Rating: 
Summary: Classic Laurel & Hardy Silent Shorts, 2 dir. by Leo McCarey!
Review: Volume 3 in this series continues to present silent shorts from the early days of Laurel & Hardy. The first two on this DVD have the distinction of being two of the three Laurel & Hardy comedies directed by the great Leo McCarey. "Liberty" (1929) is an absolute classic. The boys escape from prison whereupon they are picked up by friends in a car and change into civilian clothes. The simple premise for this classic comedy is that Stan and Ollie have on each other's pants, and they spend the rest of the time trying to change clothes, ending up on the high girders of a skyscraper. Obviously this is a very large tip of the hat to the work of Harold Lloyd, although the gags are all perfect for Laurel & Hardy. It is also a very risque film for its day, with the boys always being discovered lowering their pants in strange places. In "We Faw Down" the boys announce to their wives they are going to a show when they are really heading out for a poker game. When they hear the theater burned down, the wives are understandably distraught. But Stan & Ollie, having fallen into a mud puddle, have been taken by two pretty young flirts to the girl's apartment. Of course, as the boys are leaving the apartment without their trousers, their wives show up with shotguns. The film's climax is the best gag in "We Faw Down" and one of the funniest endings to a Laurel & Hardy two-reeler. This DVD collection also invludes the very first on-screen pairing of Laurel & Hardy in 1919's "The Lucky Dog," although they are certainly not a team at this point. "Love 'Em and Weep" from 1927 is another one of the Hal Roach-Pathe comedies featuring James Finlayson in which Stan Laurel is the second comic lead and Oliver Hardy has a more minor role. All three are henpecked husbands whose lives are complicated by the return of Finlayson's old flame, Mae Busch. This particular story line is used by the boys to much better effect in their talkie "Chickens Come Home," so track it down after watching this silent version. This time around the bonus shorts reveal Oliver Hardy teamed up with other comics in a pair of 1926 two-reelers: "Along Came Auntie" with Glenn Tryon and "Bromo and Juliet" with Charley Chase. These are more interesting than the Stan Laurel shorts on the first two volumes because they provide cinematic proof that the boys were perfectly matched comedic partners.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Laurel & Hardy Silent Shorts, 2 dir. by Leo McCarey!
Review: Volume 3 in this series continues to present silent shorts from the early days of Laurel & Hardy. The first two on this DVD have the distinction of being two of the three Laurel & Hardy comedies directed by the great Leo McCarey. "Liberty" (1929) is an absolute classic. The boys escape from prison whereupon they are picked up by friends in a car and change into civilian clothes. The simple premise for this classic comedy is that Stan and Ollie have on each other's pants, and they spend the rest of the time trying to change clothes, ending up on the high girders of a skyscraper. Obviously this is a very large tip of the hat to the work of Harold Lloyd, although the gags are all perfect for Laurel & Hardy. It is also a very risque film for its day, with the boys always being discovered lowering their pants in strange places. In "We Faw Down" the boys announce to their wives they are going to a show when they are really heading out for a poker game. When they hear the theater burned down, the wives are understandably distraught. But Stan & Ollie, having fallen into a mud puddle, have been taken by two pretty young flirts to the girl's apartment. Of course, as the boys are leaving the apartment without their trousers, their wives show up with shotguns. The film's climax is the best gag in "We Faw Down" and one of the funniest endings to a Laurel & Hardy two-reeler. This DVD collection also invludes the very first on-screen pairing of Laurel & Hardy in 1919's "The Lucky Dog," although they are certainly not a team at this point. "Love 'Em and Weep" from 1927 is another one of the Hal Roach-Pathe comedies featuring James Finlayson in which Stan Laurel is the second comic lead and Oliver Hardy has a more minor role. All three are henpecked husbands whose lives are complicated by the return of Finlayson's old flame, Mae Busch. This particular story line is used by the boys to much better effect in their talkie "Chickens Come Home," so track it down after watching this silent version. This time around the bonus shorts reveal Oliver Hardy teamed up with other comics in a pair of 1926 two-reelers: "Along Came Auntie" with Glenn Tryon and "Bromo and Juliet" with Charley Chase. These are more interesting than the Stan Laurel shorts on the first two volumes because they provide cinematic proof that the boys were perfectly matched comedic partners.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE RESTORATION CLASSIC
Review: Whomever wrote the scathing review of this disc from "Southern California" must be blind or was watching a different disc than the one I purchased. Volume Three contains several of the finest Laurel and Hardy comedies ever made, and all are copied from visually brilliant material--including some original 35mm camera negatives and fine grains. "LIBERTY" is, in fact, complete, and features the original Vitaphone soundtrack--it was originally issued on 16" discs back in 1929. The gentleman also must be hard of hearing, in as much as all of the soundtracks are quite different, although each was made up of essentially the same music used by Victor in creating all of their Hal Roach Vitaphone accompanyments in 1928-29. WE FAW DOWN features R-2 of the original Vitaphone soundtrack (apparently, R-1 was shattered) and is one of the most entertaining such tracks ever produced. The film is a complete, stunning, 35mm fine grain. LOVE 'EM AND WEEP is pictorially brilliant, also from a rare 35mm, BROMO AND JULIET is hysterical, and THE LUCKY DOG, the rare, complete film which first paired The Boys in 1919, is half comprised of the 35mm camera negative, half copied from famed historian Wm. K. Everson's original 1919 print. Anyone can read all of this info on the beautiful jacket, and your eyes will confirm the truth of the excellence of this Volume. You'd best buy the whole set of Ten while they're still available. (And--despite the Amazon note to the contrary, these discs are NOT regionally encoded and will play anywhere.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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