Customer Reviews

The Stan Laurel Collection 2 (Slapstick Symposium) (2 disc)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a big fan of silent comedies, I want to give this ***** five stars, but I realize some fans may be hoping for the Stan Laurel persona in the Laurel & Hardy Comedies. For the most part these are very different.
Much of Stan's early comedies are satires of then-popular dramatic movies. While this satire may be lost to today's audiences, Stan's performance still pulls off the comedy and make these very enjoyable.

This set is a bit of a misnomer being called Collection 2, as most of the comedies here predate the previous KINO collection. These are the earliest of Stan's surviving comedies! Some of them may be a little raw, while others are well polished.

Two of Stan's three appearances in Larry Semon Comedies are presented here: HUNS AND HYPHENS (The ealiest known complete surviving Stan Laurel comedy) and FRAUDS AND FRENZIES. In watching 'Frauds' you will see how easily Stan steals the show from the main star, this would lead to stories of Larry refusing to have Stan in his films again. While this story has been disputed, this film does show some credence to the story. It is too bad that a third Larry Semon Comedy, 'Bears And Bad Men' is not here as I would like to see a watchable 35mm presentation of this mountainside comedy.

There are signs of things to come. My favorite in this group is SMITHY, in which Stan is mistaken for a contracter and put in charge of building a house. This house building comedy forshadows his future comedy with Oliver Hardy called "The Finishing Touch". I won't spoil the gags by telling them here.

***Note*** "Kill Or Cure" is listed on the DVD case (and here) as being the last short on disc 1, it is not there. You will find it at the beginning of disc 2.

PICTURE QUALITY: Most of these shorts are sharp, mastered from 35mm with only a few defects. "Kill Or Cure" is in such pristine shape you would think it was filmed last year.
A few early shorts are in rougher shape, with multiple prints used in an attempt to complete the film. Contrasts on these will shift from early generation negatives to 4th or 5th generation, but I am glad Lobster attempted to complete the films.
The famous "Mud And Sand" is slightly soft in focus, not bad, but not as sharp as the other films.

The music score is acceptable, not overbearing.

This is a MUST HAVE for any Stan Laurel fan, and an addition to lobster's other collection The Stan Laurel Collection (Slapstick Symposium) you get a good protion of Stan's solo career in nicely restored prints.
Also check out his future partner's solo workThe Oliver Hardy Collection (Slapstick Symposium).

If you like those, you will also want some other Hal Roach comedians collections:

Charley Chase
The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
The Charley Chase Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)

Harold Lloyd
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3
The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 1 (Slapstick Symposium)
The Harold Lloyd Collection, Vol. 2 (Slapstick Symposium)

This is Volume#2(two disc set) of the Kino "Slapstick Emporium" series,featuring the great Stan Laurel.Lobster films of France who produced not only Volume#1 of this series but also the highly recommended special edition "Flying Deuces",has again gone to great pains to bring out a product both they and the buying public can be proud of.There are 21 shorts here ranging from 1918 up to 1926 and most are in the best shape I have ever seen them in.The majority(as in Vol#1)delightfully come with most of their original title and inter-title cards in tact;just great to see.
The only entry of lesser distinction,technically speaking, is "Mud and Sand" the take off on the Valentino film "Blood and Sand".This print is just about the same as I have ever seen it.It seems to be a poor dupe of a multi generational print,but Lobster films has at least tried to improve the contrast and detail as much as it will allow.
We have some real gold here folks.All the shorts with Larry Semon are present as is Stans' first foray with his later-popular nemesis James Finlayson.Again,as in Volume#1,this is a comic in transition so we don't see the Stan of the team(with Hardy) which is in his future.Instead we see a comic looking for that special something that the public will latch onto.Most of the gags you see in these films are Stans in thought and execution.He has been praised by many as even a better gag man than Chaplin and in these films it is easy to see why.Some of his ideas are priceless and very,very funny to watch.Even though most were quite popular with the general public this is an entertainer that is all over the proverbial comic map.They are far more frentically paced than the later team films would be but then again that was what the public and most comedians' films of the day were like.It is also not hard to see a Chaplinesque influence in his mannerisms and camera looks.So even though Stan had some of the most brilliant gags going there just wasn't that certain something to stand him apart from the reigning comedy kings like Chaplin,Arbuckle,Semon,Langdon or Keaton.As a result from 1918 to the early 20s Stan was in and out of films like a yo-yo;back and forth from the Vaudeville stage with his then partner Mae Dahlberg,who incidentally can be seen in some of these shorts.
With the release of Volume#2 Lobster films has now released a good 60% of all the Stan Laurel solo films;that is all the ones he appeared in pre-teaming,whether directing and/or co starring in.I would like to see more volumes and the release of all the rest his pre-team works.Lobster films has done such a tremendous job here in restoring and releasing these films that it would be a shame to see the series stop at this juncture.I would also really LOVE to see Lobster films release the Laurel and Hardy silents.They could only be a tremendous improvement over the poor patchwork films released by Image Entertainment in recent years.
For all Laurel and Hardy fans and especially those of Stan Laurel himself,I recommend this Volume#2 of his earlier works very highly to you.Because it is even more varied in its' content and covers a longer period(two years in the first release as opposed to the eight here)it is overall an even more satisfying release than Volume#1.These are very well restored historical comedy treasures and deserve a wide audience and most importantly our unwavering support.

