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Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,216 ratings

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Additional DVD options Edition Discs
Price
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DVD
May 4, 2021
10
$43.45 $26.25
DVD
October 25, 2011
10
$29.99 $19.53
Genre Comedy/Classic Comedies
Format Multiple Formats, Box set, Black & White, NTSC, Dolby, Full Screen
Contributor Noel Madison, Mitchell Lewis, James W. Horne, Al Cooke, Paul Foltz, Charita, Lew Gould, Sidney Toler, Del Henderson, Charles Regan, Virginia Blair, James Blount, Walter Woolf King, Hope Harper, Etherine Landucci, Countess Sonia, Donald Dillaway, Montague Shaw, Wally O'Connor, Jack Gamble, Patsy Moran, Lorraine Bridges, Max Hoffman, Eddy Chandler, Conrad Seidemann, Agostino Borgato, Pat Lane, Joe Studer, Winter Hall, Charlie Teske, June Marlowe, Rychard Cramer, Paulette Goddard, Bob O'Connor, Harvey Karels, Viola Wilkins, Harry Anderson, Harry Bernard, Mary Brooks, Harry Bowen, O. M. Steiger, Laurel & Hardy, Vera White, Jerry Lewis, Eric Blore, Ethel Gilstrom, Dick Van Dyke, Marion Shelton, Bobby Dunn, Marylin Peterson, Tommy Bond, Ben Turpin, Dave Wengren, Lee Phelps, John G. Blystone, Johnny Woods, James Morton, Anita Garvin, Kate Melkus, Lester Shafer, Iris Adrian, Barbara Booth, May Cloy, Joe Bordeaux, Jack Hill, Carl Faulkner, Ruth Royde, Walter Long, Peter Cushing, George Granlich, William A. Seiter, Vinegar Roan, Harry Arras, Max Etzkorn, Evelyn Eager, Oliver Hardy, Charles Judels, Nancy McMahon, Stanley Blystone, Dick Cramer, Kenny Williams, William H. Royle, Bob McKenzie, Wilda George, Sam Lufkin, John Powers, Pat Gleason, Jacqueline Wells, Harry Neilman, Robert Wilber, Jack Perrin, Nik Sommer, Harry Myers, Louis Studer, Wilma Roelof, Zeffie Tilbury, Michael Arshasky, Emmet Connors, Grady Sutton, Elisabeth Frohlich, Raymond McCarey, E. H. Calvert, Dorothy Christy, Lucille Day, Stella Curtis, Tim Conway, Charles Middleton, Lola Field, John Hobart, Boots Mallory, Joe Lenz, Alan Hale, Lucien Littlefield, Harold Gerard, Jacquie Lynn, Charles Stone, Diane Rochelle, Alex Melesh, Ed Scarpa, Ruth Alder, Anna Ross, Daphne Pollard, Antoinette Lees, Mae Busch, Arthur Housman, Lew Leroy, Stan Laurel, Eddie Conrad, Walter Taylor, Muriel Evans, Ruth Warren, Ann Berry, Forbes Murray, Nick Copeland, John Stanley, Harry Woods, Ivar McFadden, Esther Pressman, Jack Staegell, Marie Dolezel, Peggy Russell, Joe Whitehead, Patricia Ellis, Jackie Horner, James Finlayson, Carl Cosisky, Mary Carr, Allen Pomeroy, Antonio Moreno, Jack Lloyd, Margaret Mann, Hal Roach, Thelma Todd, Yogi, the Myna talking bird, Chet Brandenberg, Bob Lafferty, Ted Henderson, George Magrill, Edgar Norton, Jack Romler, James Parrott, Paul Feiner, Gordon Douglas, Howard C. Hickman, Victor Kendall, Kay McCoy, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Al Thompson, Ed Brandenberg, Marguerite Franz, Harry Lachman, Pete Gordon, Gerald Rogers, Ula Love, Richard Tucker, Fifi O'Brien, Ernie Alexander, Constantine Romanoff, Tommy Seidel, Marie Barbe, Loie Tilton, Doris Carlyle, Byron Munson, Ludovico Tomarchio, Eleanor Peterson, Gene Morgan, Charley Chase, Henry Hall, Franz Hug, Peter Gardiner, Tiny Sandford, Leo Willis, Carolyne Melkus, Jean de Briac, Fritz Wolfesberger, Adele Watson, Eddie Borden, Francesca Santoro, Jack Green, Captain Garcia, Jacques Vanaire, Forrester Harvey, Ralf Harolde, George Marshall, Pat McKay, Charles Hall, Carlton Griffin, Harry Hayden, Robert Eason, Earl Eby, George Jimenez, Sam Brooks, William P. Carleton, Harry Wilson, Alf Goulding, Harry Semels, Edward Earle, Les Clark, Sanna Caru, Della Lind, Bill Brady, Alex Finlayson, Fred Somers, George Chandler, Tom Kennedy, Charles Rogers, Jolane Reynolds, Darla Hood, Minna Gombell, Harry Strang, Frank Brownlee, Edward Cutler, Ed Brady, Lois Laurel, Stanley J. Sandford, Harry Tenbrook, Eddie Johnson, Lucille Stafford, Billy Gilbert, Jack Davidson, James C. Morton, Art Miles, Dinah, a mule, Chuck Callahan, Charles Gemora, Jimmie Dime, Billy Taft, Virginia Dabney, Dix Davis, Jean Alden, Tudor Williams, James B. Carson, Tom Murray, Ray DeRavenne, Baldwin Cooke, Gerald Fielding, Felix Knight, Mike Behegan, George Sorel, Otto Jehle, Earl Douglas, Doodles Weaver, Walter Lawrence, Eddie Kane, Celia Derosa, Bud Geary, Blanca Vischer, John Kelly, Patsy O'Byrne, Wilfred Lucas, Ruth Lane, Jim Pierce, Ed Shaeffer, Jack Lubell, Frank Baker, Allen Wood, Lona Andre, Jack Mack, Jack Koontz, Adia Kuznetzoff, Harry Evans, Buck, Mike Drey, Dolly Verner, Jack Raymond, Betty Healy, Arnold Tamon, Julia Kingsley, Ann Faruks, C. A. Bachman, Eddie Brian, Holly Hall, Jean Cleveland, Beverly Royde, Mary Gordon, Marjorie Kane, Lou Duello, Baldwin Cook See more
Language English
Number Of Discs 10

