Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations Blu-ray set

[Marshall Fish]

Hello all,

In the U.S., Kit Parker Films has released a region free Blu-ray and DVD set of restored Laurel and Hardy films. I reviewed it and the
link is below.

These 17 films ( two features-Sons of the Desert and Way Out West and 15 short subjects) were restored by the UCLA Film and Archive Department
along with Jeff Joseph/SabuCat, and the Library of Congress. The short subjects include The Music Box, Brats (where L & H play their sons),
Midnight Patrol, Helpmates, and a lot more. But as mentioned here in the missing-episodes.com site five years ago, the second reel of
The Battle of the Century was found at that time. Well, that film is in the set, too, with it said to be the largest pie fight in motion picture
history (3,000 pies). Eight hours of bonus features are included, too, with publicity stills, scene stills, Pressbook articles, posters advertising the L & H films
from around the world, contracts, film trailers, video and audio interviews, and a lot more. It's a great release.

BTW, it's interesting how L & H performing The Trail of the Lonesome Pine was released as a UK single in 1975, and made it to number two on the chart. It
was beaten to the top spot by Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Here's the link to my review.
link

Thanks,
Marshall

[John Green]

Sounds like a wonderful release. I really must get a blu-ray player!

missingepisodes.proboards.com/thread/10982/laurel-hardy-battle-century-discovered

[Marshall Fish]

Jul 24, 2020 9:52:56 GMT John Green said:

Sounds like a wonderful release. I really must get a blu-ray player!

missingepisodes.proboards.com/thread/10982/laurel-hardy-battle-century-discovered

John,

Thanks for the original posting five years ago here about the Battle of the Century reel discovered, too. I had never seen the film
before the new release. BTW, the Laurel & Hardy: The Definite Restorations set is available on DVD, too.

Marshall

[Nigel Lamb]

The blu-ray is regions A, B and C friendly too.

[timmunton]

Marshall Fish -
Sounds good though some reviews on Amazon.com say DNR use is far too heavy and all of the film grain has been removed from the whole lot.
Even the Bluray.com review, although generally glowing, says that at least some of the films have been over scrubbed in this way.

If you happen to have the time, please how would you assess this aspect - and the degree of it's severity or not - in the finished restored look of the films as they are on this new blu ray?
Whether you mention details about this or not, thanks for all the info about this release!

[Marshall Fish]

Jul 25, 2020 15:47:47 GMT timmunton said:

Marshall Fish -
Sounds good though some reviews on Amazon.com say DNR use is far too heavy and all of the film grain has been removed from the whole lot.
Even the Bluray.com review, although generally glowing, says that at least some of the films have been over scrubbed in this way.

If you happen to have the time, please how would you assess this aspect - and the degree of it's severity or not - in the finished restored look of the films as they are on this new blu ray?
Whether you mention details about this or not, thanks for all the info about this release!

You're welcome, timmunton. I'm not a technical expert on digital scrubbing, black levels, etc. As I mentioned, I compared the new Laurel & Hardy Definitive Restorations Blu-ray to the U.S. L & H Essential Collection and the Talkies 2 collection from the Netherlands. The Definitive Restorations looked the best to
me. If some of the films have been over scrubbed, I didn't notice it. I guess, in my eyes, with films that are 83 to 93 years old, that aspect didn't stand out to me. That''s my opinion. The bonus materials, too, are really great, too.

Thanks again,
Marshall

[timmunton]

Marshall Fish -

Thanks for your views on the restoration in your reply to my enquiry - very helpful.

Personally I tend to notice and not like it if the film grain is excessively removed (a good example of this is the otherwise very good restoration of the Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour' - because of that issue imho it makes that edition something of a dud, or half a dud at least!).

But on the other hand if a DVD and Blu Ray are both from the same restoration I can only really notice the improved true high definition on the Blu Ray if I really focus on it.
If I don't do that I don't really notice the difference betwen that and the upscaled DVD.

On the other hand the difference between VHS and DVD (when, again, even if from the same source) is glaringly obvious to nearly everyone, including myself.

Thanks again for your writings on the new Laurel and Hardy set and the differences between it and previous editions - cheers!

[John Green]

Jul 23, 2020 20:26:15 GMT Marshall Fish said:

Hello all,

In the U.S., Kit Parker Films has released a region free Blu-ray and DVD set of restored Laurel and Hardy films. I reviewed it and the
link is below.

These 17 films ( two features-Sons of the Desert and Way Out West and 15 short subjects) were restored by the UCLA Film and Archive Department
along with Jeff Joseph/SabuCat, and the Library of Congress. The short subjects include The Music Box, Brats (where L & H play their sons),
Midnight Patrol, Helpmates, and a lot more. But as mentioned here in the missing-episodes.com site five years ago, the second reel of
The Battle of the Century was found at that time. Well, that film is in the set, too, with it said to be the largest pie fight in motion picture
history (3,000 pies). Eight hours of bonus features are included, too, with publicity stills, scene stills, Pressbook articles, posters advertising the L & H films
from around the world, contracts, film trailers, video and audio interviews, and a lot more. It's a great release.

BTW, it's interesting how L & H performing The Trail of the Lonesome Pine was released as a UK single in 1975, and made it to number two on the chart. It
was beaten to the top spot by Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Here's the link to my review.
link

Thanks,
Marshall

As a fan of rediscoveries, I was interested to read your point about Way Out West:

"A nice tidbit Skredvedt mentions on the second audio track is that the actual 1937 rear projection footage in Laurel & Hardy's dance scene was discovered by someone working on the 2018 “Stan and Ollie” feature film. It was then reused in an accurate recreation of the sequence eight decades later." I've long found that back-projection quite fascinating!

I think I'd have gone for a different cover for the set. One listing some of the films would have been nice. Surprised that they didn't go for a photo from Way Out West, given the way it was featured in the recent film.
Lastly, (and this is a bit picky) I don't like the way the notes about special features is superimposed onto the archive photo.

Which doesn't take away the achievement of the set, of course. It's just that I like being hyper-critical!

[Marshall Fish]

Jul 25, 2020 20:58:14 GMT timmunton said:

Marshall Fish -

Thanks for your views on the restoration in your reply to my enquiry - very helpful.

Personally I tend to notice and not like it if the film grain is excessively removed (a good example of this is the otherwise very good restoration of the Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour' - because of that issue imho it makes that edition something of a dud, or half a dud at least!).

But on the other hand if a DVD and Blu Ray are both from the same restoration I can only really notice the improved true high definition on the Blu Ray if I really focus on it.
If I don't do that I don't really notice the difference betwen that and the upscaled DVD.

On the other hand the difference between VHS and DVD (when, again, even if from the same source) is glaringly obvious to nearly everyone, including myself.

Thanks again for your writings on the new Laurel and Hardy set and the differences between it and previous editions - cheers!

You're welcome again, timmunton. This Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restoration set is available on six DVD's, too. Like the Blu-Ray collection, it's region free.

Before this new release, many of the restored films in the set were being shown "on tour" in the U.S., including at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, a university in Wisconsin, a cinema in San Rafael (San Francisco Bay Area), and elsewhere.

Marshall