Topic: Laurel & Hardy Year 2 Blu-ray forthcoming

[falsealarms]

Exciting news today from Flicker Alley:

Announcing the next addition to the Flicker Alley catalog, now available for pre-order: Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films® present Laurel & Hardy: Year Two, The Newly Restored 1928 Silents, a deluxe Blu-ray 2-disc collection of ten newly restored films that showcase the evolving chemistry of the legendary comedy duo.

We invite you to experience the hilarious follow-up to our award winning set that celebrated the beginnings of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy’s iconic partnership. Laurel & Hardy: Year Two offers ten more newly restored comedy shorts, picking up right where Year One left off.

Following their initial pairing in early 1927, Laurel and Hardy ended their first year on top. Their success moving into 1928 galvanized the efforts of everyone at Hal Roach Studios (including famed director Leo McCarey), who proudly upped their game in support of the winning comedy duo. Whether wreaking accidental havoc as a two-man band, doing battle against one another as millionaire and butler, or even becoming grave robbers for a mad scientist, Laurel and Hardy prove in their second year that they have what it takes to not only win over audiences in the twilight of the silent era, but generate enough momentum to make a successful transition to “talkies” in 1929.

Although their names are synonymous with the very idea of comedy, few of the original negatives for Laurel and Hardy’s early silent work survive, elements only available from scattered sources throughout the world, often in substantially less than pristine shape. It took the team at Blackhawk Films four years to gather all surviving film elements, to meticulously compare them shot by shot, and to complete the best digital restorations possible. Today, these beloved shorts look as new as they did nearly a century ago.

Featuring all new restorations sourced from best available materials contributed by archives and collectors around the world restored by Blackhawk Films® and FPA Classics, this comprehensive deluxe Blu-ray 2-Disc collection features their ten 1928 films as a team and additional films from the Hal Roach Studios that showcase their final solo short film appearances, as well as the shift from silent films to films featuring music and synchronized sound effects.

Shorts on the Laurel & Hardy: Year Two set include:

Leave 'em Laughing
The Finishing Touch
From Soup to Nuts
You're Darn Tootin'
Their Purple Moment
Should Married Men Go Home?
Early to Bed
Two Tars
Habeas Corpus
We Faw Down

Each film features a newly recorded score from some of the best silent film composers working today, including Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola, and Andrea Benz. The release is curated by film historians and Laurel and Hardy specialists; Randy Skretvedt, Dick Bann, Serge Bromberg, and Eric Lange.

BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:

Audio Commentary Tracks – For each film by historians and authors Randy Skretvedt and Richard Bann
Exclusive, Rare Audio – Featuring Anita Garvin, Thomas Benton Roberts, and Hal Roach, from personal interviews conducted by historian Randy Skretvedt
Additional Musical Scores – Alternate audio options, including fully restored original 1928 Vitaphone tracks on Habeas Corpus and We Faw Down
Laurel & Hardy On-Location in Year Two – A video essay by historian John Bengtson on selected location exteriors
Eve’s Love Letters (1927) – One of Stan Laurel’s final solo films, directed by Leo McCarey and written by Laurel himself, from rare 35mm elements
Galloping Ghosts (1928) – Two surviving fragments of a rare solo Oliver Hardy comedy
A Pair of Tights (1928) – A short starring Anita Garvin and Marion Byron, who were teamed to try and replicate the success of Laurel and Hardy
George Mann’s Home Movies – From behind the scenes of Hal Roach Studios, including the filming of Should Married Men go Home?
A Complete, 20-minute Interview – By Tony Thomas with Stan Laurel, recorded in January 1959, the year after Oliver Hardy’s death
Film Specific Image Galleries – Containing original publicity materials, press reviews, and rare production stills
Souvenir Booklet – Containing a new collection introduction by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange; A look at the supporting players and other creative personnel in the world of Hal Roach Studios by historian Sara Imogen Smith; A new essay exploring the development of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system in 1928 by Randy Skredvedt; and comprehensive notes on each film

Product page: https://flickeralley.com/products/laurel-hardy-year-two?

[Tony Bensley]

Exciting news today from Flicker Alley:

Product page: https://flickeralley.com/products/laurel-hardy-year-two?

The one title I've been anticipating this year! It's already on my Christmas Wish List!!

CHEERS!

[metaldams]

Yeeeaaahhhh boooyyyyyeeeee-ah!

[falsealarms]

A Pair of Tights (1928) sounds really interesting .... I've never seen it. Probably one of my most anticipated titles on here, actually.

A great set of bonuses overall that definitely trumps what the 1927 set had.

[GreenCanaries]

A great set of bonuses overall that definitely trumps what the 1927 set had.

I would imagine they had more room to up the ante on the bonuses here since there are less L&H shorts on this set.

The Flicker Alley YouTube channel posted an excerpt from their restoration of EARLY TO BED:

Can't wait!

[NoahYoung]

A Pair of Tights (1928) sounds really interesting .... I've never seen it. Probably one of my most anticipated titles on here, actually.

It's really good. Most of it can be seen in WHEN COMEDY WAS KING. That version has a few bits not in my Super 8 Blackhawk, for some reason. I assume it is fully complete on this new disc.

[NoahYoung]

The Flicker Alley YouTube channel posted an excerpt from their restoration of EARLY TO BED:

I'm used to watching these with just the sound of my projector in the background. I'm not a big fan of solo piano music for silent films. I much prefer music as in the Youngson compilations, where this clip from EARLY TO BED can be seen in THE FURTHER PERILS OF LAUREL AND HARDY.

I've always felt that most of the "book writers" back in the 60s and 70s gave that short an unfair bad rap, the exception being Charles Barr in his book, LAUREL AND HARDY. EARLY TO BED was a change of pace before the "pace" even got close to being over-used.

It is also interesting to note that Stan inserted a scene somewhat like this in ONE GOOD TURN so that his daughter could finally see him getting the best of Ollie. I'm curious why he didn't just screen her a print of EARLY TO BED.

I'm also not a fan at all of freeze frames being used for inter-titles. It takes me out of the moment and reminds me that I'm watching a digital presentation rather than a real film. So I disagree with the ad copy that proclaims, "Today, these beloved shorts look as new as they did nearly a century ago." Well, they did say "as new" rather than "as good."

Perhaps all they had were "flash titles" (one or two frames of film for the titles.) If that were the case, why not use some "digital trickery" to make it look like film rolling during the inter-titles rather than a freeze frame?

I'm curious how complete WE FAW DOWN is. My 8mm Blackhawk copy is missing a few bits, including some that were included in THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY.

Regarding Serge Bromberg -- isn't he in jail? He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2023 for a deadly fire due to his irresponsible act of storing nitrate film in an apartment building.

After TWO TARS, the best film in this collection is THE FINISHING TOUCH -- at least IMO.

[Tony Bensley]

A Pair of Tights (1928) sounds really interesting .... I've never seen it. Probably one of my most anticipated titles on here, actually.

A great set of bonuses overall that definitely trumps what the 1927 set had.

It will certainly complement the 1927 Year One set!

It's really good. Most of it can be seen in WHEN COMEDY WAS KING. That version has a few bits not in my Super 8 Blackhawk, for some reason. I assume it is fully complete on this new disc.

A PAIR OF TIGHTS (1928) has seen prior release on DVD in complete form, so I would assume and expect it will be fully complete in this upcoming Blu-ray release. A nice complement to WE FAW DOWN (1928) from which unused footage was incorporated for this Anita Garvin/Marion Byron vehicle!

CHEERS! 

EDIT: Serge Bromberg got early release. As I recall, he had expressed great remorse at his trial, which was taken into consideration. I also believe his sentencing was well before 2023, as by 2023 Serge already had "Liberty!" in time to contribute his extra for the Laurel & Hardy: Year One set.

[NoahYoung]

It will certainly complement the 1927 Year One set!
A PAIR OF TIGHTS (1928) has seen prior release on DVD in complete form, so I would assume and expect it will be fully complete in this upcoming Blu-ray release. A nice complement to WE FAW DOWN (1928) from which unused footage was incorporated for this Anita Garvin/Marion Byron vehicle!

CHEERS! 

EDIT: Serge Bromberg got early release. As I recall, he had expressed great remorse at his trial, which was taken into consideration. I also believe his sentencing was well before 2023, as by 2023 Serge already had "Liberty!" in time to contribute his extra for the Laurel & Hardy: Year One set.

It says 2023 here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Bromberg

Remorse or not, people died -- and now victims' families are still suffering.

Regarding the WE FAW DOWN unused footage being used in A PAIR OF TIGHTS, I just checked a few books on my shelf, including Skretvedt's, and I could find no info on that. Where did you read that? Thnx.

And I've never been clear if the pants-changing footage in LIBERTY was actually what was filmed for WE FAW DOWN. The Skretvedt book (first edition) is not clear on that.

[Tony Bensley]

It says 2023 here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Bromberg

Remorse or not, people died -- and now victims' families are still suffering.

Regarding the WE FAW DOWN unused footage being used in A PAIR OF TIGHTS, I just checked a few books on my shelf, including Skretvedt's, and I could find no info on that. Where did you read that? Thnx.

And I've never been clear if the pants-changing footage in LIBERTY was actually what was filmed for WE FAW DOWN. The Skretvedt book (first edition) is not clear on that.

I'd have to recheck my 2019 paperback Skretvedt printed edition regarding the "A Pair Of Tight's" references for his WE FAW DOWN entry. I've definitely seen and/or heard about the use of unused footage from the latter for the former title (Pair) from multiple sources. Hopefully, Randy and/or Richard will clarify this in their included commentary for the upcoming Year Two Blu-ray set!

Spot on about people dying due to Serge's severe carelessness! No amount of remorse will bring them back or stop the horrible grief of their loved ones!! 

[Mark The Shark]

Regarding how very few of the silent negatives survive, many of them HAD survived but were carelessly lost while in the custody of the guy who brought them to Laserdisc, VHS and DVD some 25 years ago. That said, they did a beautiful job on most of the Year One films.

[NoahYoung]

Regarding how very few of the silent negatives survive, many of them HAD survived but were carelessly lost while in the custody of the guy who brought them to Laserdisc, VHS and DVD some 25 years ago. That said, they did a beautiful job on most of the Year One films.

You mean Michael Agee -- I've read nothing but bad things about him -- but people can write whatever they want on the Internet! He issued "The Lost Films.." as you mentioned, then was supposed to have issued a huge box set with all the silents -- people claimed they sent him money but never got anything -- something like that -- who knows what is true? I thought Richard Feiner had the rights to the L&H silents at some point -- I know he successfully sued M-G-M/UA when they released LAUREL AND HARDY'S LAUGHING TWENTIES on laser disc, which forced them to recall the discs.

I'll beat a dead horse now -- Blackhawk released the silents on 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm when they had access to the original negatives when they were still in existence. I have them all, and about a month ago decided to start upgrading them to 16mm -- at least for the ones I consider the best. I now have TWO TARS (2 different copies -- one with original main and inter-titles titles, one with Blackhawk main and inter-titles), BACON GRABBERS, and YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN' in 16mm.

At since these new discs are a Blackhawk Films and FPA (Film Preservation Associates) production, they should have access to at least the 16mm negs that Blackhawk had made years ago, and that David Shepard preserved when he ran FPA. Where the OCNs in 35mm no longer exist, these 16mm negs may offer the best quality currently available.

For the YEAR 3 set, I wonder if they will include both versions of BIG BUSINESS. "Both?" you may ask. Yes, and I have both in Super 8 from Blackhawk. The better one in terms of image quality was from the European negative with camera 'B', which was right next to camera 'A'. So the 'B' camera has a different angle and is slightly inferior in that respect.

The ad copy says they used "scattered sources throughout the world", so I wonder which films are actually from camera 'B'? Chaplin films have 'C' and 'D' negatives, too, which were from 2 different cameras, but different takes as well. In other words, the alternate take is the same, but the angles for 'C' and 'D' are different. I'm not sure if L&H silents had 'C' and 'D' negs. I know at least one Buster Keaton did -- STEAMBOAT BILL, JR, and both were issued on disc and many scenes are noticeably different takes.

[NoahYoung]

I'd have to recheck my 2019 paperback Skretvedt printed edition regarding the "A Pair Of Tight's" references for his WE FAW DOWN entry. I've definitely seen and/or heard about the use of unused footage from the latter for the former title (Pair) from multiple sources. Hopefully, Randy and/or Richard will clarify this in their included commentary for the upcoming Year Two Blu-ray set!

I have this "thing" about not buying a subsequent version of a book I already have. I bought it when it first came out. I was bummed when a few years later it was updated. Same thing with MacGallivray's book, I bought the first edition when it came out -- but not the second, which was updated and much larger.

Same way I don't like to double/triple-dip with discs.

[NoahYoung]

Regarding "flash titles", 9.5 mm films have them. I've never handled 9.5 mm films, but I've read that the film has special notches or something like that at the 2 title frames, which pauses the projector for a few seconds so you can read them. It sounds like something Rube Goldberg would have thought up. I'm not sure what the advantage of that was over printing the title frame multiple times. How much money did they save on film stock using that method???

A lot of people (relatively speaking among the film collecting community) still use 9.5mm projectors and collect 9.5mm films -- but I'll stick to 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm.

[NoahYoung]

I wonder if the new disc will  have any more behind the scenes footage of SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME? than what is shown here:

[NoahYoung]

A Pair of Tights (1928) sounds really interesting .... I've never seen it. Probably one of my most anticipated titles on here, actually.

If you don't wanna wait:

or the abridgement from the Youngson Compliation, at 41:43 (has a few bits not in above Blackhawk print.

[Tony Bensley]

While Flicker Alley hasn't updated their main page for this upcoming release, the following text DID appear on my Email from them that I received 2 days ago on Friday. Note that the one reel fragment of Charley Chase's NOW I'LL TELL ONE (1927) is included on that list! I also bolded the text to make it easier to spot:

Updated Bonus Materials:

    Audio Commentary Tracks – For each film by historians and authors Randy Skretvedt and Richard Bann
    Exclusive, Rare Audio - Featuring Anita Garvin, Thomas Benton Roberts, and Hal Roach, from personal interviews conducted by historian Randy Skretvedt
    Additional Musical Scores – Alternate audio options, including fully restored original 1928 Vitaphone tracks on Habeas Corpus and We Faw Down
    Laurel & Hardy On-Location in Year Two – A video essay by historian John Bengtson on selected location exteriors
    Now I’ll Tell One (1927) – A rare one-reel fragment of the Charley Chase short that features Laurel and Hardy
    Eve’s Love Letters (1927) – One of Stan Laurel’s final solo films, directed by Leo McCarey and written by Laurel himself, from rare 35mm elements
    Galloping Ghosts (1928) – Two surviving fragments of a rare solo Oliver Hardy comedy
    A Pair of Tights (1929) – A short starring Anita Garvin and Marion Byron, who were teamed to try and replicate the success of Laurel and Hardy
    George Mann’s Home Movies – From behind the scenes of Hal Roach Studios, including the filming of Should Married Men Go Home?
    A Complete, 20-minute Interview – By Tony Thomas with Stan Laurel, recorded in January 1959, the year after Oliver Hardy’s death
    Film Specific Image Galleries – Containing original publicity materials, press reviews, and rare production stills
    Souvenir Booklet – Containing a new collection introduction by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange; A look at the supporting players and other creative personnel in the world of Hal Roach Studios by historian Sara Imogen Smith; A new essay exploring the development of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system in 1928 by Randy Skredvedt; and comprehensive notes on each film
    English SDH Subtitles
    Blu-ray Authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
    All Region Encoding (A,B,C)

I was able to post screenshots in this thread from Home Theater Forum. It is post #19:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/flicker-alley-press-release-laurel-hardy-year-two-1928-blu-ray.383661/#post-5358811

CHEERS! 

[Mark The Shark]

Richard Roberts has confirmed that the reel of "Now I'll Tell One' will also be on the Charley Chase 1927 silents set.

[NoahYoung]

I wonder if A PAIR OF TIGHTS will be complete.

[Tony Bensley]

I wonder if A PAIR OF TIGHTS will be complete.

Considering A PAIR OF TIGHTS (1929) was released complete about a decade ago, it definitely should be!

CHEERS!

[Tony Bensley]

Richard Roberts has confirmed that the reel of "Now I'll Tell One' will also be on the Charley Chase 1927 silents set.

The scene with Charley Chase & Stan Laurel from NOW I'LL TELL ONE (1927) appears 20 seconds into the minute long trailer of the upcoming Blu-ray release:

CHEERS! 

[NoahYoung]

That piano music is "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie" (1925) which was actually used under the titles of some of his early talkies. It was not written specifically for Chase, and it is a jazz standard.

It is sung here by Ella Fitzgerald in one of her best albums, taking the title from the song.
From 1961:

And from 1939, by Count Basie:

[Tony Bensley]

Flicker Alley's page for Laurel & Hardy: Year Two has been updated to include all of the Bonus Features, including the recently added NOW I'LL TELL ONE (1927) extant one reel fragment: https://flickeralley.com/products/laurel-hardy-year-two

CHEERS!