Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 28, 2020

Laurel and Hardy made well over one hundred films of various lengths to their combined credit as a comedy duo (spanning both the silent and “talkie” eras), but their output is still kind of woefully under recognized on Blu-ray. Two niche labels have helped that deficit at least a little, with VCI bringing out The Flying Deuces and Legend offering March of the Wooden Soldiers and then March of the Wooden Soldiers 3D, but that’s basically it for Region A consumers, perhaps unbelievably. (It does look like some other regions have their own peculiar releases, many afflicted with less than stellar technical merits, at least based on some member reviews on our site.) An amalgamation of folks including Kit Parker Films, Jeff Joseph (AKA SabuCat), Randy Skretvedt, the UCLA Film and Television Archive and (just for good measure) the Library of Congress have started to remedy that sad situation with this new collection which aggregates two of Laurel and Hardy’s best remembered “feature length” offerings (still on the short side compared to many contemporary outings) along with a glut of shorts, including a reconstructed version of The Battle of the Century, which many fans had considered the “Humpty Dumpty” of Laurel and Hardy films, unable to be “put back together again” after decades of improper curation which is detailed in the commentary track for that film.

For reviews of the two "feature length" films and the most celebrated of the shorts in this set, please click on the following links:

Sons of the Desert Blu-ray review

Way Out West Blu-ray review

The Battle of the Century Blu-ray review

In addition to the above three items, this four disc set offers the following shorts (and commentaries) as follows:

Disc One

• Berth Marks: Original 1929 VitaPhone Track (1080p; 20:21) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Berth Marks: Reissue 1936 Track (1080p; 20:05) features the same commentary.

Disc Two

• Brats: Original 1930 VitaPhone Track (1080p; 21:29) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Brats: Reissue 1937 VitaPhone Track (1080p; 21:29) features the same commentary.


• Hog Wild (1080p; 20:14) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Come Clean (1080p; 21:02) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• One Good Turn (1080p; 20:50) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Me and My Pal (1080p; 20:30) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.

Disc Three

• Helpmates (1080p; 21:22) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• The Music Box (1080p; 39:27) features a commentary by Richard Bann. This commentary extends beyond the end of the film, hence the length listed here.


• The Chimp (1080p; 25:36) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• County Hospital (1080p; 19:00) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Scram! (1080p; 20:56) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Their First Mistake (1080p; 21:04) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• The Midnight Patrol (1080p; 19:44) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Busy Bodies (1080p; 19:36) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.

Disc Four

• Towed in a Hole (1080p; 21:09) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• Twice Two (1080p; 20:38) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• That's That (1080p; 8:06) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.


• The Tree in a Test Tube (1080p; 10:37) features a commentary by Randy Skretvedt.

Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations is (are?) presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kit Parker Films and MVD Visual with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in a variety of aspect ratios hovering around Academy Ratio. Assessment of the video quality of three titles linked to above can be found in those reviews. All of the screenshots in this review come from some of the various shorts included in this release, and as should probably be expected, there's at least some variances on display. Not all of these seem to have been curated by the UCLA Film & Television Archive or by the Library of Congress, at least insofar as I could glean from some text introductions and closing credits. That said, while there's definitely still age related wear and tear on display in many of these shorts, including knicks, scratches, the occasional jump, or even an unstable frame or two, these are easily the best I've personally seen any of these Laurel and Hardy pieces look. Clarity is improved across the board from previous releases that have been in my collection at one point or another, and for the most part contrast is solid (a couple of shorts can look slightly blanched, with some milky blacks). I will say that some of the shorts not bearing the imprimatur of UCLA in particular can have a softer, more filtered, look, and things can look a bit "scrubbed" at times, as can probably be gleaned from some of the screenshots accompanying this review. The score above is for the set as a whole, but some of the shorts probably reside more down toward the 3.5 or even 3.0 level, though that said, I can't imagine Laurel and Hardy fans not being over the moon with the general appearance of everything included here.

Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As should again probably be expected, the LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks haven't been able to be brought up to contemporary muster due to the recording technologies that were employed at the dawn of the "talkie" era, if for no other reason. The couple of vintage VitaPhone tracks again expectedly sound the worst, with pretty rampant hiss, waves of white noise passing through the track, and quite a bit of damage in the form of pops and cracks. The non-VitaPhone tracks sound surprisingly spry a lot of the time, with music sounding bright and maybe even occasionally a bit brash, and with dialogue and effects resonating with reasonable authority. The non-VitaPhone tracks show little to none of the same kind of damage those tracks do, but they still can't escape the thin, boxy sound of the era.

Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Galleries all feature some prefatory explanatory text which is often very interesting:

  Sons of the Desert

  Publicity Portraits (1080p; 3:31)

  
  

  Scene Stills (1080p; 4:23)

  
  

  Deleted and Candids (1080p; 3:36)

  
  

  Posters and Publicity (1080p; 7:22)

  
  

  Early Script (1080p; 3:57)

  
  

  Dialogue Continuity (1080p; 3:54)

  
  

  Contracts and Documents (1080p; 2:57)

  Other Galleries

  Battle of the Century (1080p; 7:38)

  
  

  Berth Marks (1080p; 5:02)

  
  

  Portraits in Costume (1080p; 9:52)

  
  

  Early Career: Stan (1080p; 4:26)

  
  

  Early Career: Babe (1080p; 5:55)

• Extras include a number of charming vintage interviews conducted by Randy Skretvedt and filmed with his Super 8 Kodachrome camera:

  Anita Garvin Interview (1080p; 9:18) stems from 1981.

  
  

  Joe Rock Interview (1080p; 9:35) stems from 1981.

  
  

  Roy Seawright Interview (1080p; 14:56) stems from 1981.

  
  

  Oliver Hardy Interview (1080p; 3:30) was conducted by Jack Mangan in 1950.

  
  

  Sons of the Desert Trailer (1080p; 2:35) is the Spanish language trailer, the only one known to have survived.

  
  

  L & H Books by Randy Skretvedt (1080p; 1:53) offers several pages of text describing various Laurel & Hardy volumes featuring Skretvedt's participation.

  
  

  Special Thanks (1080p; 1:22) singles out several people who helped make this release possible.

Disc Two

• Audio Interviews play to appealing slideshows:

  Intro and Billy Bletcher (1080p; 4:27)

  
  

  Joe Rock (1080p; 4:32)

  
  

  Hal Roach (1080p; 9:12)

  
  

  Anita Garvin Stanley (1080p; 4:35)

  
  

  George Marshall (1080p; 2:54)

  
  

  Roy Seawright (1080p; 6:15)

  
  

  Venice Lloyd (1080p; 4:45)

  
  

  Richard Currier (1080p; 8:06)

  
  

  Bert Jordan (1080p; 7:53)

  
  

  Walter Woolf King (1080p; 3:34)

  
  

  Lucille Hardy Price (1080p; 8:50)

  
  

  Marvin Hatley (1080p; 3:24)

  
  

  Honolulu Baby and Lovey-Dovey (1080p; 6:00)

• Galleries include interesting prefatory text comments:

  Brats (1080p; 9:26)

  
  

  Hog Wild (1080p; 7:20)

  
  

  Come Clean (1080p; 8:34)

  
  

  One Good Turn (1080p; 9:38)

  
  

  Me and My Pal (1080p; 4:43)

  
  

  Hardy Vim Scrapbook (1080p; 5:54)

  
  

  Hollywood Friends (1080p; 2:37)

  
  

  Catalina July 1934 (1080p; 2:30)

• Extras

  L & H Books by Randy Skretvedt (1080p; 1:53) is the same extra as on Disc One.

  
  

  Special Thanks (1080p; 1:22) is the same extra as on Disc One.

Disc Three

• Galleries feature interesting prefatory text:

  Helpmates (1080p; 7:51)

  
  

  The Music Box (1080p; 11:11)

  
  

  The Chimp (1080p; 7:31)

  
  

  County Hospital (1080p; 10:46)

  
  

  Scram! (1080p; 8:46)

  
  

  Their First Mistake (1080p; 5:22)

  
  

  The Midnight Patrol (1080p; 6:12)

  
  

  Busy Bodies (1080p; 7:58)

  
  

  A Short History of the Hal Roach Studios (1080p; 6:32)

  
  

  Supporting Player (1080p; 3:09)

  
  

  Crew Members (1080p; 3:47)

  
  

  Studio Hijinks (1080p; 2:42)

  
  

  Snapshots from the UK Vacation (1080p; 5:20)

• Extras

  L & H Books by Randy Skretvedt (1080p; 1:53) is the same extra as on Disc One.

  
  

  Special Thanks (1080p; 1:22) is the same extra as on Disc One.

Disc Four

• Galleries all feature some prefatory explanatory text which is often very interesting:

  Way Out West

  Portrait Stills (1080p; 5:58)

  
  

  Scene Stills (1080p; 6:12)

  
  

  Candid Stills (1080p; 5:31)

  
  

  Pressbook Articles and Artwork (1080p; 7:43)

  
  

  Poster and Lobby Card Artwork (1080p; 5:01)

  
  

  Original 1913 Sheet Music (1080p; 2:47)

  
  

  Script and Synopsis (1080p; 7:42)

  
  

  Dialogue Continuity, Cues and Letters (1080p; 4:02)

  Other Galleries

  Towed in a Hole (1080p; 6:27)

  
  

  Twice Two (1080p; 4:48)

  
  

  That's That (1080p; 2:02)

  
  

  The Tree in a Test Tube (1080p; 2:10)

  
  

  Portraits Out of Costume (1080p; 4:02)

  
  

  Laurel & Hardy and Golf (1080p; 3:50)

  
  

  Special Occasions (1080p; 3:59)

  
  

  Odd Publicity Shots (1080p; 2:35)

  
  

  Stan in Retirement (1080p; 4:22)

• Extras

  Way Out West Trailer (1080p; 1:21)

  
  

  Marvin Hatley Music Tracks (1080p; 25:22) play to a cue relevant slideshow with explanatory captions.

  
  

  Beau Hunks 1931 Trailer (1080p; 00:54)

  
  

  Pack Up Your Troubles 1932 Trailer (1080p; 1:54)

  
  

  Babes in Toyland 1934 Trailer (1080p; 3:26)

  
  

  The Flying Deuces 1939 Trailer (1080p; 2:17)

  
  

  A Chump at Oxford 1940 Trailer (1080p; 1:23)

  
  

  Saps at Sea 1940 Trailer (1080p; 1:55)

  
  

  L & H Books by Randy Skretvedt (1080p; 1:53) is the same extra as on Disc One.

  
  

  Special Thanks (1080p; 1:22) is the same extra as on Disc One.

Laurel & Hardy - The Definitive Restorations Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unless there's some epochal set of releases that accrue in the second half of this year, I can't imagine this incredible set not making my Top 10 releases for 2020. The love and care with which this has been assembled should be obvious to each and every Laurel and Hardy fan. Technical merits are generally superb, at least given the context of the age of the films and some of the curation issues some titles encountered, and the supplemental package is going to be a treasure trove for many. Highly recommended.