Laurel and Hardy HD restorations – Blu-rays coming? (1 Viewer)

[cinemiracle]

Sounds like you might mean the 21-disc set released by Universal in the UK several years back. If so, it wouldn't include the restored version with the newly-found missing sections.

BATTLE OF THE CENTURY came with a 5 dvd pack released in Australia. The DVD was listed as being disc 19 so I imagine it was part of a much larger dvd set released in both the UK and Australia.

 

[Konstantinos]

Arrow had said they're looking into it I think...
A set of these films and shorts would be wonderful!

 

[warnerbro]

Please!

 

[Brian Kidd]

Forgive me HTF, for I have sinned. I've never seen any Laurel & Hardy. I know I need to. I love that era of comedy.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Forgive me HTF, for I have sinned. I've never seen any Laurel & Hardy. I know I need to. I love that era of comedy.

It's never too late to start, Brian!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Arrow had said they're looking into it I think...
A set of these films and shorts would be wonderful!

Arrow? Criterion? Heck, I so want to see the near complete edit of THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1927), that I'd even accept a Hallmark DVD release, at this stage!

CHEERS!

 

[Rob W]

I have seen the restored Battle of the Century several times now, thanks to the TCM and San Francisco Silent Film Festivals. What's interesting is that Youngson actually shortened some of the existing shots when he excerpted the pie fight scenes. In the restoration you can quite clearly see a jump in quality mid-scene when the existing shortened footage (from 35mm ) is spliced to the 16mm footage found on the collector's print, resulting in longer shots in the original cut of the film, along with the missing scenes.

UCLA is continuing with their project to restore and protect the sound shorts and features photochemically on 35mm film.. Work has now begun to digitize and clean up the film elements. Here is a comparison between the current DVD version of Hog Wild with the new, digital clean-up from the 35mm elements :

 

[Brian McP]

Could these new UCLA restorations be part of this collection? I suspect they'll be probably be the 2004 transfers now on bluray (including the jumpcut in the middle of "Trail of the Lonesome Pine" in "Way Out West") -- they are great versions of these movies and look best on big displays --

Still, after seeing that trailer for "They Will Not Grow Old" and what they did with 100 year old film, I know the L&H movies have been "loved to death" as RAH puts it, and the new "Stan and Ollie" movie in theatres in most of the world early next year, could it be time for these restorations to be let loose in theatres and/or bluray or even 4K bluray?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Very-Best-Laurel-Hardy-Collection/dp/B07JG786KX/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1539836118&sr=1-1&keywords=the+very+best+of+laurel+and+hardy+bluray

 

[Paul Penna]

Could these new UCLA restorations be part of this collection?

None of them have been restored by UCLA.

 

[battlebeast]

As a non U.S. Resident, I'll choose this topic to voice my profound disappointment in being denied access to the Laurel & Hardy HD restorations, which can only be accessed via the U.S. version of iTunes! I have no doubt this is due to U.S. only release rights issues, that don't include Canada in the mix! It's the same issue that prevents Turner Classic Movies from airing the bulk of the Hal Roach Film Library on their Canadian feed. Based on what I've heard from a most reliable source, this would require additional sublicensing fees that evidently neither TCM, nor Sonar Entertainment deemed to be worthwhile shelling out for. Thus this situation is by their own choosing, despite what has been posted on the TCM Message Boards, regarding their unsuccessful attempts to acquire Canadian Broadcast rights for the 1937 Hal Roach Cary Grant feature comedy, TOPPER.

I'll state further that as the shift continues away from importable physical media toward the strictly digital formats, it will likely become ever more difficult to legally obtain titles that are only available internationally, but on digital platforms that can only be accessed by a specific nation's residents. For instance, unlike the UK based Network On Air Blu-ray of the L&H Public Domain title, THE FLYING DEUCES (1939), there's no way for me to order the U.S. iTunes based HD version of WAY OUT WEST as an import! I would if I could!

CHEERS!

I'm in your boat, fellow Canuck.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Of the films included in this set, Sons of the Desert and Way Out West have been restored by UCLA. Whether or not Universal UK will use or even has access to these upgraded masters I have no idea. The UCLA Sons of the Desert did run on TCM a few months back for what it's worth. For those interested, here is the current list of what UCLA has restored for its L&H project: https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/support/laurel-and-hardy

While I'm at it - here's a message for Universal-UK should a representative actually see this thread: we North American L&H fans implore you to do what is necessary to partner with Lobster Films to release on either DVD or blu-ray the restored and reconstructed version of The Battle of the Century. Corinth Films, the firm with the American video rights to the silent L&H films, has shown a shocking amount of disinterest in releasing this film or for that matter the L&H silents. This creates an international opportunity for you. I have actually never imported a DVD/blu-ray before, but should you release the new restoration of The Battle of the Century, I will do whatever is necessary to import the disc and acquire the equipment necessary to run it. I honestly hope that I'm not alone in saying that. Even including this short as an extra on your upcoming blu-ray set would be highly welcomed and perhaps entice people to buy this set even if they're fairly content with their older DVD sets. Off of my soap box now.