Kino's new 2 disc set of Stan Laurel comedies in their ongoing SLAPSTICK SYMPOSIUM series is better than the earlier set which was released in 2004. Whereas that set concentrated on the mid 1920s comedies, this one features a broader overview of Stan's career starting in 1918 and chronologically going up to 1926 just before his teaming with Oliver Hardy. By doing this we get to watch Stan evolve from supporting then star comic Larry Semon (who would later use Oliver Hardy) to one of the best gag comedians in the business.

The early Semon shorts (HUNS AND HYPHENS, FRAUDS AND FRENZIES) introduce the derby hatted Stan who in F&F is very much like his later self. We then go through the Hal Roach Pathe' series and the Joe Rock produced Stan Laurel Comedies and get to witness the recycling of gags that would reach their final form with Laurel & Hardy. In particular there are a number of construction gags (THE NOON WHISTLE, SMITHY) that crop up in L&H's THE FINISHING TOUCH.

The other great asset in this set are the best of Stan's parody shorts (MUD AND SAND, UNDER TWO JAGS, RUPERT OF HEE HAW) which show a side of his comic writing that would disappear after 1926. This is not surprising for it was his teaming with Hardy that allowed him to settle into the character that we all know and love. Still with almost 6 hours of material here there's plenty of Stan to see and it makes this set a real bargain.

The overall visual quality of the shorts is quite good and the piano accompaniment by Neil Brand and Eric Le Guen is fine however more instruments would have added greater variety but then there's the budget to consider. Serge Bromberg and Lobster Films have done their usual fine job in making these films available to us. The other two releases in the SLAPSTICK SYMPOSIUM series are Mabel Normand's THE EXTRA GIRL (finally!) and a Harry Langdon double feature.

I think the other reviewers have done a great job covering image quality (mostly excellent), restoration (excellent), completeness of the set (really good, particularly as supplemented by Volume 1), and the strengths-and-weaknesses of Stan's character(s) and story-telling. Therefore, instead of going over all of those issues, this review concentrates on one of my greatest concerns when watching silent films: the sound accompaniment.

If Neil Brand is really the only one supplying music for the first dvd of this 2-dvd set, then he is the most inconsistent silent-film accompanist I have ever heard. His style varies so widely in this dvd set from movie-to-movie, that I spent some time trying to find out if there were another pianist playing for some of these films. Indeed, at the end of the second film on the second dvd, "Short Orders", there is a title declaring music by Eric Le Guen. How many of these films he does music for is hard to say, because most films do not tell you who did the music.

Generally speaking, Brand plays too heavily for me: he bangs and bangs on the piano until I'm exhausted listening to him. Often he pounds away and then ends a musical phrase with loud chord and a glissando, but nothing is happening onscreen! It is as if he just got carried away with his (very impressive) virtuosic improvising and stopped watching the film: he does this in "Frauds and Frenzies" during a scene that has no strong activity, and then in a later sequence where the action SHOULD invoke a glissando and a bang (where the main characters are in a tree stump that rolls down a hill and knocks over the policemen), there is no musical comment at all.

Nevertheless, when Brand is at his best he does accent the action on the screen, provides the appropriate tempo of music to match the tempo of the action, and often provides a specific musical emphasis to a specific action, all of which helps move along the drama and comedy. In the first film of this volume, "Huns and Hyphens", he does a good job of following the pace of the scenes and making musical comments on specific events (like getting hit on the head or falling down). A VERY good job! But in the very next film, "Just Rambling Along", we get a totally inadequate musical score, soft and diffuse, lending no underscoring to the comedy at all. It sounds like the guy composed it in his sleep; very wistful and like a slow version of the middle section from "Clair de Lune". It is completely out of keeping with what we are seeing on the screen. It may be that this is an Eric Le Guen score, so then I cannot blame Neil Brand. The next film, "Frauds and Frenzies", sounds like Brand in excellent form. And his music is really is quite good in this film.

