LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS
By Robin E. Simmons
Just when we need them the most, Stan and Ollie are back in a beautiful hi-def restoration of some of their key movies. It’s been said that every second of every day 24/7, someone, somewhere is laughing at a Laurel and Hardy movie! What a great legacy for mankind to see their foibles magnified on screen for laughs.
Arthur Stanley Jefferson and Oliver Norvell Hardy were both in the motion picture business when it was just beginning. But they never performed together until producer Hal Roach fortuitously paired them on screen. Some of their early short silent films, like Big Business were a hit, but it was when sound came in that they really took off, with their singular voices a perfect fit for their onscreen personas.
But the main thing that ensured the widespread popularity is that despite all the bickering and fine messes, their was no doubt these two characters really loved each other and so did the men who played them. And somehow that seeped through the screen and lodged in our minds and hearts.
Scrawled on the bathroom wall of the Silent Movie Theater on Los Feliz after a Laurel & Hardy marathon: “Laurel and Hardy forever. Why can’t we just love each other?”
If you’re wondering how the lineup for the Blu-ray edition of LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS differs from the DVD…here’s some info: The official release date is next Tuesday, June 16, (the 130th anniversary of Stan Laurel’s birth.
All of the material on the four-disc Blu-ray edition is included in the six disc DVD version, but in different configurations. These discs are all region-free. Generous extras, photo galleries, interviews and featurettes.
All films — including the interview films and trailers — have optional English subtitles. The theatrical films (including The Tree in a Test Tube and That’s That) have optional commentaries by Richard W. Bann (for The Battle of the Century and The Music Box) and by Randy Skretvedt (all others).
Presented by Kit Parker Films and The Sprocket Vault.
Film preservation by Richard W. Bann, and the UCLA Film & TV Archive & Library of Congress. Digital restorations produced by Jeff Joseph/SabuCat and performed by Thad Komorowski/Cineaste Restoration. A.R.T. by Point 360. Final Conforming and Clean Up by The Finishing Touch. DVD and Blu-ray element assembly, design and authoring by Tiffany Clayton.
Disc 1
Feature:
Sons of the Desert
Shorts:
The Battle of the Century, presented nearly complete with original amber tint and a new score by Donald Sosin.
Berth Marks, with original 1929 soundtrack and 1936 reissue soundtrack
Photo Galleries:
Sons of the Desert Publicity Portraits • Scene Stills • Deleted and Candids • Posters and Publicity • Early Script • Dialogue Continuity • Contracts and Documents
Battle of the Century (including Press Sheet and publicity material)
Berth Marks including production stills, press sheet articles, music cue sheets, poster and lobby card art.
Portraits in Costume
Early Career: Stan
Early Career: Babe
Extras:
Anita Garvin Interview
Joe Rock Interview
Roy Seawright Interview (all filmed by Randy Skretvedt, October 1981; in color)
Ship’s Reporter interview with Babe Hardy, June 10, 1950
Sons of the Desert trailer (in Spanish)
Disc 2
Shorts:
Brats, with original 1930 soundtrack and 1937 reissue soundtrack
Hog Wild (from full aperture 1:33 source)
Come Clean
One Good Turn
Me and My Pal
Photo Galleries:
Brats • Hog Wild • Come Clean • One Good Turn • Me and My Pal (all including production stills, press sheet articles, music cue sheets, poster and lobby card art)
Babe Hardy’s Vim Comedies Scrapbook
L&H with Hollywood Friends
Catalina July 1934
Extras:
Audio Interview excerpts 1973-1981 from Randy Skretvedt (accompanied with photo galleries):
Billy Bletcher, actor • Joe Rock, producer • Hal Roach, producer • Anita Garvin Stanley, actress • George Marshall, director • Roy Seawright, special effects designer • Venice Lloyd, widow of cameraman Art Lloyd • Richard Currier, film editor • Bert Jordan, film editor • Walter Woolf King, actor • Lucille Hardy Price, Babe’s widow • Marvin Hatley, musical director (including performances of “Ku-Ku,” “Honolulu Baby,” and “Will You Be My Lovey-Dovey?”)
Disc 3
Shorts:
Helpmates
The Music Box
The Chimp
County Hospital
Scram!
Their First Mistake
The Midnight Patrol
Busy Bodies
Photo Galleries:
Helpmates • The Music Box • The Chimp • County Hospital • Scram! • Their First Mistake • The Midnight Patrol • Busy Bodies (including production and candid stills, press sheet articles, poster and lobby card artwork, call sheets and production reports, music cue sheets)
A Short History of the Hal Roach Studios
Supporting Players
Crew Members
Studio Hijinks
Snapshots from the 1932 UK Vacation
Disc 4
Feature:
Way Out West
Shorts:
Towed in a Hole
Twice Two
That’s That
The Tree in a Test Tube
Photo Galleries:
Way Out West: Portrait Stills • Scene Stills • Candid Stills • Pressbook Articles and Artwork • Poster and Lobby Card Artwork • Original 1913 Sheet Music • Script and Synopsis • Dialogue Continuity, Music Cues, etc.
Towed in a Hole • Twice Two • (including production and candid stills, press sheet articles, poster and lobby card artwork, call sheets and production reports, music cue sheets) • That’s That • The Tree in a Test Tube
Portraits out of Costume
Laurel & Hardy and Golf
Special Occasions
Odd Publicity Shots
Stan in Retirement
Extras:
Marvin Hatley music tracks (from Sons of the Desert, Them Thar Hills, Way Out West, Block-Heads, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea)
Original Trailers for Beau Hunks, Pack Up Your Troubles, Babes in Toyland, Way Out West, The Flying Deuces, A Chump at Oxford and Saps at Sea.
This great set is essential for the home theater llibrary.
