The Laurel & Hardy Collection V. 2 – Alone Together

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Shorts: B-

The Wizard Of Oz (1925): B-

 

 

Passport has decided to follow-up their feature film dense Laurel and Hardy Collection with a second set comprised of additional shorts subtitled Alone & Together.  Those amusing shorts on DVDs 1, 3, 4 & 5 are:

 

Tree In A Test Tube

One Too Many (1916, Hardy only)

The Battle Royal (1916, Hardy only)

The Paperhanger’s Helper (1925, Hardy only)

Roughest Africa (1925, Laurel only)

Pie-Eyed (1925, Laurel only)

Short Kilts (1924, Laurel only)

Oranges & Lemons (Laurel only)

Hustling For Health (1924, Laurel only)

Yes, Yes Nannette (1925)

The Show (1922, Laurel only)

 

 

There is also a three-minute Hardy interview excerpt, while the shorts are mostly silent and not bad, once again demonstrating the evolution of Laurel’s ideas about comedy.  As for the 1925 silent Wizard Of Oz, it is not that great and remarkably racist, so this is NOT for children by any means.  The box notes that this film was shown on TV as an experiment in 1931 as the medium was being developed, but there are many good reasons this is not seen much since.  This set is a good odds and ends collection for those interested, though not in archival condition by any means.

 

The full screen picture throughout these 5 DVDs are average, from older analog-era transfers, but Passport prices them accordingly.  There are artifacts on the prints, all of which are a few generations down.  All images are black and white throughout all five discs.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono throughout also shows its age, with dated fidelity and background noise of various kinds.  There are no extras.  Maybe these programs would be still be funnier with more fidelity, but they are still funny enough to catch in this second Laurel and Hardy Collection.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo