In our last visit to the Laurel & Hardy Fun House, we listed a total of 107 official L&H films in the canon, plus a number of phonetically-spoken foreign-language films. You may want to print that out for reference.

Now we turn to what is available on the various DVD sets worldwide. And it gets complicated. Before we get started, though, remember that the films we're talking about have been beautifully restored and remastered (at least, that's the case with the sound films) and look far, far better than the cheap, unremastered films available in the U.S. (Most of the films, of course, aren't available at all stateside).

The British Discs

In England there is a 21-disc collection (20 discs available separately; if you buy the box, you get a bonus 21st disc). The box includes the following:

Before the Team (silent films): It includes everything on the list except The Lucky Dog and Now I’ll Tell One. The latter film only partially exists, and isn’t available on any DVD anywhere.

The Laurel & Hardy silents: It includes all of the films except for Hat’s Off, which is lost. There is a Hat’s Off photo gallery, though.

The Laurel & Hardy series (Roach-era talkies): Okay, now it gets REALLY complicated. All films are included (including both versions of Laughing Gravy) except for the following:

The Hollywood Review of 1929 – Feature produced by MGM and owned by Warners
The Rogue Song – Feature produced by MGM; now lost
The Stolen Jools
The Devil’s Brother – MGM feature owned by Warners
Wild Poses (1933) Guest appearance in an Our Gang short
Hollywood Party – MGM feature owned by Warners
Babes in Toyland
Bonnie Scotland – Owned by Warners
Pick a Star – Owned by Warners
The Flying Deuces (1939) 7-reel RKO feature

The post-Roach years: None of these films are included in the set.

Foreign editions: Included in the set are the Spanish films Los Calaveras, Tiembla y Titubea, La Vida Nocturna, Politiquerias, Ladrones, and Noche de Duendes; the French film Les Carottiers; and excerpts from the German film Hinter Schloss Und Riegel.  This is nice, as most of those don’t appear on any other sets. They’re not subtitled, unfortunately.

Bonus films: Unfortunately, most of the bonus materials are colorized versions of the features and shorts. There are some true bonuses, though, including the silent films Along Came Auntie (1926) with Glenn Tryon, Thundering Fleas (1926) with Our Gang, Fluttering Hearts (1927) with Charley Chase, and Jewish Prudence (1927) with Max Davidson. Oliver Hardy is in all save the last one. There’s also the original 1930 cut of Brats, which is slightly different (alternate soundtrack, slightly different footage), and A Tribute to the Boys, a made-for-TV feature about L&H hosted by Dom DeLuise.

The Dutch Discs

The Dutch disc collection is set up as silents (2 volumes of 2 discs each), talkie shorts (3 volumes of 2 discs each), and features (4 volumes of 2 discs each). If you buy all the volumes, you get a bonus disc.

What’s in the Dutch set:

Before the Team: Everything, including the 2 shorts not in the British set, except for Now I’ll Tell One.

Silent shorts: Everything that exists.

Talkies: Excludes Hollywood Review of 1929, The Rogue Song (lost film), Wild Poses, Hollywood Party, and Pick a Star. Includes versions (but not very good ones) of The Devil’s Brother, Bonnie Scotland, and The Flying Deuces.

Post-Roach films: The only one included is The Tree in the Test Tube short.

Foreign: Includes Los Calaveras (Spanish) and Les Carottiers (French).

Other bonuses: The Stan Laurel silent Get ‘em Young (1926), a wealth of newsreel and radio appearances, and Dutch trailers for many of their features.

The German Discs

Okay, here it gets REALLY, REALLY complicated. Unlike the British and Dutch sets, you cannot purchase one box with all the German releases; 20 of the German discs were collected, however, in two 10-disc boxed sets, with five separate discs completing the collection. We’re going to take it, therefore, in three parts.

The first boxed set includes:

Before the Team silents: Why Girls Love Sailors, Sailors Beware!, Sugar Daddies.

L&H silents: Putting Pants on Philip, Soup to Nuts, Their Purple Moment, Early to Bed, We Faw Down, Double Whoopee.

L&H Roach-era talkies: Unaccustomed as we Are, Men O’War, Brats, One Good Turn, Beau Hunks, Helpmates, Any Old Port, County Hospital, Towed in a Hole, Twice Two, Me and My Pal, Sons of the Desert, Going Bye-Bye!, Them Thar Hills, The Live Ghost, Tit for Tat, Way Out West, Block-Heads, A Chump at Oxford, Saps at Sea.

Bonus material includes Crazy Like a Fox (Charley Chase), L&H home movies, trailers, and A Tribute to the Boys.

The second boxed set:

Pre-team silents: Duck Soup, Slipping Wives, Love ‘em and Weep, The Second Hundred Years.
Silent L&H: The Finishing Touch, Should Married Men Go Home?, Two Tars, Wrong Again, Big Business, Angora Love.

Roach L&H talkies: They Go Boom, The Hoose-Gow, Blotto, Below Zero, Hog Wild, Pardon Us, Another Fine Mess, Be Big, Chickens Come Home, Laughing Gravy, Come Clean, The Music Box, Pack Up Your Troubles, Their First Mistake, Busy Bodies, Dirty Work, Babes in Toyland, The Bohemian Girl, Our Relations.

Bonuses include deleted material from Pardon Us, the shorts Be Your Age, Movie Night, and Bromo and Juliet (Charley Chase films), and L&H newsreel and home movie footage.

What's on the other five discs (must be purchased separately):

Als Salontiroler includes Swiss Miss, The Chimp, You’re Darn Tootin’, and the Laurel solo film Short Kilts.
Dick und Doof als Einbrecher u.a. includes Night Owls, The Midnight Patrol, The Fixer-Uppers, Habeas Corpus, two solo Laurel films (The Noon Whistle and Do You Love Your Wife?), and Charley Chase in Limousine Love.
Gelächter in der Nacht u.a. includes Scram!, The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, Our Wife, Do Detectives Think, Flying Elephants, Call of the Cuckoos, Bacon Grabbers.
Zum Nachtisch weiche Birnen u.a. includes Thicker than Water, Oliver the Eighth, With Love and Hisses, That’s My Wife, Liberty, On the Wrong Trek, and Charley Chase in Fluttering Hearts.
Dick & Doof machen eine Landpartie includes Perfect Day, Berth Marks, The Battle of the Century, On the Loose, 45 Minutes from Hollywood, Leave ‘em Laughing, and Big Business.

Another German disc includes the 1939 Oliver Hardy / Harry Langdon Roach feature Zenobia.

Will These Play on Your DVD Player?

If you're in North America, probably not. You need an all-region player that does PAL conversion. You'd think they'd be expensive, but they're not... they are usually the cheaper DVD players, which are sold throughout the world and thus have to be easily programmable for different regions. Google "All Region DVD Player" and you'll find some players you can buy, or look around for info about converting your DVD to all-region (usually, it's as simple as keying in some numbers on your remote). Email us (see "Contact Us") above if you have questions.

Where, and How Much?

The easiest way to order foreign discs is through Amazon; if you have an Amazon.com account, it works at foreign Amazon websites. The British boxed set can be ordered through amazon.co.uk (the current American rate, with delivery charge to the U.S., is about $154), the Dutch set can be ordered through basta.nl (about $240 American) and the German discs through amazon.de.

The German discs are individually about $25 delivered, but the boxed sets are on sale and you can grab each one for about $60. That's $6 per disc, a terrific bargain.

What About Laurel & Hardy Discs That Have been Released in the U.S.?

See the next edition of The Laurel & Hardy Fun House!

L&H Fun House #4 (By Mister Levity)

The Silent Laurel & Hardy Collection from Alpha Video

Vol. 1

THE PAPER HANGER'S HELPER
Oliver Hardy and his dimwitted partner Bobby Ray are incompetent paper hangers who paste a sanatorium with circus posters. This is the old Castle Films home movie version edited down to one reel from its original two reels. The box says it is from 1915 but this is wrong; the film's actual release is 1925. If you want the complete version it is on Kino’s OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION in a much better-looking restored print.

LUCKY DOG
A Stan Laurel comedy made around 1921 and not 1917 as the box states. This is a cut-down ten minute home movie version, ending abruptly after the first reel when bandit Ollie robs Stan. This is the first screen appearance of Laurel and Hardy together. A complete two-reeler version with  much better picture quality print is on the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY Volume 3 DVD.

THE SAW MILL - Oliver Hardy & Larry Semon (1921)
This is a Larry Semon starring two-reeler with Oliver Hardy playing his typical bad guy role. Lots of crazy sight gags and stunts in this one. A much better restored print is on the KINO "OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION" DVD.
 
HOP TO IT, BELLHOP  with Oliver Hardy & Bobby Ray (1922)
Hardy and Ray are bellhops in a hotel. Not a bad copy, but a much better restored version is on Kino’s “OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION" DVD.