Product Description

Product Description

Laurel & Hardy were one of the most critically acclaimed comedy teams of early American cinema. Their films produced by Hal Roach during the 20s and 30s defined their legacy, and are now available for the first time in a one comprehensive 10-DISC COLLECTION! This set contains films from Hal Roach library such as The Music Box (Academy Award Best Short Subject), Brats, Hog Wild, Chickens Come Home, Sons of the Desert and Way out West to name a few. A special bonus disc features entertaining never before seen interviews from Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis and Tim Conway, insightful commentaries, additional films and original trailers.

Amazon.com

"Eternal pals and eternal antagonists, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the great partnership of movie slapstick. They finally get their DVD due with Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection, a 10-disc orgy of pratfalls, slow burns, and slap fights--in short, a collection that truly qualifies as a must-have for connoisseurs of comedy. The collection contains the sound films that Laurel and Hardy made for producer Hal Roach, the man who teamed the simpering English vaudeville player and the rotund American actor in the first place (although their laughs are evenly divided, Laurel was the creative force and chief gag-inventor of the duo). Their track record is proof that it isn't merely the jokes that make for comic success; it's the personalities of the comedians. Thus, Stan's dimwitted innocence and Ollie's perpetually exasperated reactions (raised to an exquisite art by Hardy's comprehensive glances at the camera, assuring the audience's complicity in his misery) are the essence of their success. Some films are great, some merely passable, but all stick blissfully to character. This is on glorious display through these Roach pictures, whether it's the boys sharing one small train berth in Berth Marks, executing their famous synchronized dance in Way Out West, or laboring to get that piano up a very steep flight of stairs in the Oscar-winning The Music Box.