 

[Brian McP]

Well said Arthur -- I'm in Australia and have had the excellent Universal-UK set released here a few years ago as well as the 20th Century Fox sets -- and yes, the restored BOTC I hope does get the release it deserves.

This may be old news already but here's some news that might brighten your day -- the movie is no masterpiece, but those extras are priceless and if you have a Region B playable bluray player, you have got it made:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atoll-DVD-Blu-ray-Stan-Laurel/dp/B07JJPCT13/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541125424&sr=8-1&keywords=atoll+k

 

[RBailey]

I know this isn't about Blu-ray or HD copies of Laurel and Hardy releases, but has anyone heard any more info about this upcoming release from The Film Detective covering the silent films of Stan & Ollie?

https://dvdandblu-rayreleasereport.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-film-detective-to-release-double.html

 

[Arthur Powell]

Promising. I certainly can't complain about the MSRP. Of course blu-ray would have been better, but a well-produced DVD can still provide a high quality product. There are a few curious aspects to this release though. For instance, why are a handful of sound era shorts included? The rights to the silents are held separately from the sound films (for the most part). Also, are we actually getting the full reconstruction of The Battle of the Century? I see a general reference to some of the shorts being "newly restored from the original elements" but nothing more specific. Also, what are they doing with the musical scores? Anyway, I just pre-ordered the collection from Amazon so I do look forward to seeing what is exactly being presented.

 

[Arthur Powell]

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/class...ZSpUloNGXoRg_6Ox3ozM4yLThU3___4Es-VpAEzx02csY

I found another article about this upcoming collection, and this is reported line-up for the two discs:
"On disc one are The Lucky Dog (1921), 45 Minutes From Hollywood (1926), Duck Soup (1927), Duck Soup (1927/French-Dutch title cards), Battle of the Century (1927), Call of the Cuckoo (1927), Slipping Wives (1927), Do Detectives Think (1927), Their Purple Moment (1928), We Faw Down (1928), Habeas Corpus (1928), Flying Elephants (1928), You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928/Long), Stolen Jools (1931/Bonus) and Mixed Nuts (1934/Bonus).

On disc two are You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928/Short), The Finishing Touch (1928), Leave ’em Laughing (1928), That’s My Wife (1929), Liberty (1929), Double Whoopee (1929), Double Whoopee (1929/Talking Version), Angora Love (1929), Big Business (1929), Blotto (1930), Be Big! (1931), Twice Two (1933), The Live Ghost (1934), Tit for Tat (1935) and On the Wrong Trek (1936/Bonus)."

So, sadly this does not look like it is going to be a complete set. The following Laurel and Hardy silents were not referenced at all in the article: Bacon Grabbers, Wrong Again, Two Tars, Early to Bed, Should Married Men Go Home?, From Soup to Nuts, Putting Pants on Phillip, Sailors Beware, The Second Hundred Years, Sugar Daddies, With Love and Hisses, Why Girls Love Sailors, Love 'em and Weep.
Perhaps this is going to be the first of a two volume set. If that is the case, that should have been mentioned. Honestly, given the strong desire for a high quality reissue of the L&H silents, the way that this set is being handled is seemingly lackadaisical. We're given no proper announcement or press release, information on musical scoring is non-existent, the completeness of The Battle of the Century is still up in the air, no information is given on the promised extras (the mere mention of the participation of Leonard Maltin, Richard W. Bann, and Randy Skretvedt would assuage my concerns), and we have (currently) the unexplained absence of a large number of L&H silents. This is a bit frustrating, but my questions will hopefully be answered in the next week or two. In spite of all of this, I am still cautiously optimistic.

 

[Tony Bensley]

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/class...ZSpUloNGXoRg_6Ox3ozM4yLThU3___4Es-VpAEzx02csY

I found another article about this upcoming collection, and this is reported line-up for the two discs:
"On disc one are The Lucky Dog (1921), 45 Minutes From Hollywood (1926), Duck Soup (1927), Duck Soup (1927/French-Dutch title cards), Battle of the Century (1927), Call of the Cuckoo (1927), Slipping Wives (1927), Do Detectives Think (1927), Their Purple Moment (1928), We Faw Down (1928), Habeas Corpus (1928), Flying Elephants (1928), You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928/Long), Stolen Jools (1931/Bonus) and Mixed Nuts (1934/Bonus).

