Product Details

• Actors: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Frances Rafferty, Bob Haymes, Jean Porter
• Directors: Charles Reisner, Edward Bernds, Edward Sedgwick, S. Sylvan Simon, Sam Taylor
• Writers: Allen Rivkin, Arthur Kober
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 21, 2006
• Run Time: 430 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HWZ4F2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,164 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Classic Comedy Teams Collection (Abbott & Costello in Hollywood / Air Raid Wardens / Gold Raiders / Lost in a Harem / Meet the Baron / Nothing but Trouble)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This three-disc set is perhaps not the ideal introduction to Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges, and Laurel and Hardy, but vintage comedy buffs and fans of these legendary teams will welcome the opportunity to fill in their collections with these lesser-known and rarely seen films, packaged as three double features (each volume also available separately). Abbott & Costello fare best with two films they made for MGM while they were still relatively in their prime. Lost in a Harem(1944) is sublime silliness as hapless entertainers Bud and Lou, stranded in the Middle East, who become embroiled in a plot to dethrone an evil king. This film features a knockabout version of the vintage vaudeville routine "Slowly I turn," as well as bizarrely gratuitous numbers by Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, whom the king has kidnapped and hypnotized (!). In Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), the duo are barbers-turned-agents who run amuck on the MGM lot. Less star-studded than the title promises (Rags Ragland, anyone?), there are some great routines, including a sequence in which Lou must act as a prop dummy to elude studio guards.

This collection is a particular treasure trove for Stooges fans, unearthing two of the trio's obscure features. The first, Meet the Baron (1933) captures Moe, Larry, and Curly at the beginning of their screen careers with original partner Ted Healy. The film itself is more a vehicle for radio comedian Jack "Vas you dere, Charlie?" Pearl as his signature character, Baron Munchausen. Gold Raiders (1951) was the only feature the Stooges made with Shemp. It's a slaphappy "C" western costarring George O'Brien as, yes, a lawman-turned-insurance salesman. Despite the premise, it's played mostly straight, and is not an all-out spoof like the later, The Outlaws Is Coming. Laurel and Hardy, who began in silent films, were in sad decline by the time they made Air Raid Wardens (1943) and Nothing but Trouble (1944), but these two films at least manage to recapture some of the magic of this most beloved of comedy teams. Wardens is a wartime "we must all pull together" homefront comedy in which the blundering boys stumble upon a Nazi sabotage plot. Pathos does not become the team ("I guess we're not smart like other people," a dejected Stan says at one point), but a poster-hanging sequence and an all-too-brief tit-for-tat encounter with the great Edgar Kennedy will evoke fonder memories. In Trouble, Stan and Ollie are in another fine mess as a butler and chef who make a shambles of high society and foil a plot to murder a boy-king. Whether as sheer nostalgia for a bygone era or as the simple provider of family-friendly laughs, this welcome collection fits the bill. Donald Liebenson

Product Description

THE THREE STOOGES DOUBLE FEATURE Available sundry through Saturday! Larry, Shemp and Moe are sundries salesmen in the comedy Western GOLD RAIDERS. Larry, Curly, Moe...uh-oh! They're janitors at an all-girl college in the romp MEET THE BARON, also starring Jimmy Durante. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO DOUBLE FEATURE You ought to be in pictures: Tinseltown barbers Bud and Lou take their cut as aspiring talent agents in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD. Sand and silliness. The guys face an evil potentate with hypnotic powers when they're LOST IN A HAREM. LAUREL AND HARDY DOUBLE FEATURE The army's loss is our gain. Rejected by Uncle Sam, the fellas become AIR RAID WARDENS. Soup and nuts. It's a comedy banquet when Stan and Ollie play household servants in NOTHING BUT TROUBLE.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rarely seen films of classic comics! NOT Public Domain junk., November 9, 2006

By	Paul J. Mular (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Make no mistake by the generic title of this box set, this is not one of those cheaply made public domain collections that every one releases again & again. These are RARELY seen films from three classic comedy teams being released by their copyright owner.

ABBOTT & COSTELLO: "Lost In A Harem" & "A & C In Hollywood" were both produced during Bud & Lou's heyday of the 1940's, they are at their top here. Bud & Lou had a clause in their Universal contract that allowed them to make one movie a year for another studio. These are two of their three films that they made for big-budgeted MGM Studios. A must for any Abbott & Costello fan.

LAUREL & HARDY: "Air Raid Wardens" & "Nothing But Trouble" were both made after Stan & Ollie's departure from Hal Roach Studios. True that this is the declining period for the boys, but these films made near the end of their career are still worth a look. A must for the devoted Laurel & Hardy fan.

THE THREE STOOGES: "Meet The Baron" & "Gold Raiders" are rarely seen feature films of the original 3 Stooges, not the Joe De-Rita films with the aging stooges of the 1960's. Not as fast-paced & joke filled as their Columbia shorts, these were made when the stooges were still early in their careers and willing to try anything. Ted Healy is in charge of them in "Meet The Baron" and it plays more like their vaudville act, it also features Jimmy Durante. "Gold Raiders" is made in 1951 after Curly left (due to his stroke) and Shemp re-joined the team. This is Shemp's second feature film as a stooge and it feels more like a 3 Stooges film than the first. These are a MUST for any devoted Stooge Fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ABBOTT AND COSTELLO A MUST; OTHERS OKAY, November 25, 2006

By	Lowell S. Harris "terlat" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The real reason for buying this reasonably priced set from Warners is the Abbott and Costello MGM film, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, one of the funniest in their entire series for Universal, MGM, and Warner Bros. The "dummy" scene alone is worth the price of this set. Lost In A Harem is also worthwhile, especially for the "Slowly I Turned" sketch that they performed often in Burlesque. But the quality of the print is poor in spots, compared to the excellent remastering of "Hollywood." Don't throw away your VHS copy of "Harem." As for L&H, most fans realize the DVDs to buy are their silent and earliest sound films, not the recent releases from TCM and Fox that are overpriced to begin with. The remastering of these films is excellent. The Stooges "Meet The Baron" is a pre-code anomaly and worth seeing for a few scenes, but Durante and Pearl are not at their best. The Stooges 1951 western is well mastered but, again, depend upon their Columbia shorts for your greatest enjoyment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mayron57, April 10, 2007

By	Philip J. Roberts (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not all of these six movies are as widely known as others by these three great comedy teams; but all are must haves for any serious Stooges, L&H, or A&C fan. If, like me, you're a fan of all three comedy teams, for less than $20 U.S. this is a great addition to your DVD collection. I have been trying for years to get these movies, especially Abbott & Costello in Hollywood and Gold Raiders. Now I have them and am very pleased with my purchase. If you love these three great comedy teams, definitely buy this six-movie collection. These six movies are spread across three single-sided disks. NOT Flippers!!!