he stares at the camera suggesting "Do you see what I have to put up with?" Had this one been made a little later it could have been better. ** 1\2 out of *****

"SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME?" (1928) - It took me awhile to appreicate this one. At first it thought it was OK now it think it's a little better. The beginning moments are the best. A gag involving a door is very funny and would later be used in their talking short "Come Clean". Here though the gag works best. Also you'll notice to "15 cents" gag as "the boys" find out they do not have enough money to buy 4 drink. It would later be used in "Men O' War" but the dialogue is needed to make the piece truly funny. The usual characters are not here but it doesn't matter. That chemistry is there. I feel the end is a bit disappointing but it the piece does have it's highlights. *** out of *****

"SAILORS BEWARE" (1927) - "The boys" do not have many scenes in this one together, Infact it's Stan Laurel and Stan Laurel only who is the star. It's very funny to watch and at times reminded me of a Harold Lloyd short. Stan had enough presense to him to carry the short. There is one very funny scene involving Stan and baby and a dice game. Just watch and see. *** out of *****

"Double Whoopee" (1929) - Originally release as a silent someone got the "bright" idea to add sound to this piece. As one could imagine this becomes not only distracting but annoying. All of the male voices are done by Chuck McCann. As with some of the pieces here pacing and chemistry are in place but I felt the piece didn't really go anywhere. Also of note is the fact that Jean Harlow is in this. Not one of "the boys" best but OK. *** out of *****

"WITH LOVE AND HISSES" (1927) - "The boys" are not playing their usual chatacters in this one and have a few scenes together. To be honest the piece kind of bored me. The ending though is comedic brilliance. If not a little risque. ** out of *****

So there you have it. I would not recommend this as an introduction into Laurel & Hardy's work. I personally wouldn't show this to young kids or older people who have never heard of Laurel & Hardy or are not familiar with their work. This is for the fans. It's fun to watch these early pieces and see how infact the chemistry did grow and how they wold become one of the greatest comedy teams in history.

Bottom-line: Early collection of Laurel & Hardy shorts. I would say is really just for the fans. Shows how the team grew. Some highpoints but nothing really shows the team at their best.

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1
Average customer rating:

Silent Laurel & Hardy in flawless prints

laurel and hardy still funny!!!!

Collectors Only

A Must-Have for L & H Fans

Glad I "found" these "lost" films

The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1
Starring: Pearl Elmore , Sadie Gordon , Rosa Gore , Bud Jamison , and Margaret Joslin
Director: Frank Terry
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
Laurel, Stan | ( L ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 8

ASIN: B00000FE36
Release Date: 1998-12-15

Amazon.com

The greatest comedy team of all time has come to DVD, in collected volumes of Laurel and Hardy's rarest shorts. Mastered from original 35mm materials, this pristine set really captures the Boys at their naughtiest. These films are fast and furious masterpieces of silent slapstick. Volume One contains such classics as Big Business (selling Christmas trees door to door can be such dangerous fun), Do Detectives Think? (a dumb pair of detectives, with the first appearance of the legendary "mixed-up derby hat" gag), The Finishing Touch (the first of the uproarious "laborer" comedies), and Call of the Cuckoo (about the house from hell featuring an all-star supporting cast), plus two early Laurel solo efforts. By the way, Stanley isn't always such a nitwit here. Sometimes he's downright mischievous. And that's director-to-be George Stevens doing the camera work. As with all volumes of this collection, this one's a comic treasure. --Bill Desowitz

Description

Mastered from the original 35mm material, this first volume of lost films from the great comedy team of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy includes all silent shorts: "Big Business" (1929, 21 min.), "Do Detectives Think?" (1927, 24 min.), "Call of the Cuckoo" (1927, 18 min.) and "The Finishing Touch" (1928, 21 min.), plus the Stan Laurel solo shorts "On the Front Page" (1926, 23 min.) and "Hustling for Health" (1918, 15 min.).

Customer Reviews:

Silent Laurel & Hardy in flawless prints.......2007-03-22

As a film scholar fan of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy sound shorts and features, I am frustrated that there seems to be no outlet in the United States for high quality DVDs. One should not have to go to Britain or Germany to buy decent prints of SONS OF THE DESERT, WAY OUT WEST, THE MUSIC BOX, and the rest of the Laurel & Hardy sound gems.

So it is with great pleasure that I announce a superlative site for at least the long-unseen silent shorts of Laurel & Hardy--and a few friends like Charley Chase and Jimmy Finlayson. THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY is a ten volume DVD and VHS series from Image Entertainment and Hal Roach Studios. The stunning print sources are gorgeous 35mm nitrate camera negatives that sound as if they were recorded yesterday. This is your definitive source for silent Laurel & Hardy treasures and curios.

VOLUME ONE starts off with its crowning gem, BIG BUSINESS (1929), with the boys trying to sell Christmas trees in mid-Summer in Los Angeles. When Jimmy Finlayson won't buy a tree, the boys proceed to demolish his house bit by bit, while Finlayson goes to work destroying their car piece by piece. This uproarious 21 minute masterpiece is my favorite Laurel & Hardy silent short and close to their funniest ever.

DO DETECTIVES THINK? (1927) has the boys as inept bodyguards to a judge who has sent a convict named Noah to prison. Noah escapes and heads for the judge's house with plans to kill him. This early teaming of Laurel & Hardy is a fun masquerade romp with dueling butlers.

CALL OF THE CUCKOO (1927) has an incredible collection of comics for an 18 minute short--Laurel & Hardy, Max Davidson, Charley Chase, and Jimmy Finlayson. Max was always referred to as "The Jewish Comedian" by Hal Roach, not really uncruelly. It is his movie as his dopey family moves into a house where nothing works. Doors collapse, sinks turn on stove gas jets and vice versa, lights turn on the wrong lights, and you don't want to know about Max taking a bath while guests are seated directly below him in the dining room. This one is hysterically funny and the only Max Davidson comedy I have seen. I'd like to see more, if they are this good.

THE FINISHING TOUCH (1928) has Laurel & Hardy offered $500 if they can build a rich man's house next to a Quiet Zone hospital in one week. Edgar Kennedy guests in this one. It is predictable--nothing goes as planned, and the boys make tons of noise. But I still laughed my head off.

ON THE FRONT PAGE (1926) has a solo Stan Laurel right before he teamed up with "Babe" Hardy. In the Jazz Age, a flapper countess tries to turn the tables on tabloid publications and a publisher's son will lose his job if he does not come in with a story more sensational than his rival newspaper.

Finally, HUSTLING FOR HEALTH (an early 1918) has an unrecognizabld Stan going solo for Hal Roach during a Summer away from vaudeville. He is a frantic mess of a person, nothing at all like his immortal later persona. Familiar face Bud Jamison is the neatness freak who lives next door. Bud and Stan drive each other nuts for 15 minutes.

All six of these delightful shorts are from 35mm studio prints or nitrate camera negatives, and it shows in the stunning image clarity. And they all have lovely new music scores or original Vitaphone music with sound effects. Total running time is about 125 minutes, but you might want to ration them out over a few days to play after a lousy work day. Slapstick comedy does not get any better, both as movies and the print sources. THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY in ten volumes from Hal Roach Studios and Image Entertainment. A random glance at plots at Amazon.com indicates that all ten are worth owning, if you like silent slapstick comedy. Some of the later volumes have Stan or "Babe" alone, Charley Chase, or Jimmy Finlayson mixed in with traditional Laurel & Hardy..

laurel and hardy still funny!!!!.......2006-03-04

i would recommend this dvd to all laurel and hardy fans and fans of old silent comedy movies, classical films that will never br repeated. if you have been thinking about buying this dvd get it now!!! before it vanishes forever!!!!

Collectors Only.......2006-02-28

A collection of Laurel and Hardy and other film-comedians' early work, in a disjointed series of short silent films. Not much entertainment value!

A Must-Have for L & H Fans.......2006-02-28

This is the finest presentation of what is arguably Laurel and Hardy's finest silent short, Big Business, from its original nitrate negative. The Buys are Christmas tree salesmen in Southern California when, after a couple of false starts, they tangle with the immortal James Finlayson. That alone would be enough to recomment it, but there is more. The Finishing Touch is the forerunner of Busy Bodies and a number of slapstick classics, as they are carpenters attempting to finish a house--and they do... Do Detectives Think? is a surprisingly important addition to the Laurel and Hardy canon as well, showing the Boys had refined their relationship earlier than many had suspected. And all of these three are from the original nitrate negative, so the print quality is terrific.

That alone is enough to recomment this great selection of their silents, but there's even more.

The Boys cameo in Call of the Cookoo, while Stan solos in On the Front Page (another nitrate negative), and there is even a rare 1918 Laurel short called Hustling for Health, which features a treat for Three Stooges fans--a guest role by Bud Jamison.

This is an often overlooked series for Laurel and Hardy fans, but it shouldn't be! Check out this and all the others in the series!

Glad I "found" these "lost" films.......2005-12-28

This series of "lost films" by Laurel and Hardy contain many if not all of their silent film efforts. This first volume has six short films. I'll review them all individually.

BIG BUSINESS (1929,21 Mins.) - Of the six shorts on here this is the only one I had actually seen before. The "boys" are a couple of Christmas tree salesman who go door to door. They are not having the luck they hoped to have had since they can't sell a tree. But as the short goes on that's really the least of their problems. James Finlayson plays a man who absolutely, under no circumstances wants to buy a tree. I'm not sure if this marks the first time the team used what is known as the "tit for tat" gag, but it is the best. In fact "Big Business" is not just the best silent short the team ever did, it is their greatest effort. A flawless comedy. *****(out of *****)