KID SPEED - Oliver Hardy & Larry Semon (1924)
Another Larry Semon comedy featuring a wacky car race with Hardy again in bad  guy mode as a racer cheating at every turn. Fairly ok print here.
 
YES, YES, NANETTE – With Oliver Hardy & James Finlayson. Directed by: Stan Laurel (1926)
A Jimmy Finlayson starring short with Hardy in a brief sequence rough-housing Jim. Pretty good print but a much better restored copy is on Kino’s "STAN LAUREL COLLECTION" DVD.

ENOUGH TO DO (1926)
Another pruned home movie one-reel version of the two-reeler WANDERING PAPAS starring Clyde Cooke as a work camp chef and Ollie as a bruiser foreman. Print is alright but we only get the first reel here. The compete restored version is on THE LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY volume 9.
 
Volume Two:
 
THE HOBO (1917) with Billy West and Oliver Hardy.
Billy West doing his excellent Charlie Chaplin impersonation. Billy is the hobo who outsmarts villain Hardy over confusion around a stolen automobile.

THE SHOW (1922)  Starring Larry Semon.
Another rowdy Larry Semon fest with cartoon sight gags galore and Oliver Hardy once again as the bad guy who steals the bag of cash resulting in one of the best railroad chases ever.  A much better restored quality print is on Kino’s "OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION".
 
THE SOILERS (1923) Starring Stan Laurel & James Finlayson.
Stan Laurel's classic parody of THE SOILERS. I didn’t even bother watching this as an excellent complete restore version is on Kino’s “STAN LAUREL COLLECTION”.

WHITE WINGS (1923) Starring  Stan Laurel.
Street sweeper Stan finds himself on the lam from the cops and is then mistaken for a road show dentist where he performs outrageous oral surgery on a number of patients. Print quality is ok, not the best. A better print is on mk2/Lobster Films Region 2 PAL “Stan Laurel Shorts Collection” from France.
 
SHOULD SAILORS MARRY? (1925) Starring Clyde Cook with Oliver Hardy.
This is a Clyde Cook Hal Roach comedy with Hardy playing a doctor in one sequence. Better prints are on Kino’s “OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION” and LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY volume 4.

THUNDERING FLEAS  Our Gang with Oliver Hardy.
To be honest, I am not an Our Gang fan so I never bothered watching this one. But I read some reviews elsewhere that say this is a very contrasty print making viewing hard to watch images. 
 
Volume Three:

SHORT KILTS (1924) Starring Stan Laurel & Jimmy Finlayson.
Better copies are in Kino’s STAN LAUREL COLLECTION and the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY Volume 5.

SMITHY (1924)  Starring Stan Laurel with Jimmy Finlayson.
After being discharged from the army Stan ‘Smithy’ gets a job building houses where he becomes boss of his ex-sergeant Finlayson. Pretty good print here from an old home movie issue with an organ score that periodically goes into The Dance of the Cuckoos!

ALONG CAME AUNTIE (1926) Starring Glenn Tryon, Vivian Oakland and Oliver Hardy.
Vivian rents a room to her ex-husband Ollie causing chaos between her current hubby Tryon and an unexpected visiting Auntie. Better copies can be found on the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY Volume 3 and KINO'S "OLIVER HARDY COLLECTION".

THE STOLEN JEWELS (1931) Laurel and Hardy cameo.
Not bad but a much better copy is on Kino’s restored FLYING DEUCES DVD as one of the extras.

HOME MOVIES – Stan Laurel’s 16mm home movies, the same ones here that are popping up on a number of other DVDs lately. Personally I don’t like watching other people’s home movies, feels like peeking through a keyhole.
 
THE TREE IN A TEST TUBE (1943)  Laurel and Hardy in color.
Pretty bad third rate duped looking version here. Better looking copies are on Kino’s restored FLYING DEUCES  DVD. 

Volume Four:
 
MUD AND SAND (1923)  Stan Laurel.
Old duped looking home movie version. A much better restored version is on mk2/Lobster Films Region2 PAL “STAN LAUREL SHORTS COLLECTION”.
 
ORANGES AND LEMONS (1923) Starring Stan Laurel as a kooky orange picker who gets into all sorts of trouble with his boss and coworkers. Much better quality copies are on Kino’s STAN LAUREL COLLECTION and the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY volume 2.

WEST OF HOT DOG (1924) - Stan Laurel goes west to collect an inheritance and winds up battling bad cowboys. A far superior copy is on Kino’s STAN LAUREL COLLECTION.

