Recent Posts

21

Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Three Stooges shorts coming to Blu-ray this summer

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 11:03:54 PM »

When I catch a short on MeTV they certainly look great, but occasionally they seem to edit them. U can't win.

22

Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Our Gang silents being prepped for DVD/Blu Ray

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 10:57:11 PM »

At first glance, I though his helmet said Vietnam! 

Now that this thread popped up again -- I again thought it said "Vietnam" on his helmet. Kinda spooky considering how old the film is.
 

23

Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Charley Chase 1927 silents DVD/Blu-ray forthcoming

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 10:47:12 PM »

Is "The Way Of All Pants" complete?  I thought all that existed was the clip in THE FURTHER PERILS OF L&H. I've seen "Fluttering Hearts" which is probably still on youtube where I downloaded it from. If not on archive.org. It is very funny.

I've seen the clips from The Sting of Stings and Us in THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMEDY and 4 CLOWNS, respectively.
Call of the Cuckoo is very funny, but it is a Max Davidson short, and his parts are the best. I assume it is only clips because the whole short is on one of the new L&H collections. The "plot" is pretty much stolen from Buster Keaton's ONE WEEK.

Other than those, I'm not sure there are many people still alive who have seen the others (except those who workled on the set) -- so when the set is released we will find out which ones are the best!

That being said, late silent Chase at M-G-M is supposed to be the creme de la creme. I just wish his talkies were as consistently funny. There are many gems there but unfortunately it is roughly 50/50 to find an above average Chase talkie. With L&H it's like 90/10! (I won't get into the whole statistical thing with how they can't all be above average by the definition of average. Are we talking average for Chase, or all shorts at Roach, or shorts from anyone in that era?)

24

Random Comedy Reviews / Re: A TOUGH WINTER (1930) Our Gang

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 10:32:06 PM »

I liked the kids in the kitchen stuff.

Problem is most people are asleep before it gets to some semi-good stuff.

Stepin Fetchit somehow made Farina look like Albert Einstein.  The night school line was funny, but my God, that character is just plain demeaning - and I don’t consider myself easy to offend.

There's a reason this one was removed from the TV syndication package by the 70s. The actor's name was actually Lincoln Perry. He created the character in vaudeville long before this short was made. Roach simply hired him to play his character. There was a rumor that Roach planned to make a series of shorts with him as the star and that this was sort of a "pilot." Some sources say Roahc planned on using him just in Our Gang films. Perry actually became a millionaire in the 30s. A million is still a lot today -- imagine during the Depression??? I would have demeaned myself in films back then to make that kind of dough, and I would have cried all the way to the bank!

I can see the A PLUMBING WE WILL GO similarities with the appliances for sure.  Not sure if there was a direct influence.

By 1939, A TOUGH WINTER was probably long-forgotten. We'd have to check the people behind the scenes to see if any worked on both shorts. The Monogram theatrical re-issues didn't start until 1950..

25

Random Comedy Reviews / Re: A TOUGH WINTER (1930) Our Gang

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 10:19:06 PM »

The sound wasn't recorded well at all on this one and it is hard to understand much of the dialog.
This was their last release of their first season of talkies -- so you think by then the sound would have been better. Others before it have better sound. Not sure if the sound was just on disc originally -- which could explain it.

Just about every short from PUPS IS PUPS to their last Roach short was better than anything from their 1929/30 talkie season -- except THE AWFUL TOOTH. I'd say GENERAL SPANKY, too, but that was a feature.

26

General Discussion / Re: The New SHEMP BOOK

« Last post by NoahYoung on November 25, 2024, 10:14:23 PM »

Does the book have any info on how many birthdays Shemp had? I'm curious about that.

No one bit. He had exactly one birth day -- just like everyone else!
 

27

Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Charley Chase 1927 silents DVD/Blu-ray forthcoming

« Last post by falsealarms on November 24, 2024, 07:32:09 AM »

Perhaps overshadowed by the new Laurel & Hardy 1928 set that just came out, but this Chase set finally streets on Tuesday 11/26. As of this post, it's about $25 on Amazon, or half of the Laurel & Hardy 1928 set.

I haven't seen a single film on this set - if anyone here has, curious which ones are considered the best.

Films on the Chase set:

There Ain't No Santa Claus

Many Scrappy Returns

Are Brunettes Safe?

A One Mama Man

Forgotten Sweeties

Bigger And Better Blondes

Fluttering Hearts

What Women Did For Me

The Sting of Stings

The Lighter That Failed

Now I'll Tell One (Reel 2)

The Way Of All Pants

Us

Assistant Wives

Never the Dames Shall Meet (surviving footage and still recreation)

Extras

The Merry Widower

Call of the Cuckoo (excerpt)

Smile, Buttercup, Smile

Photo Gallery

Commentary tracks by Richard M Roberts

28

Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Three Stooges shorts coming to Blu-ray this summer

« Last post by Larrys#1 on November 22, 2024, 04:07:15 PM »

Do you mean that these were originally scanned in 1080 for the DVDs, and then downscaled for release in that original set?

If they are on plain-vanilla blu-ray, they can't be 4K. And even on 4K would be useless unless they were scanned at 4k. What would they fill in the additional pixels with? (The # of pixels when you subtract the # of pixels in 1080HD from the # of pixels in 4K. That's 8.3 million minus 2 million.) That would display more "made-up" pixels than pixels that resulted from the actual scan!

BTW, on real film, you are seeing everything photographed on the days the shorts were filmed -- nothing more, nothing less. No grain is "made up" to make it look better.
 

I believe they were originally scanned in 1080 and then downscaled for the DVDs. I really can't say for sure whether they rescanned the same prints again for the Blu-ray or used the same scans as the DVDs & just did some additional restoration. Because while they look like the same prints as the DVDs, they just look crisper and cleaner on the Blu-rays. I'm not exaggerating when I say these look absolutely beautiful on Blu-ray. It's such a shame 90 shorts were omitted.

29

General Discussion / Re: Stooges in serious roles

« Last post by Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on November 22, 2024, 01:49:02 PM »

How about Moe's role in Give a Man A Job when Moe says to Jimmy Durante " I'm a plumber" ?  It's a nothing line in a nothing part, but it's certainly not comedic.

30

General Discussion / Re: Stooges in serious roles

« Last post by Big Chief Apumtagribonitz on November 21, 2024, 11:27:29 PM »

This may be the least successful thread ever on this site, for the simple reason that the stooges by their very nature were NEVER serious.  Nevertheless, I might mention the spot in Snow White and the Three Stooges when it appears that Snow White is really dead and Moe's eyes get awfully red.