Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-03
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 21
• Running time: 999 minutes

DVD Description
This 21-disc box set includes 20 classic Laurel & Hardy films and various shorts, plus a bonus disc containing the original version of Brats (1930), extracts from the German version of Pardon Us (1931), Thundering Fleas (1926), Fluttering Hearts (1927), Prudence (1927) and the documentary Laurel & Hardy--A Tribute to the Boys (1991).

A 21-disc box set of classic Laurel and Hardy comedy containing the following:

• 1. A Chump At Oxford/Related Shorts
  
• 2. Classic Shorts/Someone's Ailing
  
• 3. Way Out West/Shorts
  
• 4. Classic Shorts/Ollie And Matrimony
  
• 5. Our Relations/Dual Roles Shorts
  
• 6. Classic Shorts/Murder In The Air
  
• 7. Blockheads/Themed Shorts
  
• 8. Classic Shorts/Blackmail
  
• 9. The Bohemian Girl/Related Shorts
  
• 10. Classic Shorts/Be Big/Laughing Gravy
  
• 11. Saps At Sea/Themed Shorts
  
• 12. Classic Shorts/Laurel And Hardy And The Law
  
• 13. Sons Of The Desert/Related Shorts
  
• 14. Classic Shorts/A Job To Do
  
• 15. Pack Up Your Troubles/Related Shorts
  
• 16. Classic Shorts/Maritime Adventures
  
• 17. Swiss Miss/Animal Shorts
  
• 18. Classic Shorts/Married Life
  
• 19. Pardon Us/One Prison Short
  
• 20. Classic Shorts/More Brushes With The Law
  
• 21. Bonus disc: Original version of Brats (1930), extracts from German version of Pardon Us (1931), Thundering Fleas (1926), Fluttering Hearts (1927), Prudence (1927) and the documentary Laurel & Hardy - A Tribute To The Boys (1991)

Special Features

• Colourised versions of selected films
  
• Region Code: 2, 4
  
• Soundtrack Dolby Digital Mono: English, Spanish/Dolby Digital Stereo: English
  
• Total running time: 4119 mins
  
• Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Synopsis
A huge and hilarious boxset of the twenty one Laurel & Hardy DVDs released by Universal. A huge, definitive and digital account of Laurel & Hardy's classic career ranging from 1918 to about 1940. Among loads of classic comedy shorts there is the inimitable SONS OF THE DESERT, SAPS AT SEA, THE BOHEMIAN GIRL, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, SWISS MISS, PARDON US, BLOCK HEADS, OUR RELATIONS, A CHUMP AT OXFORD and of course WAY OUT WEST.

Customer Reviews

great package
At last a DVD boxset available in the UK containing nearly all the Hal Roach classics from 1926-1940.

Packing is fantastic with silver lettering complementing the black and white drawings of L&H. Each disc has a 3-4 page leaflet with production notes and photos.

20 DVDs of classic shorts and feature films plus a bonus disc containing the rarely seen original 1930s version of Brats and the 1991 documentary.

The B&W versions are the newly restored prints, which are the same as the renowned German Kinowelt series. Also included are colour versions, which although derided by film buffs and L&H historians are not as bad as has been said. Sure the clarity is not as high on the colour versions but some are fine and are certainly not a waste of disc space as has been suggested.

For completists this set is missing the feature films Fra Viavolo, Bonnie Scotland and Flying Dueces and Babes in Toyland. But the 3 of these are I think owned by MGM and did not appear on the Kinowelt boxsets either. Whilst babes in Toyland is far from a L&H classic and is mostly one good scene with musical filler material. If you want to argue that the boxset is not complete then you might as well complain that it contains none of their 1941 -1 954 features.

As it is what you get here is all the material that's worth having in a great package with a documentary bonus disc and rare foreign language versions of Murder Case, Blotto, Laughing Gravy and more which because L&H performed these phonetically contain slightly different scenes from the English spoken ones.

Warning to L&H Collectors
Just be aware that this is the 'new' version of the boxset. You dont get any of the booklets inside the boxes and the boxes are a cheap black plastic instead of white.

The RRP on this new cheaper set is 99.99 NOT 199.99 as stated on here.

You still get all the films of course but you dont get the info booklets.

Still a bargain if your not bothered about the books.

Best DVD box set ever
This box set is the best collection of films ever to be released on DVD, and really deserves ten stars it is that good.
Being a life long fan I purchased both the original video series by Virgin video and the re-mastered Vision video's a few years later. While the re-mastered editions editions had excellent picture quality the VHS format did not really do them justice. The DVD transfer however makes most of the films look pristine, and it is hard to believe that some of these films are over seventy years old given their picture quality. The sound, particularly on the silents with their stero sound track played by the Dutch band 'Beau Hunks' is truly outstanding. Also the sound on the talkies has been cleaned up to give the best sound quality available.
Why is the set so good?. The simple reason is that with the exception of the features 'Bonnie Scotland', 'The Devils Brother' and 'Babes in Toyland', this box set contains all the Laurel and Hardy starring shorts/features produced by Hal Roach, and that means the very best of Laurel and Hardy. Laurel and Hardy only ever approached the same artistic quality they achieved on one feature away from Hal Roach 'The Flying Deuces'.
As well as the classic films the set has a number of special features such as foreign language and colourised editions. The foreign language editions are worth watching because they are often longer, featuring additional scenes, different casts and best of all Laurel and Hardy actually speaking French, German or Spanish. A lot has been written about the colourised versions, while it is not up to the quality seen in 'Babes in Toyland', it is not really that bad. The only really bad thing about them is that being made for American TV they have a number of annoying scene cuts. Having said that I do not feel that they are a waste of disc space, indeed I know a number of people who will not sit through a black and white film - this may be one way to introduce them to the magic of Laurel and Hardy.
The box set also features a bonus disc featuring a documentary and a number of non - Laurel and Hardy shorts. The best thing on this disc is the Charlie Chase short 'Fluttering Hearts'. Charlie Chase was Hal Roach's top comedian before he was eclipsed by Laurel and Hardy in the late 1920's and today is nearly forgotten, this is a real shame because Chase's films are highly entertaining, as you will see by watching this short. It can only be hoped that Universal's next box set will feature the films of Charlie Chase.
The only real disappointment in the set is the horrible picture quality on 'Along Came Auntie', a Hardy solo effort, much better quality material does exist for this short (see the film on the Stonevision series volume 3). I was also a bit disappointed that the original vitagraph sound tracks were not used on the silents 'Habeas Corpus', 'Angora Love' and 'Bacon Grabbers'. Although I loved the new music, it would have been closer to how the films were originally shown if the surviving disc's had been used.
This is a truly outstanding set and everybody seriously interested in screen comedy, Laurel and Hardy or classic films should not be with out it.