The films look as good as movies from 1929 to 1940 can reasonably be expected to look. Included in the boxed set are seven foreign-language films (six in Spanish, one in French), shot in order to keep the duo popular in overseas markets, before dubbing made that goal easier. Fascinatingly, these films often extend the English-language films they are ostensibly adapted from, with different gags and plot turns--and it's fun to hear Stan and Ollie speaking in another language. Special features include a ho-hum 40-minute tribute with testimonials from fellow comedians (especially talkative are Dick Van Dyke and Jerry Lewis); an ""Interactive Map"" with Los Angeles location sites from their movies; three Roach shorts in which L&H pop up in cameos; and a 1942 short produced for the Department of Agriculture (another L&H cameo). A few (not many) films have commentaries that include the informed Laurel and Hardy buff Richard W. Bann; Sons of the Desert has a track with Tim Conway and Chuck McCann, who don't seem to know how a commentary track works but have a nice time watching the movie. --Robert Horton"

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4 ounces
  • Audio Description: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 883476060217
  • Director ‏ : ‎ John G. Blystone, William A. Seiter, James Parrott, James W. Horne, Gordon Douglas
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Box set, Black & White, NTSC, Dolby, Full Screen
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 32 hours and 21 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2011
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Jerry Lewis, Dick Van Dyke, Tim Conway, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ RHI Entertainment
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005BYBZKY
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 10
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,216 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
1,216 global ratings
THE GLORIOUS RESURRECTION OF STAN & OLLIE
5 Stars
THE GLORIOUS RESURRECTION OF STAN & OLLIE
"Resurrection" implies death. The Boys have never really gone away, but now they're back in hi-def and it is indeed glorious.All over the world, every second of every day around the clock, someone is laughing out loud at a Laurel & Hardy comedy. A living stream of laughter emanating into the cosmic void is not a bad legacy from two exceptional members of our erratic species that sometimes seems hell-bent on destroying our planet and ourselves.Perhaps it is that crazy, self-destructive nature, the constant fighting, quibbling, misunderstandings, grandiose plans gone wrong and the epic, deranged, escalating acts of getting even that makes the films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy so universally relatable. Clearly, we see ourselves. But what makes The Boys themselves so popular is that underneath it all, there's genuine love. No matter how horrible the mess they create, or who is truly at fault, they are always back together again with high hopes for whatever new adventure lies ahead. We intuitively understand they love each other even though they never hugged on screen or spoke of their mutual high regard; it was always crystal clear they were best friends no matter what.But purest pleasure of the best films of L&H is that amidst all the anarchic antics, there's that unexpected feeling of affection that leaks off the screen into our hearts and souls. Stan and Ollie are icons of the best and worst of our human traits. Childlike and innocent, they give us permission - no, they force us -- to laugh at the unfair vicissitudes of life; yet, at the same time, give us hope that somehow, someday, all will finally be OK.The mystery of why we laugh or even what makes something funny is illusive. Even Stan Laurel said, "I only know how to make people laugh, not why." There are reports that when Stan and his wife (he had five) went to a nightclub, he was sometimes asked to stand, take a bow and say something. Stan would confidently step into the spotlight, slowly blink in otherworldly bewilderment, and then say and do nothing. Soon, the place was roaring with laughter. Stan Laurel understood that the dead center, the sweet spot, the bull's eye of comedy was a Zen stillness that says: "Here I am, I didn't ask to be here and I have no idea what it all means." Isn't thatr our most fundamental philosophical dilemma? That's why, in the end, there's nothing left but to release a cosmic laugh in the face of God. Stan Laurel was a genius that ranks with Bach, Michelangelo, Tesla, Einstein, Twain and Hawking. He was the comic mind behind the duo. He tapped directly into our collective DNA that recognizes the inexplicably absurd inexactitudes yet persistently mystical paradoxes of life itself.According to Jerry Lewis, who knew and idolized Stan Laurel, it was Stan who said he discovered Ollie. According to Lewis, one day on the Hal Roach lot, Stan, fresh from the UK and a US vaudeville tour, spotted a large man carrying a pipe with red