On disc two are You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928/Short), The Finishing Touch (1928), Leave ’em Laughing (1928), That’s My Wife (1929), Liberty (1929), Double Whoopee (1929), Double Whoopee (1929/Talking Version), Angora Love (1929), Big Business (1929), Blotto (1930), Be Big! (1931), Twice Two (1933), The Live Ghost (1934), Tit for Tat (1935) and On the Wrong Trek (1936/Bonus)."

So, sadly this does not look like it is going to be a complete set. The following Laurel and Hardy silents were not referenced at all in the article: Bacon Grabbers, Wrong Again, Two Tars, Early to Bed, Should Married Men Go Home?, From Soup to Nuts, Putting Pants on Phillip, Sailors Beware, The Second Hundred Years, Sugar Daddies, With Love and Hisses, Why Girls Love Sailors, Love 'em and Weep.
Perhaps this is going to be the first of a two volume set. If that is the case, that should have been mentioned. Honestly, given the strong desire for a high quality reissue of the L&H silents, the way that this set is being handled is seemingly lackadaisical. We're given no proper announcement or press release, information on musical scoring is non-existent, the completeness of The Battle of the Century is still up in the air, no information is given on the promised extras (the mere mention of the participation of Leonard Maltin, Richard W. Bann, and Randy Skretvedt would assuage my concerns), and we have (currently) the unexplained absence of a large number of L&H silents. This is a bit frustrating, but my questions will hopefully be answered in the next week or two. In spite of all of this, I am still cautiously optimistic.

Regarding the question of which version of THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1927) is in this upcoming release, I've just posed this to Richard W. Bann's Facebook page.

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Regarding the question of which version of THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY (1927) is in this upcoming release, I've just posed this to Richard W. Bann's Facebook page.

CHEERS!

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Richard W. Bann replied that he thinks this release has been cancelled.

 

[Arthur Powell]

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Richard W. Bann replied that he thinks this release has been cancelled.

Oh well. At least I won't be surprised when I get a cancellation notice form Amazon. To be honest, I was anticipating that we would be likely disappointed with this release. As well as being a producer of DVDs, the Film Detective also hosts a streaming service, and several of the L&H silents are free to view right now on its website. Most of shorts are taken from the 1990s masters used for The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy DVD and VHS series. At least one bore a 1993 copyright date, and several others were sporting the needle-drop scores used for the DVDs. One short curiously was mastered from a Blackhawk print. I was surmising that this set was going to be recycling these twenty to thirty year old SD masters. If I am correct, then we probably would have had the incomplete version of The Battle of the Century. Since this is all still conjecture, I was refraining from commenting until the set was released and those suspicions could either be confirmed or refuted, but that seems to now be a moot point. Actually, I wouldn't have trashed the set so much because I do believe that it would be good to see these shorts again made available, and twenty dollars is hardly highway robbery. However, I would have noted that the work of putting out a high quality HD remastering of the shorts on DVD and/or blu-ray still needs to be done.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Didn't Corinth Films purchase the rights to the Hal Roach silents? Criterion put up a clip from the restored Battle of the Century some time ago on their website with their watermark. And I know Be Big! is in the public domain, but I've never seen the other talkies show up in public domain collections. No wonder it was cancelled since it sounds like it wasn't exactly authorized.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Didn't Corinth Films purchase the rights to the Hal Roach silents? Criterion put up a clip from the restored Battle of the Century some time ago on their website with their watermark. And I know Be Big! is in the public domain, but I've never seen the other talkies show up in public domain collections. No wonder it was cancelled since it sounds like it wasn't exactly authorized.

My understanding is that only the L&H silents were involved in the Corinth films purchase. The bulk of the Hal Roach silents still under copyright are a part of the Roach library held by RHI. So silent shorts like "A Pair of Tights," "Movie Night ," and "Pass the Gravy" are still with the Roach sound films. It was a weird, baffling arrangement that allowed the silent L&H films to be detached from the larger library. Anyway, since RHI/Vivendi has been so willing to license to firms like Kit Parker and VCI, I've been hoping some firm would do some release of some of the existing MGM era silent Roach shorts. Maybe someday.

The news article mentioned that the "prints" were being supplied by Richard Feiner and Associates, and Corinth purchased the rights to the silents from the Feiner estate. Also, Allied Vaughn is supposed to be a participating partner in this release. Since that firm distributes the Vivendi library (which includes the sound era L&H shorts), I simply figured that Film Detective was able to draw from two separate sources of L&H films. Since the names involved seemed to check, I didn't really scrutinize the rights issue much. With Corinth films seemingly not involved, perhaps this was a quasi-bootleg release. As for that Criterion clip, I've heard that that clip was only used to accompany an article about the Mostly Lost film festival.

I will make one other lament - why did Corinth have to outbid David Shepard for the rights to the silents? Think of the wonderful Flicker Alley release we possibly could have had by now if Corinth did have to intervene.