For some of these films, such as "Hustling for Health", the piano music is SO bad that it's best to watch the film with the sound turned off. In "Hustling...", there are all sorts of cute and funny things happening, and the pianist is playing a little slowish solemn piece in a minor key. MINOR! As if we're watching something sad or poignant! I wonder if this is Brand's music or Le Guens... It does not sound like Brand. And it's awful.

The version of "Smithy" on this dvd set is the best reproduction of this film I've ever seen, with a great image, and the film is offered complete, unlike in the "American Slapstick" compilation, which has a cut version; but the pianist--whoever it is--seems, well, too modern for me; and he never accents any comic action, of which there is much. There is much to be said for using tunes of the times, or composing 1920s-sounding music, because the rhythms of that era's music are reflected in the pantomimes of the comedy; more modern music has different rhythms that don't seem to match the movies as well. A lot of Stan's solo films do not work for me, but "Smithy" does, it's a well-made story with a satisfying ending, and I wished the music were a little more attached to the picture. HOWEVER, I will be the first to admit that these thoughts are my personal opinions, and only that. The music certainly is not bad, it's just not my taste in 1920's comedy music. Some of you may have different taste and may quite like the accompaniments to these films, and I certainly encourage you to write a review of your own expressing your differing opinion, since that will give all readers a more balanced sense of what these films are like and whether or not to buy this dvd set.

For "White Wings" and "Under Two Jags", again for my taste, the pianist just seems to be randomly improvising. He does not even seem to be aware that there is a movie going on. He just ... plays... and it is not particularly happy or enjoyable music. "Pick and Shovel" is better: he actually fits the music to the drama, especially the end, but no where during the film does he exhibit any sense of humour, which is a problem with the previous two films.

In conclusion: I think this volume deserves 5 stars for restoration and image quality, 5 stars for offering us a chronological look at a good selection of Stan's early film output, 2 to 4 stars for the films themselves, but between a -1 and 4 stars for the musical accompaniment. I do recommend purchase: there are plenty of films to watch and if you don't care for one, you'll probably like the next. I also appreciate having the two Larry Semon films. I am very impressed by Semon: his films are really well put together (better than Stan's), his stories build up admirably, and his movies always have something spectacular in them (a building destroyed, flying through the air, unusually superb ensemble work, etc.); I would like to see a lot more of his films. As far as the sound, I have to express disappointment that the accompaniment hurts so many of the films instead of enhancing them, BUT the piano players do an almost-adequate to excellent job on enough of the movies that I still think this volume is worth the expenditure.

I borrowed this set from Netflix in early September, following the Laurel and Hardy marathon Saturday on Turner Classic Movies in late August. I couldn't resist, and had to order my own dvd set. Boy, am I glad I own them!

As you already know from the reviews here, these two-reelers feature Stan Laurel before his later teaming with Oliver Hardy. Although I prefer Laurel together with Hardy, his solo turns here are quite funny. And his persona is more on the manic, crazy side before becoming the calmer, dim-witted crybaby Stan we all know and love. This solo Stan Laurel is quite loveable, too. In many of the shorts, Stan often smiles broadly, flashing those cute large teeth of his. I like to nickname him 'Toothy' as he constantly laughs at himself and his mishaps.

Stan is a pretty good physical comedian, too. His pratfalls come close to Buster Keaton's - although Buster had that unique fall where he lands on the middle of his back. No other comedian has ever imitated this; at least, not to my knowledge.

Here are some of my favorites. (Sorry to be so detailed, but I must!):

"HUNS AND HYPHENS" - This is Stan's first comedy with Larry Semon. In it, he plays one of a group of thugs (What? Loveable Stan Laurel a thug??). The `Chase' sequence with the thugs chasing after Semon near the film's end is my favorite. There is some ridiculous slapstick involved, particularly in the wacky running styles of Larry and Stan. Observe each comic closely. Larry appears to be airborne as he `runs' (I'm quite sure with the aid of an invisible wire); his feet remain still as he assumes a running pose. The image is cartoonish.

Next, check out Stan's 'sideways' run. You have to hit the pause button on your remote control a few times to carefully view this in slow-motion as the 'Chase' scene is speeded up. Stan is at the back of the thugs. In one frame, his legs are in the normal running position. In another frame, he turns his legs sideways. Then back to normal running position; then he turns his legs sideways. And so this goes until the scene changes. He's crazy! How the heck does he manage this without losing his balance?? Then, again, in a Larry Semon comedy anything ridiculous goes.

