The Laurel & Hardy Collection (Koch)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Films/shows:

 

Utopia (aka Robinson Crusoeland; Atool K; Escapade, 1950)      C+

Flying Deuces (aka Flying Aces, 1939)                                      B-

March of the Wooden Soldiers (aka Babes in Toyland, 1934)       B

Be Big! (1931)                                                                        B-

The Lucky Dog (1917/21)                                                         B

This is Your Life                                                                     B

Laurel & Hardy at the Movies                                                  B-

 

 

There is no denying the genius of Laurel and Hardy, but somewhere between the physical silliness of The Three Stooges and the profound genius of Charlie Chaplin, they have been lost on a generation or two for no reason that anyone can come up with as good.  Like the others classic comic acts noted, we are slowly seeing their work coming out on DVD.  Passport video has gone as far as to release a boxed set of three feature films, two shorts, a documentary and a TV special boldly entitled The Laurel and Hardy Collection.  Even if it not always their best work, which would need more than the 5 DVDs in the case, it is diverse enough to be worth seeing.

 

Disc One features their last film, Utopia, which was shot in France despite that the film is all-English speaking.  Watching it after many, many years, it was one film too many.  Like Roger Moore as James Bond in 1985’s A View To A Kill, the actors may be somewhat watchable, but the material is poor and there are many moments that make you think that they would have been better off staying home.  The story involves yet another crazy get rich quick scheme that has the daffy duo somehow inheriting an island rich in uranium.  They want to sell it, but this was still in an era when the dangers of this were unknown (or concealed).  It drags and they are repeating themselves.

 

The Flying Deuces is one of their better features, made at RKO Studios in what is considered Classical Hollywood’s peak year.  The only thing that never worked for me, especially after seeing the overrated Beau Travail, is the Foreign Legion segment.  It just drags a bit itself and does not hold up, if it ever worked.  It is still a fan favorite.

 

March of the Wooden Soldiers was made at their old home, M-G-M, and always feels like an interesting test run for The Wizard of Oz made five years later.  It is a rich production and that too looks like M-G-M and the kind of money and talent they could pull together for such a film.  There are so many people representing characters form various fairy tales that L&H themselves are not always the center of the film.  This is a good picture for kids and maybe a minor Fantasy genre classic.  Though there is not non-stop singing like you would find in Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg, this is based on an operetta by Victor Herbert.  The music is not bad, but the non-Musical moments work better, with L&H in top form.

 

Be Big! is the only sound short here, produced with Hal Roach during their time at M-G-M.  Oliver fakes illness to skip a trip with his wife and another couple (The Laurels) so he could be at a wild stag party.  It has its moments and shows how good they were in isolated skits.

 

The Lucky Dog is the only silent short and a one of their very first they ever made.  Stan Laurel is really the start, but Hardy is here as a supporting, angry character.  It is not only amusing to see how good they were outside of the act (and eventually formula) that made them famous, but how incredibly visual they could be.  They were not only masters of the short form, they were one of the few acts that completely made the transition from silent to sound filmmaking.  I now especially want to see more of the silent shorts. 

 

The segment of This Is Your Life contained here is a tribute to both L&H.  This is the series in its original prime with Ralph Edwards, and the Hazel Bishop make-up ads are in tact.  Bob Ward, the announcer, is a legend in his own right as one of the first major sidekicks.  L&H were mostly retired by then, and this is one of the best installments of the series.

 

Laurel & Hardy at the Movies is an 11 trailer set, one film of which is not identified, and another of which (Saps at Sea) are two of the trailers.  The feature film career was mixed and we look forward to seeing them all get issued on DVD.

 

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, but the single DVD version Passport sells of March of the Wooden Soldiers is a bit cleaner, but not by much, while its bonus inclusion of Be Big! does not look quite as good as it does from this box.  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 funnier with more fidelity, but this is a good set to own because they are still funny enough in their physical comedy, dialogue exchanges and (best of all) amazing timing.  The Laurel and Hardy Collection almost lives up to its name, and that is enough to check it out.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo