Those of us who revere Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy sometimes wish they had made feature films during the silent era. While they didn’t do one until sound came in (with their voices perfectly suiting their characters), unlike the comedy superstars of the day, they left us with something arguably better—silent short subjects.
Flicker Alley’s 2-disc Blu-ray set “Laurel & Hardy: Year Two” presents newly restored versions of the 10 shorts the team made in 1928. After watching crappy, washed out prints of these gems my entire life, it’s a real treat to see them cleaned up and looking better than they’ve looked in almost 100 years, the way they were meant to be seen.
The gags are still fresh and funny, not to mention abundant. And why shouldn’t they be? L&H were coming into their own as masters of the comedy short. The supervising director on most of these films is Leo McCarey, the guy who hipped producer Hal Roach to the fact they would make a good team in the first place.
New scores by the likes of Robert Israel and Neil Brand are carefully fitted to the films, sound by sound, moment by moment, with flawless instrumentation. Commentary tracks by author-historians Randy Skretvedt and Richard W. Bann provide new insight into the goings-on.
Chief accomplices Edgar Kennedy (who directed two of the shorts) and Anita Garvin co-star in one of the bonus shorts, “A Pair of Tights.” This one teams statuesque Garvin with petite Marion Byron as a distaff answer to L&H, and it’s a howl. There’s also rare audio featuring Garvin, Roach and Laurel himself, home movies, a souvenir booklet, and many more rarities crammed into this box set. Simply put, it’s a win-win. More info: flickeralley.com.
While the big corporations continually bullshit us that home entertainment is all about streaming, Flicker Alley, Kino Lorber and smaller companies are still producing Blu-rays and DVDs with quality content. Perhaps preeminent among the little guys is Ben Model, alias Undercrank Productions. Currently crowdfunding a new collection of rare Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle films, this outfit is putting out product faster than I can catch up with it.
“Francis Ford: The Craving” brings to Blu-ray new 2K restorations of four movies by a pioneer filmmaker who directed himself in a raft of pictures, beginning in 1909. (The one-time matinee idol then reinvented himself as a character actor in kid brother Jack’s films after mentoring him at the outset of his career. Without Francis, there’d have been no John Ford.)
“Accidentally Preserved: Vol. 5” revives silent four rarities on Blu-ray from the collection of accompanist Jon C. Marsalis, who adorns them with new scores. “Lorraine of the Lions” (1925) stars Patsy Ruth Miller as a female Tarzan; “Love at First Flight” pairs forgotten comic Lige Conley and Daphne Pollard, a familiar face from L&H comedies, with hilarious results. More info: undercrankproductions.com.
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