Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42969 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 170 minutes

Amazon.com
For one-stop convenience, you can't beat this handy compilation of Laurel & Hardy classics. Although it's modestly priced and packaged, this DVD packs plenty of extras along with Stan & Ollie's finest feature and several of the comedy duo's best-loved "talkie" shorts. Sons of the Desert (1933) is the crown jewel in any L&H collection, and with Charley Chase as their stellar comedy costar, the boys reached the pinnacle of their unique partnership, playing a pair of Fez-wearing "Sons of the Desert" sneaking off to a convention in Chicago, but their wives discover the ruse with hilarious results. For L&H fans, it simply doesn't get any better than this, although 1932's "The Music Box" shares equal status--and a 1932 Oscar® for Best Comedy Short--in the L&H pantheon. The remaining shorts on the disc ("Another Fine Mess," "Busy Bodies," and "County Hospital") were produced during the prime of Stan & Ollie's sound-era success (1930-33), each boasting their own timeless bits and flawless routines. Abundant laughs are virtually guaranteed.

Most of the bonus material pays tribute to legendary comedy producer Hal Roach, who first partnered Stan & Ollie in 1926. A film-clip tribute includes interviews with comedy greats like Mel Brooks and Steve Allen, and on-screen articles explore Roach's career in greater detail. A "then and now" photo tour provides an historic tour of Roach Studio locations in Culver City, California, and text biographies are provided for Roach, Laurel, and Hardy. In addition to the films themselves (which never looked or sounded better), these extras make this Laurel & Hardy DVD a perfect choice for old and new fans alike. --Jeff Shannon

From the Back Cover
Five original black and white films collected on one DVD. Films are:

Sons of the Desert - The boys sneak off to a convention, telling their wives that Ollie requires a restful cruise to Hawaii to recuperate…but all is not peaceful when the suspicious wives discover the ship sank.

The Music Box - The Laurel & Hardy Moving Company struggles to deliver a piano to a house at the top of an insurmountable staircase. Winner of a 1932 Oscar ® for Best Comedy Short.

Another Fine Mess - Stan and Ollie hide from the police in the seemingly safe confines of a deserted mansion, that is until some tenants show up! Ollie must pretend to be the owner while Stan becomes both the butler and the maid!

Busy Bodies - Being employed as carpenters, Stanley and Oliver stumble through a hilarious parade of self-inflicted mishaps, only to retreat hastily...and drive their car into a band saw.

County Hospital - Oliver is peacefully recovering from a broken leg, when Stan decides to bring him a present of hard-boiled eggs and nuts. That's not all he delivers, however, and proceeds to almost destroy the place and the people in it.

DVD also contains tributes, biographies and photo features.

Customer Reviews

This is NOT the great restoration DVD sold in Europe!
First let me say that these films are the BEST that Laurel & Hardy ever did, they are ***** films! I was excited to get this DVD, finally we were going to see the great restoration work that was done in Europe and sold on DVD there.

I have seen their DVDs, and this is NOT the restored version!

Problem 1) Over compression causes digital artifacting that makes SONS OF THE DESERT look like VHS at times. The transfer is the old grainy U.S. TV tape.

Problem 2) THE MUSIC BOX is compressed from a damaged video tape, there are wrinkles that appear as the boys are unloading the piano.

Problem 3) COUNTY HOSPITAL is a grainy copy from the Film Classics re-issue negative. The European DVD is authored from the original MGM issue negative. Leo the lion roars a greating to you to let you know that Europeans are about to see a fine transfer. In the U.S., our DVD only has the soundtrack of the roars over the grainy re-issue titles.

Problem 4) BUSY BODIES, while it does have the nice original MGM titles, is grainier than the European restored release.

On a slightly positive note, ANOTHER FINE MESS did not undergo restoration in Europe, so their version looks as grainy as ours. It does have the original title section with the two girls reciting the credits.

There is a fair documetary that used grainy clips from other shorts not on this collection (giving us a preview of how bad the future DVDs might be) and some nice stills showing you some locations as they look today.

Hopefully Artisan & Hallmark will re-master this DVD so that those without access to the European DVDs can enjoy these five classic movies the way they were meant to be seen: sharp without artifacting, on two discs.

When you care to send the very best.....
This 2-disc set should've been a slam dunk. Some of the best-loved comedies of all time, the greatest comedy duo in the history of movies, and new digital technology to make it all seem like new. In Germany, two dozen DVDs of Laurel & Hardy sound and silent masterpieces have been restored, remastered, and released to great success. Hallmark (current owners of the Hal Roach films) had no interest in releasing them stateside, but apparently the entreaties of classic comedy lovers made them cough up this release. So what did we get? Barely adequate transfers from 20-year-old video (not digital) masters. Inserted "fade outs" where the extra commercials went for TV showings. Re-release credits instead of the often brilliant original opening credits. In short, Hallmark/Artisan used the least amount of effort, time and expense possible to release these films to the home market. This release should rival the much-talked-about Charlie Chaplin reissue of a couple of months ago, instead it was tossed onto the market with no care or thought. Shame on them.

So, L&H fans are faced with a dilemma: purchase the disc and hope Hallmark does better next time, or ignore it and get an all-region player to buy the German discs. My advice? Shop at amazon.de.

Mixed. Purists will hate the feature but the shorts are fine
Artisan presents its first Laurel & Hardy DVD, containing vintage material produced in the 1930s by Hal Roach. Laurel & Hardy fans have been waiting for this release, and this writer's reaction is mixed.

"Sons of the Desert" is a genuine comedy classic, with Stan and Ollie sneaking off to a lodge convention without telling their wives. But beware the DVD's claim of "digitally remastered" -- this version was broadcast on TV's "Laurel & Hardy Show" in pre-digital 1986. The film is incomplete, with edited scenes (the "wax fruit" and "convention" are shortened), overdubbed background music, and frequent fade-outs for commercial breaks. The editing is good, so casual fans and general audiences will enjoy the feature, but dyed-in-the-wool Laurel & Hardy admirers will resent all the tampering.

The DVD's featurettes and short subjects have better picture quality, and appear to be taken from excellent 35mm and 16mm prints. "Another Fine Mess" (vagrants Stan and Ollie pose as butler and householder to escape the police) is the 1990s restoration that aired on the AMC cable network; it has the original Hal Roach titles and is superior to older video and TV editions. "The Music Box" (the team's Oscar-winner where the boys move a piano up a long flight of steps) and "Busy Bodies" (Stan and Ollie in a carpentry shop) are also fine presentations. "County Hospital" (visitor Stan ruins patient Ollie's hospital stay) is taken from a 1940s "Film Classics" reissue print but the quality is equally good.

This writer noticed a very occasional light scratch or stray debris in the image, but the flaws are minor and should not detract from your enjoyment unless you are a perfectionist. The menus and bonus features use some clever optical effects.

Too bad Artisan hadn't consulted a better print of "Sons of the Desert," or paid more attention to the transfer, but it's great to have this choice material on DVD at all. Here's hoping Artisan will continue its Laurel & Hardy series.