flags on both ends. Stan said to Lewis, "I immediately wanted to do something to upset the worker carrying the pipe and asked to meet him." Stan invited Ollie to step in front of the camera. Ollie said, "Anything would be better than what I'm doing, but I don't know anything about filmmaking, acting or comedy." Stan said, "That's perfect." Soon, Roach paired them on screen and there was magic. Reel magic. Even if Lewisi fabricated this tall tale, Ollie's bewilderment of -- and love for -- Stan was genuine and the audience recognized it immediately.Vivendi/RHI is releasing a 10-disc set of L&H's restored sound films, shorts and features. Long overdue in clean digital editions, the explanations for the long delay of these beloved films is hard to understand but may have something to do with licensing - and a lack of motivation or interest by certain uninformed individuals I won't name.This nice-looking DVD set in a compact book style case with sturdy card stock sleeves includes: (Disc 1) UNACUSTOMED S WE ARE, BERTH MARKS, MEN 0'WAR, PERFECT DAY, THEY GO BOOM, THE HOOSE GOW, NOGHT OWLS, LADRONES, BLOTTO; (Disc 2) LA VIDA NOCTURNA, BRATS, BELOW ZERO, TIEMBLA Y TITUBEA, HOG WILD, THE L&H MURDER CASE, NOCHE DE DUENDES, ANOTHER FINE MESS; (Disc 3) BE BIG !, CHICKENS COME HOME, PPOLITIQUERIAS, LAUGHING GRAVY, LES CAROTTIERS; (Disc 4) LOS CALAVARAS, OUR WIFE, PARDON US, COME CLEAN, ONE GOOD TURN, BEAU HUNKS; (Disc 5) HELPMATES, ANY OLD PORT, THE MUSIC BOX, THE CHIMP, COUNTY HOSPITAL, SCRAM!, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, THEIR FIRST MISTAKE; (Disc 6) TOWED IN A HOLE, TWICE TWO, ME AND MY PAL, THE MIDNIGHT PATROL, BUSY BODIES, DIRTY WORK, SONS OF THE DESERT, OLIVER THE EIGHTH, GOING BYE BYE !; (Disc 7) THEM THAR HILLS, THE LIVE GHOST, TIT FOR TAT, THE FIXER UPPERS, THICKER THAN WATER, THE BOHEMIAN GIRL; (Disc 8) OUR RELATIONS, WAY OUT WEST, SWISS MISS; (Disc 9) BLOCKHEADS, A CHUMP AT OXFORD, SAPS AT SEA; (Disc 10) A TRIBUTE TO L&H, ON LOCATION, L&H GUEST APPEARANCES and L&H TRAILERS.Highlights: 1932's THE MUSIC BOX won an Oscar as Best Short Subject; PARDON US and CHUMP AT OXFORD are the rarely seen extended versions publicly previewed during the editing process; THE PERFECT DAY includes an optional Vitaphone disc track without incidental music and a faintly heard, but clear, expletive; POLITIQUERAS is the 56 minute Spanish version of CHICKENS COME HOME and features Hadjii Ali's truly astounding vaudeville act that must be seen to be believed; the TRIBUTE TO LAUREL AND HARDY, a too short 40 minute featurette on Disc 10, reveals the friendship, inspiration and love for Stan and Ollie in new interviews with Jerry Lewis, Dick Van Dyke among others.Some of the films seem to be a continuation of the same story. For instance TIT FOR TAT flows naturally into THEM THAR HILLS. And HOG WILD can be seen as a prequel to COUNTY HOSPITAL. BERTH MARKS can be understood as a lead up to BELOW ZERO. There are more titles that work in the same way with wonderful results when paired back-to-back. Equally fascinating are the foreign language titles that the boys filmed using phonetically written cue cards.Missing from the collection is the truly disturbing and demented BABES IN TOYLAND (aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS available from Legend in a superbly colorized, pristine transfer the way Stan Laurel wished it had been filmed).Finally, this core set of 57 of the 99 films The Boys made -- that's well over 30 hours of prime L&H! -- is now available for those of us who recognize that laughter is indeed the best medicine for our very human condition.(By the way, I find the packaging thankfully sturdy and compact. And it's easy to access the disks without harming the playing surfaces.)
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Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2011
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carlos montoya grande
5.0 out of 5 stars el gordo y el flaco
Reviewed in Mexico on September 30, 2020
Glenn Upton
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb collection of most, but not all, Laurel and Hardy's sound films
Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2019
One person found this helpful
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Massimiliano
1.0 out of 5 stars Non adatto al mercato europeo
Reviewed in Italy on December 31, 2019
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Massimiliano
1.0 out of 5 stars Non adatto al mercato europeo
Reviewed in Italy on December 31, 2019
Attenzione! Il prodotto non è idoneo al mercato europeo ma solo a quello americano. Infatti quando inserisco i dischi nel mio lettore dvd / bluray non vengono letti ed un messaggio del lettore avverte che hanno un codice “regionale” errato. La cosa incredibile però è che amazon non avvisa di questo nella pagina del prodotto!
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Dr. Vladan Jankovic
4.0 out of 5 stars Very good start
Reviewed in Australia on July 30, 2020
kevin jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2014