Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 22, 2025

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Laurel and Hardy: The Restored Features Vol. 1 from ClassicFlix.

Laurel and Hardy fans have had a couple of banner years recently with a large number of Blu-ray offerings across several regions, which some may attribute to copyrights expiring, which indeed has happened to the pair's earliest outings up through 1929. Interestingly in that regard, though, neither of the films ClassicFlix has aggregated for its first collection of Laurel and Hardy comedies is in the public domain (yet), which may make this restoration effort especially interesting for diehard collectors. Also probably for that very same reason, neither Pardon Us nor Pack Up Your Troubles has had a previous high definition release anywhere that I've been able to track down.

This sophomore feature effort from Laurel and Hardy may not exactly offer that dreaded "slump", but its humor is a bit of a patchwork quilt, as the two find themselves more or less conscripted to help America's (late arriving) efforts in World War I. Part of what might feel like a bit of tonal inconsistency is the contrast between typical sight gags and physical humor as the duo's almost genetic ineptitude repeatedly gets them in trouble in basic training, even before they enter the fray, so to speak. What is kind of a raucous first act and a half (more or less) then becomes considerably more drenched in bathos as the two return stateside and attempt to reunite the orphaned daughter of one of their army buddies (who has perished in the fighting) with her family.

Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pack Up Your Troubles is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of ClassicFlix with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Unlike its disc mate Pardon Us, there's no lengthy prefatory text discussing the provenance of elements or providing significant information about the restoration, which was evidently carried out by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. UCLA's own website devoted to restoration efforts does have the following information (some of which is reproduced in the short text cards preceding the feature):

Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation from the 35mm nitrate original picture negative, a 35mm nitrate lavender positive, a 35mm master positive and a 35mm nitrate variable density track negative. Laboratory services by Roundabout Entertainment, Inc., FotoKem, Audio Mechanics, DJ Audio, Inc. Special thanks to the Library of Congress, Sonar Entertainment, British Film Institute.

Perhaps due to better curation, or maybe due to the fact that there's no ostensibly offensive material that may have been excised at some point (as in the case of Pardon Us with its blackface segment), Pack Up Your Troubles probably offers a somewhat more consistent image quality. Clarity and detail levels are typically great throughout, and some of the close-ups in particular are convincing enough to look positively contemporary at times in terms of contrast, fine detail, and grain resolution. There are still some very minor signs of age related wear and tear, and some of the war material in particular can look a bit shoddy (due at least in part to a glut of opticals like dissolves for quasi-montages).

Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pack Up Your Troubles features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track which is generally comparable to the sound on Pardon Us, though arguably a bit less thin on the high end, as evidenced (once again) by some of the scoring. Dialogue and sound effects are offered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available. My score is 3.25.

Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

ClassicFlix has packaged the two features together on one disc with the following supplements:

• Pardon Us alternate raw audio track without added music (HD; 56:42) is a fun alternate experience, and there are a few lines (as in the very opening) you can hear that aren't as audible in the theatrical version.


• Opening title sequence of the preview version of Pardon Us (HD; 2:11) features The Crane Twins "reciting" the credits.


• Alternate ending for Pardon Us (no audio) (HD; 2:29)


• Pardon Us Restoration Comparison (HD; 3:23)

Trailers for several other releases from ClassicFlix are also included. The insert sleeve has an inner print photograph of the pair operating a food truck.

Pack Up Your Troubles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pack Up Your Troubles isn't the kind of bullseye the team would experience in some of their later features, but it at least doesn't have any blackface, which probably elevates it above Pardon Us. Technical merits are surprisingly strong (video probably more than audio), and though none of the supplements on the disc pertain to this particular film, as a whole Pack Up Your Troubles comes Recommended.