BROMO AND JULIET (1926)Starring Charley Chase with Oliver Hardy.
Charley is late for his performance in a local stage play. A much better picture quality copy is on the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL AND HARDY Volume 3.
 
CRAZY LIKE A FOX (1926) Starring Charley Chase with Oliver Hardy.
A much nicer copy is on the LOST FILMS OF LAUREL & HARDY Volume 6 DVD.
 
--Mister Levity

L&H FUN HOUSE #5

The past few articles here in the Laurel & Hardy Fun House have concerned themselves with the films of Stan & Ollie, most of which are available on DVD only from Germany, Belgium, or England. We’ve also had an overview of the L&H films available in the low-cost Alpha Video series. (All previous articles can be accessed HERE). By the way, although most writers tend to refer to Mr. Hardy as "Babe" (his off-screen nickname), here in the Balcony he'll always be Ollie to us.

Those of you who Americans who want to collect some of the best of the Boys without going the all-region route, you can find a terrific collection of their films available here in the states: the Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy collection from Image Entertainment. The 60 films on the set represent the complete existing collection of silent L&H films, plus an assortment of solo films and miscellaneous Hal Roach product.
 
The Lost Films series is pricey; the 10 discs are only available separately (no boxed set) with a suggested retail price of $29.98 each. Amazon has them for about $3 cheaper, and some Amazon sellers have them for less than that. They also show up on eBay from time to time. Still, at six films (mostly 2-reelers) per disc, even at $30 you’re paying $5 per film (half the price of the films when they were released on VHS), and they’re well worth it. The films have been digitally remastered from the finest possible sources, and many of them feature original Vitaphone soundtracks.
 
Vol. 1
 
Big Business (1927) Stan & Ollie are door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen. One of the screen’s great comedies.
 
Do Detectives Think? (1927) Judge James Finlayson hires a pair of dopey detectives as bodyguards to protect him from an escaped convict.
 
Call of the Cuckoo (1927) Very funny Max Davidson short with L&H and Charley Chase in supporting roles.
 
The Finishing Touch (1928) The Boys are carpenters trying to build a home – quietly – next to a hospital. Kennedy the Cop is keeping them on their toes.
 
On the Front Page (1926) One of Stan’s final films sans Ollie; he’s the butler and nursemaid to a spoiled young publishing magnate. With Lillian Roth.
 
Hustling for Health (1918) One of the five films Stan made for Roach in his first stint at that studio. With Bud Jamison.
 
Vol. 2
 
Double Whoopee (1929) The Boys are employees at a swank hotel, and they proceed to unswank it in their inimitable way. With Jean Harlow.
 
Early to Bed (1928) Ollie inherits a fortune, and hires Stan as his butler. Unusual film in that there is no cast besides the two stars.
 
Angora Love (1929) The Boys are trying to hide their pet goat from the landlord. With Charley Hall and Edgar Kennedy; their last silent film.
 
Sugar Daddies (1927) A thug chases L&H through an amusement park.
 
Also includes two Stan Laurel solo films, Roughest Africa and Oranges and Lemons (both 1923).
 
Vol. 3
 
Liberty (1929) One of the duo’s funniest films; they’re trapped atop an unfinished skyscraper. Directed by Leo McCarey.
 
We Faw Down (1928) Stan & Ollie sneak away from their wives to attend a Lodge meeting; precursor to their great feature Sons of the Desert.
 
The Lucky Dog (1918) Made circa 1921; the first known on-screen appearance of Laurel and Hardy in a film together. Stan’s a dog-lover, Ollie’s a hold-up man.

Love ’em and Weep (1927) The Boys help a blackmailed politician. Remade as a talkie three years later (Chickens Come Home).
 
Bromo and Juliet (1926) Very funny Charley Chase film with Oliver Hardy.
 
Along Came Auntie (1926) A Glenn Tryon comedy with Hardy as the heavy.
 
Vol. 4
 
They Go Boom! (1929) One of the Boys’ first talkies; Stan helps Ollie nurse a bad cold.
 
Their Purple Moment (1928) L&H sneak out on their wives to go nightclubbing, not knowing that their better halves have stolen their wallets.
 
Bacon Grabbers (1929) Stan & Ollie are trying to repossess Edgar Kennedy’s radio.
 
Unaccustomed as we Are (1929) Silent version of the first L&H sound film, released simultaneously for those theatres not yet set up for talkies. With Thelma Todd.
 
On the Wrong Trek (1936) The Boys have a gag appearance in one of Charley Chase’s best talkies.
 
Should Sailors Marry? (1925) A Clyde Cook comedy with Hardy in a supporting role.
 
