Customer Reviews

TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The material included on this two-disc set does seem more geared to serious fans as opposed to new or casual fans, but these films, while not as essential as the likes of 'Our Relations' or 'Way Out West,' still charm and entertain regardless, and aren't the type that would turn off a newer fan. We should feel lucky that there have been so many releases of L&H films lately instead of complaining about what isn't getting released. Besides, there's always the option of getting a region-free DVD player and paying a little extra to get the boxed set of their Hal Roach shorts and major features from amazon.co.uk, like I did, or buying the German Hal Roach set, which I've heard is just as great.

'Fra Diavolo,' aka 'The Devil's Brother' (1933), is a costume comedy and one of their comic operettas. While I don't really care for this film too much, I can still really appreciate how well-made it is. Like with just about any comedy group, one doesn't watch L&H to see secondary characters taking up a lot of the action and detracting attention away from the stars with a subplot that doesn't involve them enough! Coupled with all of the songs, it's almost like one of their Fox films, although at least here they're not yet being relegated to almost supporting characters. And it is a joy to see the always wonderful Jimmy Finlayson and the beautiful Thelma Todd, even in costumes and powdered wigs. Dennis King, as Fra Diavolo, is also a delight to watch. I basically like the film well enough when L&H are center stage, but not that much when they disappear and the secondary characters start taking up all of the action.

'Bonnie Scotland' (1935) also has them in the same situation, although at least here the secondary characters (some boring young couple) don't assume that large of an amount of time. I prefer this one to 'Fra Diavolo.' There are funnier gags and scenes, even though it's not quite at the level as their most classic features. Jimmy Finlayson is also in this one, as the boys' commanding officer. The first half of the film is great, though the second half goes downhill a little. The boys being in the army had so much comic potential, particularly with Jimmy as their commanding officer, but it just wasn't utilised properly. It's not that I find this a bad unsatisfying film the way other fans do, just that the execution is a little uneven, and it ends kind of abruptly, with no resolution of the subplot.

These two-disc sets from TCM always include a documentary in addition to the main features, and here that documentary is 'Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story.' Yes, it would have been nice to have had a documentary focusing on the boys instead of on short subjects in general, but the documentary is still great. It tells the rise and fall of the short subject, from the days when all movies were shorts, to the proliferation and popularity of the one- and two-reeler in the Teens, Twenties, and Thirties, to the different types of shorts and the different people who made them, and finally to what made them a dying breed in the Forties and Fifties, finally a complete thing of the past by the time the last short subjects department (at Columbia) closed up shop in the late Fifties. It's actually kind of sad that now moviegoing is no longer as diverse as it was when short subjects were popular; instead of just going to see the one movie, viewers had a whole program, with newsreels, the main feature, travelogues, and short subjects from various comedians, really never knowing what one was going to get in addition to the main feature.

Extras include audio commentaries, introductions by TCM host Robert Osbourne, a fragment from the lost 1930 Technicolor film 'The Rogue Song,' their magic act scene from 'The Hollywood Revue of 1929,' trailers, their two scenes from 'Hollywood Party' (1934), and their three scenes from 'Pick a Star' (1937). Most people who have seen these features in their full length say that they're not much to write home about, so it doesn't seem like that big of a loss that only the pertinent clips were included here, even if that means seeing them somewhat out of context.

Overall, this collection is a must-have for fans, and even has something to offer for newer fans. Not all of their films can be top-notch classics, and it's ridiculous to complain about this product for what it's not rather that for what it actually is. Stan and Ollie always shine and bring smiles to faces, even in their less-essential films. That's how special and talented they were. My only real complaint about this is how the discs are arranged in the box. Instead of having one disc on each side, they're stacked so that they overlap somewhat, making it more difficult to remove them.

In answer to another poster's comments, this set does include the Laurel and Hardy segments from "Hollywood Revue of 1929' (1929), 'Hollywood Party' (1934), and 'Pick A Star' (1937). These are the best bits from these films. 'Holywood Revue' is painful to watch in its full form, and 'Hollywood Party' isn't much better. 'Pick a Star' is the only one that's worth watching. With these excepts of 'the boys' performances, you get all the laughs with none of the tedium.

These are perfect, gorgeous prints. Excellent indexing, too! Although amazon.co.uk offers a 21-DVD set of "remastered" L&H films (almost their complete Hal Roach oeuvre), the prints are not at all good like the ones on these DVDs. So we are all still waiting for a truly decent set of "The Complete L&H" to come out. I do highly recommend this release.

Devil's Brother is self-recommending, and if you've ever been a little embarassed by HOW dopey Stan can be, here he shows how clever and physically deft he is.