"JUST RAMBLING ALONG" - More slapstick with Stan (nattily dressed in a suit, straw hat, and his toothy smile) at a beachfront café. He finds himself in a series of difficulties involving an abandoned wallet with money; a snotty kid who tries to take it from him as he, too, spotted the wallet; the kid's policeman father; and a bathing beauty Stan attempts to flirt with in the café.

"FRAUDS AND FRENZIES" - Stan teamed again with Larry Semon as they portray slacker convicts. In the opening sequence, they're both lounging and laughing reading a newspaper when they're supposed to be breaking rocks with the other convicts. They use slang expressions such as "It's the Lizard's eyebrows!" (I've never heard of this expression.) Semon later displays his cartoon 'running', again, in the film's 'Chase' sequence. He is airborne (via the use of an invisible wire), his feet not touching the ground; nor does he move his feet. This is followed by him running into a construction site, and being picked up by a crane. This scene is reminiscent of Buster Keaton's "Seven Chances" (1925) when, he, too, took refuge from the brides.

It's been reported (and rumored) that Larry dropped Stan after this film as Semon overheard someone comment (while viewing the rushes) that Stan was funnier than he. Displeased, Semon finished the film by having Stan handcuffed to the policeman seeking to capture the escaped convicts. From there, Semon dominates the remainder of the comedy in the 'Chase' sequence.

"HUSTLING FOR HEALTH" - Stan is a hapless guy who has just missed his train to go on vacation. Another man befriends him and takes him to his home so Stan can have his vacation there. But unusual stuff happens. Stan is, instead, put to work around the guy's home. The guy's wife is a suffragette (and the head of her suffragette meetings at home). She is displeased that Stan is her houseguest. Then there's the next-door neighbor (played by Bud Jamison) who maintains a pristine backyard. I won't say more; but the 'Rain' sequence by the film's end is both touching and dramatic for a comedy. Neil Brand's piano score enhances the scene.

"KILL OR CURE" - Stan is a dapper chatty door-to-door salesman (again, with straw hat) trying to sell a do-all elixir. He later gets flirtatious with Katherine Grant, to whom he tries to sell his product, annoying her in the process. Most L and H fans may have seen clips of "Kill or Cure" in silent comedy documentaries, such as "Slapstick" and "4 Clowns".

"SMITHY"- Stan is Smithy, a soldier fresh out of the army, who obtains a construction job. Hi-jinks ensue as he carries out his task to build a house. You can figure out the results.

"MANDARIN MIX-UP" - Stan plays, in the opening, a baby(!) crying in an oversized high chair. He gives his pre-teen brother a hard time during breakfast. Disgusted with him, mean Big Brother packs him up with the laundry the maid is taking with her. As a result, Stan is raised as a Chinese person, and helps his new family run their laundry business.

"DETAINED" - Stan is a simple guy watering the trees in a park (He even greets us with a shy grin!). An escaped convict encounters the innocent, friendly chap, and forces him to swap clothes. The creep soon runs off to freedom, and poor Stan is hauled off to jail by the Police who are seeking to recapture the convict.


After "DETAINED", Stan's 'loony' character begins to change and slow down in "SOMEWHERE IN WRONG" (where he plays a hungry tramp) and "GET 'EM YOUNG" (as Summers, the very timid butler). He cries in both films. He also cries at the conclusion of "Detained", and in "Mandarin Mix-up" in his 'infant' scene at the opening. In these, Stan's famous 'Laurel cry' was in its early stages of development. I thought he was winsomely cute as the butler in "Get 'Em Young". Stan wears his clown-white make-up; yet left the lower portion of his nose without make-up, enhancing his character's vulnerability. He looks as if he can really use a hug!


To conclude, I enjoyed this second Stan Laurel Collection. Laurel and Hardy fans need to have this dvd set in their personal collection. It may take some getting used to seeing Stan laughing and being crazy all over the place before calming down. But the films are enjoyable, overall. And Neil Brand's piano music works well with all the films. This set is, indeed, a keeper!

(NOTE: I also purchased the Stan Laurel Collection, Vol. 1 set. I'm still viewing these comedies. I will write a review on this in time.)

By the time the last short in this two-disc set was released, that is, 1926, 36 year-old Arthur Stanley Jefferson (aka Stan Laurel), fearing his acting career was going nowhere, had signed on as writer/director at Hal Roach studios. And so he might have remained, if not for a kitchen injury to a Roach contract player named Oliver Hardy. Because of this accident, Stan was asked to go back in front of the camera. Soon after, he and Hardy made their first official appearance as a team, in DUCK SOUP (1927). The film's success, as well as the many other Roach shorts to follow, brought Stan and Ollie international fame.