Vol. 5
 
Wrong Again (1929) Stan & Ollie are looking for a stolen Gainsborough painting, but end up with a horse named “Blue Boy” instead.
 
Habeas Corpus (1929) The Boys are grave robbers for a mad scientist.
 
Duck Soup (1927) L&H are a couple of tramps who masquerade as a millionaire and his maid. Remade a few years later as Another Fine Mess.
 
Leave ’em Laughing (1927) The Boys are inebriated by a dentist’s laughing gas. With Edgar Kennedy.
 
Includes Fluttering Hearts (1927) with Charley Chase and Oliver Hardy and Short Kilts (1924) with James Finlayson and Stan Laurel.
 
Vol. 6
 
That’s My Wife (1929) Stan has to masquerade as Ollie’s missing wife to help Hardy gain an inheritance.
 
Flying Elephants (1928) L&H (and James Finlayson) are cavemen in prehysterical times.

Putting Pants on Philip (1928) Wildly funny short with Ollie determined to get his Scottish cousin out of his kilts.
 
45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926) A Hal Roach “All Star” comedy; the first Roach film to feature both Laurel and Hardy before the cameras.
 
Includes Crazy like a Fox (1926) with Charley Chase and Oliver Hardy and The Soilers (1923), a very funny one-reeler with Stan Laurel and James Finlayson.
 
Vol. 7
 
Unaccustomed as we Are (1929) Stan & Ollie in their first talkie; with Thelma Todd.
 
Should Married Men Go Home? (1928) L&H and Edgar Kennedy go on a golf outing.
 
Sailors, Beware! (1927) Stan is a stowaway on Ollie’s yacht in another atypical outing.
 
With Love and Hisses (1927) Post-World War I comedy with L&H and Finlayson.
 
Double Whoopee (1929) “Talkie” version: Some L&H fans dubbed in voices. A bad idea.
 
Mixed Nuts (1934) Great Roach “All Star” musical short about a group of chorus girls sent to finishing school. Without any of the familiar Roach faces, but with a lot of beautiful women and peppy musical numbers.
 
Vol. 8
 
Two Tars (1928) A true comic gem; L&H are gobs stuck in a traffic jam on a country road. Vehicular destruction ensues.
 
The Second Hundred Years (1927) The Boys are cons trying to escape from prison.
 
Slipping Wives (1927) Stan is hired by a beautiful woman (Priscilla Dean) to make her husband jealous, but butler Ollie gets in the way.
 
From Soup to Nuts (1928) The Boys are manservants to a nouveau riche couple.
 
Includes Scorching Sands (a/k/a Under Two Jags, 1923) with Stan & Mae Laurel and Should Tall Men Marry (1927) with Laurel & Finlayson.
 
Vol. 9
 
You’re Darn Tootin’ (1922) A band concert turns into a free-for-all brawl. Directed by Edgar Kennedy.
 
Battle of the Century (1928) The world’s greatest pie fight. Unfortunately, the film does not exist in complete form, but here are two versions for your viewing enjoyment, one of which contains the cutting continuity and still pictures to show you what’s missing. Look for Lou Costello as an extra.
 
Why Girls Love Sailors (1927) Stan & Ollie are asea with Anita Garvin.
 
Also includes Wandering Papas (1927) with Clyde Cook and Hardy, Mum’s the Word (1926) with Charley Chase, and Chase’s greatest silent comedy, Mighty Like a Moose (1926).
 
Laurel & Hardy and Friends
 
For some reason, Vol. 10 carried the “and Friends” name when it was released.
 
Be Big! (1930) With Stan’s help, Ollie pretends to be ill so he can go out partying.
 
Our Gang Follies of 1938 – Spanky wants Alfalfa to croon in his show, but Alfalfa wants to be an opera singer. With Henry Brandon. Also includes two other Our Gang shorts, Bear Shooters and School’s Out (1930), both from the Jackie Cooper era of the Gang.
 
The Stolen Jools (1931) The Boys have a cameo appearance in this all-star short for charity. Our Gang is here, too, as is Buster Keaton and too many others to list.
 
Whispering Whoopee (1930) Hilarious Charley Chase / Thelma Todd short.

There's one other U.S. release that's L&H fans should own, the Kino Video Special Edition of the 1939 RKO-Radio release The Flying Deuces (SRP $14.95). The film's in the public domain and is available from Alpha and many other companies, but the Kino version has been restored and remastered and is of sterling quality. It contains The Stolen Jools and other tasty L&H treats, too.