There is more controversy over Bonnie Scotland. This much-criticized film is actually filled with good things: it has an absolutely darling June Lang in the subplot; it has L&H stepping blithely into the picture to the tune of a village blacksmith inadvertently pinging away the Koo Koo theme on his anvil(!); Ollie sneezing the water out of a stream; L&H setting their bed on fire (and Ollie as well); a warm and memorable shot of L&H and William Janney jaunting off to a big adventure; a "musical mirage" (with Marvin Hatley!); Stanley readjusting the march-step of an entire regiment; a delightful and satisfying L&H dance, complete with a good comic ending; one of the most heart-tugging goodbyes ever committed to film, but which is so funny you can't cry; and a spectacular ending with pandemonium overtaking all.

Critics write that the romantic subplot is left unresolved, but the resolution is so obvious that I never questioned it as a kid, and still don't. My only criticism is that the secondary story is not happy, and I wish its scenes were shorter. But it does add to the continuity and dramatic arch of the movie. A little editing could make this a classic.

The second DVD has hard-to-find L&H excerpts from 3 non-L&H films of the 1930s, and they're all good. My only gripe here is that the very last and important few seconds of the Banditos clip from Pick A Star is cut out. I also wish that instead of a boring documentary, they had included the Stolen Jools, and the entire re-edited version of Pick A Star, which was released in the 1950s as A Day at the Studio, and which is supposed to be a pretty good tightened-up version. But this second DVD is a bonus, anyway, so it doesn't reduce my star-rating.

This era of the DVD and competing new formats frequently brings us astonishments of riches (such as the "Looney Tunes" collections), but when it comes to Laurel & Hardy, we American fans must wax nostalgic for the good old Blackhawk Films days or dig around for the Hal Roach Studio's "Lost Films of L&H" DVD series. Just about everything else we're getting is crumbs.

This particular double-disk set from TCM is sort of a cake and crumbs combination. The cake is "The Devil's Brother" in a sharp print. It's a bit long in song, but it's been the least-available of the L&H operettas, and it has plenty of hearty comedy to ease the pain of the romantic stretches (and with Thelma Todd in those, they aren't that hard to take). A finger on "fast forward" may be required to get through "Bonnie Scotland," in which the L&H material is interrupted by a storyline that would have been more at home in one of their later Fox features. Fortunately, TCM has saved us that trouble with "Hollywood Party," "Hollywood Review of 1929," and "Pick a Star," which are represented with only their best moments: the Laurel & Hardy scenes.

I liked this collection, but we need a lot more like it. When do we get a worthy collection of the sound shorts, or restored editions of "Pardon Us" and "Pack Up Your Troubles?" (As of October, 2011, we've finally gotten it: Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection. This TCM collection rounds-out the essential collection, with the exceptions of "Flying Deuces" and "Babes in Toyland," which are available as individual releases:The Flying Deuces (Restored Edition)March of the Wooden Soldiers (Colorized / Black & White).

...Warner Brothers isn't afraid to release their Hal Roach Productions...since Hallmark has only released 2 l&h dvds in the last 6 years and in the last year we have seen more post Hal Roach movies released,which by the way aren't even considered their best movies...with this dvd and the 2 former hallmark releases you get what little bit of hal roach l&h that is out there in america,since HALLMARK has somekind of anti laurel and hardy agenda this release is a breath of fresh air for us l&h fans,"The devils brother" is a funny movie with some great gags,"Bonnie Scotland" starts off great in the first half of the movie but changes direction rather quickly somewhere in the middle making the second half not as good,almost seems like two movies edited together,I would say that since hallmark is not doing anything with their hal roach films I would suggest picking uo this set......

Laurel & Hardy are at their best in these two Hal Roach comedies. Behind teh subplots, and inconsistent plot lines of lovers, devils brothers, and thieves, Laurel & Hardy are at their magical best. Their scenes in both "The Devil's Brother" and "Bonnie Scotland" are filled with the charm and wit that made these comedians the best in their business.

Warner Brothers has definitely scored high for me. The extras filled in this DVD include scenes from the various cameos they were in, as well as the only color extract known from "The Rogue Song." Truly a treat for all Laurel & Hardy fans.

My only with is that Halmark would get on the bandwagon and release the rest of the films that they own. Even Fox and MGM have now released their Laurel & Hardy movies (which were post-1940, and not the team's best films either).

The Turner Classic Movies/Warner Bros. two-disc "Laurel & Hardy Collection" might temporarily pacify L&H buffs who have been begging for more of The Boys' work to be released on DVD, but it's unlikely to win any new converts to the L&H camp.

Although I feel that both of the feature films in this set -- 1933's "The Devil's Brother" (L&H's first "comic opera" movie) and 1935's "Bonnie Scotland" (a British-army pastiche) -- are not among The Boys' greatest movies, they have a lot of worthwhile comic moments, and the prints look beautiful, with a sparkling visual quality far surpassing that of the two shoddy L&H DVDs that have thus far been released by Hallmark (the company which currently owns the rights to most of the pre-1941 L&H movies).

This set's biggest debit is what we might call a lack of historical context. TCM's Robert Osborne does an introduction that not only provides just a perfunctory view of L&H's team history, it mentions nothing about the extras included on Disc 2.

Those extras include L&H's "guest-starring" clips from the features "Hollywood Revue of 1929," "Hollywood Party," "Pick a Star," and "The Rogue Song." The latter, in particular, is given very short shrift. "The Rogue Song" was a Technicolor movie (quite a rarity in 1930, when the movie was released), and in fact, the L&H clip (from one of only two color movies that The Boys did) is the only part of the movie that has survived. (MGM's negative of the movie was destroyed decades ago in a fire.) Not only isn't this mentioned on the DVD, but while the other clips are identified as such, the DVD lists this clip simply as "The Rogue Song," as though L&H's two-minute clip *was* the entire movie. (The clips themselves, it must be noted, are quite funny.)

This DVD set is nice enough but will probably be off-putting to the casual fan. Even L&H buffs are advised to read the synopses of these movies in Randy Skretvedt's delightful L&H biography, because you sure won't get much info from the DVDs.

This new Laurel and Hardy release by Turner is a long awaited and fitting release for THE greatest film comedy team of all time.
The films have obviously been "worked on" and look the best I've ever seen them.The soundtracks also have benefited greatly as I found that they were quite tinny in the past and now they sound wonderful.It is amazing when watching movies of this age in such good condition how much it enhances the total experience.
After viewing this set I could only sigh and wish that MGM had had the foresight and retained the copyright on ALL the Boys feature films and shorts.That way we would have had good quality releases from well preserved prints instead of the crap that Hallmark(the current "owners"of the majority of the Boys product)are giving us.
This two disc set has the movies "Bonnie Scotland" and "Fra Diavolo" on one and the extras on the other.The best thing on the second disc is the wonderfully rare and tantalizing two-strip technicolour clip from "The Rogue Song".It doesn't last long but it certainly leaves one salivating for more.The documentary also included is called:"The Hollywood Shorts Story" narrated by Chevy Chase.It is a rather banal documentary on the whole and really wouldn't normally be worthy of any mention if it wasn't for some of the rare clips that are included.It also makes you realize what a goldmine of film many of the major studios are sitting on
and makes you ask "why aren't many of these short subjects being released today"?
Also included on the second disc are Laurel and Hardy(only)clips from "The Hollywood Revue of 1929","Hollywood Party" and "Pick a Star".I deducted one star from the rating for the very reason that we are given clips only.I cannot fathom why the entire films weren't released in toto!? The films merits are of no consequence because watching these scenes within the films themselves not only serves to enhance ones viewing(i.e seeing them in context) but more importantly it impresses upon the viewer just WHY the Boys were included in them in the first place.
I can only hope Turner has the good judgement to release these films sometime in the future along with the only other product they hold copyright on,"Air Raid Wardens" and "Nothing But Trouble".
Until then we have this set to enjoy and a generally praise worthy one it is at that.The films are in great condition and Turner is to be given high marks for their work on them.I thought they let the "ball drop" though on the second disc with a lacklustre documentary and clips only of the Boys from other movies(excepting the "Rogue Song") but they are in as good a shape technically as their counterparts on disc one and all in all this is a fitting release for the great Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
*Take note Hallmark*

Turner did an excellent job with this. The prints are beautiful, and the second disc contains clips that would be difficult to find otherwise. lnstead of sticking us(L&H's loyal and knowledgeable fanbase)with a careless,sub-par product, they have put together an outstanding collection. lf you're on the fence or don't know about L&H, then don't be afraid to start here. Well worth it.

Way back in the 80's there were only two Laurel & Hardy movies to be found on video tape; "Utopia" and "Flying Deuces", both released by a multitude of cheapy video companies. And then finally MGM/UA home video released a third, "Bonnie Scotland". This would be followed by CBS/FOX's Playhouse Video released a couple of their 20th Century Fox movies, and Nostalgia Merchant did us all a favor and released 9 volumes of their sound shorts ( one volume more and they would have completed the task ) as well as several of the Hal Roach L&H feature films.

It wasn't long before MGM /UA realized that L&H sold well on video. And it was just their luck that they had the video rights to 2 of their movies. So in the 90's "Bonnie Scotland" was re-released marked down from $70 to $20, an "The Devils Brother" was also given a release at the same price. These movies made such a profit that MGM/UA continued to release any L&H movies they could get their hands on.

