36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Laurel and Hardy Classics!, June 7, 2000
This review is from: The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7 (DVD)
This is the first Laurel and Hardy DVD that I have ever purchased and I am very impressed. Not only are the films great but they are high quality material as well. Usually films from this time tend to be rather worn, but these prints, even though some seem worn at times, are probably the best quality that can be found from material from the late 20's. The DVD includes : "Should Married Men Go Home?" (Silent) "Unnacustomed As We Are" (Sound), "With Love and Hisses" (Silent), "Sailors, Beware!" (Silent), Mixed Nuts (sound), and "Double Whoopee" (Dubbed Sound) . Probably my favorite film on this volume is "Should Married Men Go Home?" In my opinion it is one of their greatest films. From Stan wreaking the Hardy's peaceful Sunday, to Stan and Ollie's trip to the golf course and eventual mud throwing free-for-all, the film is packed full of great Laurel and Hardy comedy. I would also recommend "With Love and Hisses" and "Sailors, Beware!" which give us a good look at Laurel and Hardy working together for laughs before they were even considered a team. This DVD also has a great version of 1929's "Unnacustomed As We Are", which has the soundtrack restored and sounds much clearer than any version of this film I have seen (or heard) before. I would highly recommend this DVD to any Laurel and Hardy fan!
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great L& H Material But Filler Less So, November 14, 2001
This review is from: The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7 (DVD)
Earlier volumes in this fine series supplemented the L&H films with some neglected gems starring Charley Chase or provided examples of solo work by Stan or by Babe Hardy. Volume 7 supplements the five L&H films with a 1934 Hal Roach "All Star" musical short called MIXED NUTS that has no stars and isn't even funny. It is instructive to see how the same comedy theories that made the L&H, Our Gang, and the Chase films so inventive, fall flat with less creative talent at the helm.
That said, the five L&H films are a joy to behold. For years, their first talkie, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE, was unavailable because the surviving sound tracks were in bad shape. Fortunately, another source for the discs turned up - as explained in some microscopic liner notes - and we have a virtually rediscovered film. Despite the primitive technique of this early talkie, L&H seem to take dialogue in stride but Laurel's limited talk suggests there may have been some concern with audience reaction to Stan's British accent. They need not have worried.
SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME? is a variation of the reciprocal destruction gag used in TWO TARS, YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN", among others. Here, instead of ripping cars apart or people's pants off, a golf outing turns into a mud-flinging melee. Yet for some reason, it just doesn't work very well. The boys never revisited the idea even though they more or less re-enacted many of their silent screen gags in their talkies.
This DVD offers us the novelty of a latter-day "talkie" version of their 1929 silent, DOUBLE WHOOPEE, with a memorable walk on by a young Jean Harlow. This version was made in the 70s and has L&H impersonator Chuck McCann doing the voices of Stan and Ollie. It's a cute effort but the silent version is fine on its own terms so the question becomes, "Is this version needed?" My vote is NO.
The final two films are early L&H when their familar characters were still forming: SAILORS BEWARE and WITH LOVE AND HISSES, an Army comedy that gives more time to Jimmy Finlayson than to the boys. At the time, Fin was regarded as a star equal to L&H so he could not have been very pleased when he spent his later years playing a supporting role in their films. As they say, that's show biz!
Some of the films use parts of the original 35 mm. camera negative yielding absolutely stunning pictorial quality. In fact, when shots switch back to lesser material, the effect is quite noticeable. Highly recommended overall.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!, June 8, 2000
This review is from: The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 7 (DVD)
This Volume Includes: Unaccustomed As We Are (1929, 21 min., Sound), Should Married Men Go Home? (1928, 22 min., Silent), the Jack Barty/Billy Nelson short Mixed Nuts (1934, 18 min., Sound), Sailors Beware (1927, 26 min., Silent), Double Whoopee (1929, 19 min., Sound), and With Love And Hisses (1927, 24 min., Silent). Great video quality with great music background on all shorts and some rarely seen shorts (I've been waiting 10 years to see With Love And Hisses & Should Married Men Go Home?) in this collection make it a must have for DVD owners and L&H fans!
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