KINO's STAN LAUREL COLLECTION presents almost a third of the 65 comedies Laurel appeared in prior to his teaming with Mr. Hardy. The pantomimic skills and unique facial expressions evident throughout these somewhat ordinary shorts give no indication of the superstardom that awaited Stan.

For a look at what Laurel's future partner was doing during these same years, check out KINO's OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION. Eight movies (totalling three hours run time) are presented.


NOTEWORTHIES--

MUD AND SAND-- Spoof of Rudolf Valentino's "Blood and Sand" has Stanley as the reluctant bullfighter, Rhubarb Vaselino.

HUNS AND HYPHENS-- Also in this Larry Semon short is Stan's common-law wife, Mae. (It was her idea that Stan change his last name to Laurel).

RUPERT OF HEE HAW-- Another of Stan's movie spoofs. This one lampoons "Rupert of Hentzau," David Selznick's now forgotten follow-up to his "Prisoner of Zenda." Laurel's version includes many of Hal Roach's kid cast members of "Our Gang."

GET 'EM YOUNG-- The last title in this set has writer/director Laurel subbing for the injured Oliver Hardy as Summers, the butler.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

DISC ONE--
(5.3) Huns and Hyphens (1918) - Larry Semon/Madge Kirby/Stan Laurel/Mae Laurel/Frank Alexander
(5.5) Just Rambling Along (1918) - Stan Laurel/Clarine Seymour/Noah Young/James Parrott/Bud Jamison
(5.8) Frauds and Frenzies (1918) - Larry Semon/Stan Laurel/Madge Kirby/William McCall/William Hauber
(5.0) Do You Love Your Wife? (1919) - Stan Laurel/Mary Burns/Bud Jamison/Marie Mosquini/James Parrott
(5.0) Hustling for Health (1919) - Stan Laurel/Bud Jamison/Frank Terry/Marie Mosquini/James Parrott
(???) The Egg (1922) - Stan Laurel/Drin Moro/Colin Kennedy/Tom Kennedy/Alfred Hollingsworth
(5.5) Mud and Sand (1922) - Stan Laurel/Wheeler Dryden/Sam Kaufman/Mae Laurel/Julie Leonard
(5.5) The Noon Whistle (1923) - Stan Laurel/James Finlayson/Katherine Grant/William Gillespie
(5.4) White Wings (1923) - Stan Laurel/James Finlayson/Marvin Loback/Katherine Grant/Mark Jones
(???) Under Two Jags (1923) - Stan Laurel/Katherine Grant/Mae Laurel/Sammy Brooks/Charles Stevenson
(4.4) Pick and Shovel (1923) - Stan Laurel/James Finlayson/Katherine Grant/George Rowe/Sammy Brooks
(5.2) Kill or Cure (1923) - Stan Laurel/Katherine Grant/Noah Young/Eddie Baker/Mark Jones/Helen Jones

DISC TWO--
(???) Short Orders (1923) - Stan Laurel/Marie Mosquini/Eddie Baker/Jack Ackroyd/Mark Jones/George Rowe
(5.5) A Man About Town (1923) - Stan Laurel/Katherine Grant/James Finlayson/Charles Stevenson
(5.5) Smithy (1924) - Stan Laurel/James Finlayson/William Gillespie/Glenn Tryon/Ena Gregory/Jack Gavin
(6.0) Rupert of Hee Haw (1924) - Stan Laurel/James Finlayson/Mae Laurel (uncredited "Our Gang" members: Joe Cobb/Mickey Daniels/'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison/Mary Kornman)
(???) Mandarin Mix-Up (1924) - Stan Laurel/Julie Leonard
(???) Detained (1924) - Stan Laurel/Julie Leonard/Agnes Ayres
(???) Somewhere in Wrong (1925) - Stan Laurel/Max Asher/Julie Leonard/Charles King/Pete the Dog
(5.6) Pie-Eyed (1925) - Stan Laurel/Glen Cavender/Thelma Hill
(5.3) Get Em Young (1926) - Harry Myers/Eugenia Gilbert/Stan Laurel/Max Davidson/Ernest Wood

Bought DVD out of curiosity wanting to see comedian
STAN LAUREL. Only a few movies were really worth
watching like "HUNS AND HYPHONS" with Larry Semon
and Madge Kirby, and "DO YOU LOVE YOUR WIFE?" and
"GET EM YOUNG". The rest of the movies only take up
space and show that you took a risk when you entered
the theatre of not knowing when a comedy was good or
bad or worst plotless. I recommended this for the
movies I mentioned, but not for anything else. But
it is worth looking at, as a study, as a reminder of
Silent-Film comedies.----- Luisa Felix,[...]