As it turned out, Laurel & Hardy had made two movies for MGM studios after they split with Hal Roach studios. "Air Raid Wardens" and "Nothing But Trouble", while the stronger of their post Roach movies, were still regarded to be substandard. Ultimately that did not stop MGM/UA from releasing them, or putting such phrases as "..hilarious..." and "...laughed packed 1944 film".

MGM/UA continued to try to milk the L&H cash cow dry with two more video releases; "Laurel & Hardy's Laughing 20's" and "Hollywood Party". The former was another Robert Youngson composite movie released by MGM that is best remembered for preserving most of the pie fight from "Battle of the Century". The later was a 1934 MGM all-star disaster that featured Laurel & Hardy in only a few segments. But that did not stop MGM/UA from prominently featuring Laurel & Hardy on the videos box.

It would have been nice if MGM had continued and paid for the rights to release several other L&H movies, but at the time they were only interested in releasing the movies they already owned the rights to. Now nearly 15 years later Warner Home Video is once again re-releasing the MGM owned Laurel & Hardy movies on DVD. While this set only contains their two Roach features, good sales could see the re-release of all the MGM owned material. ( I would actually like to see a DVD release of "Hollywood Review of 1929" as I am also a Buster Keaton fan. The only other release of this movie on home video was part of an expensive Laser disc set with a lot of other early musicals I was not interested in. )Hopefully this could also result in a release of other Laurel & Hardy movies through Warner & TCM.

As for the movies in this set, they are not the best that Laurel & hardy had to offer. At the time "The Devils Brother" was made Hal Roach felt that they had to beef up the feature films with what was selling tickets at the time, namely romance and music. As in movies like "Swiss Miss",
"Bohemian Girl", and even "Babes in Toyland", a sub plot revolving around a romance between two characters tends to take over the movie. As do singing numbers that do not involve Laurel or Hardy. They are by no means marginalized as Abbot & Costello were in many of their films, but the padding is still obvious. However, since Stan and Babe had less to do with the film it gave them more time to work out the gags in their individual scenes. And The Devils Brother does offer up a few comedy gems such as the "Earsy-Kneesy-Nosey" game ( which, by the way, quickly became a fad shortly after this film was released )

The plot is simple. L&H play Stanlio and Ollio, two failed bandit's in Europe around the 1700's. They are forced into service with Fra Diavalo, a notorious leader of a gang of bandits, after Stanlio and Ollio attempt to rob them. Disguising himself as a nobleman, Fra Diavalo infiltrates the home of Lord Rocburg and woos his wife in order to locate his money. A second sub plot is introduced where if Captain Lorenzo cannot capture the bandit Fra Diavalo he will never be able to marry his true love. Throughout the movie Laurel & Hardy are forced to help Fra Diavalo in his plot, but at the same time are interested in turning him in for the reward. Eventually they end up getting both Fra Diavalo and themselves caught and nearly shot by a firing squad. That is until Stanlio causes a distraction that allows them all to escape.

Bonnie Scotland, besides its name, barely takes place in that country. Stan & Olly travel to Scotland for a reading of a will where they are only left a snuff box. They end up enlisting in the Scottish army and for the bulk of the movie are in India. The sub plot here is one of Laurels relatives, Laurena MacLaurel, is brought to India by her guardian, and her boyfriend enlists in the same regiment as Stanly & Olly to be with her. In the end of the movie the subplot is abandoned without resolution as Stanly, Olly, and the boyfriend are all sent on a mission to infiltrate some insurgents. As they are about to be killed Stanly knocks over some bee hives which aids in their escape, but also sends swarms of bees to sting everyone. It is there the movie ends abruptly, leaving i=us to assume that somehow the romantic subplot was resolved, and at the same time not caring if it was or not. As in all the Roach movies, strong material from Laurel & Hardy, but ruined by dull padding with the lame subplot. And the second most misleading title in comedy history ( the first being "Abbot & Costello go to Mars ).

The disks also include some good extras, including their segment from "Hollywood Review of 1929" as well as their segments from "Hollywood Party" and their scenes from "Pick A Star". I suppose this is MGM's way of saying they are not going to be releasing those films, but here is all the L&H footage so you are not missing anything. And I agree, it will now be hard for them to sell those movies at a latter date. ( then again, Hollywood Party also has segments by Walt Disney and The Three Stooges, so perhaps they could afford to still release it.)There is also the existing fragment of Laurel & Hardy footage from the otherwise lost "Rouge Song". But one puzzler is a documentary on short subject films. One would think that this is just included as filler. But since the extras also boasts the scenes from the other films mentioned, throwing this documentary in does not seem necessary. It is almost as if it was tossed in by accident and was meant for another DVD set. And who knows, maybe in the near future a box set of random short movies released by Warner Brothers will include a documentary on Laurel & Hardy as an extra.