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Rating: 
Summary: SOME CORRECTIONS REGARDING THIS DVD
Review: Just to correct some information regarding Laurel and Hardy Volume Two: The Production Company is Hal Roach Studios, not Image Entertainment. (That's why they had access to the original 35mm camera negatives and sound discs.) The DVD is NOT REGIONALLY ENCODED and will play on any DVD machine (as it states on the package).
Rating: 
Summary: More Laurel & Hardy silent shorts from the late 1920's
Review: Volume 2 of this series includes four silent two-reelers for Hal Roach-MGM in the late 1920s. "Double Whoopee" was directed by Lewis Foster in 1929, with a story by Leo McCarey and a notable "appearance" by screen siren Jean Harlow (she loses the back half of her dress in a cab door). Laurel & Hardy arrive at a swank New York hotel and are mistaken for visiting royalty until they are revealed to be just doormen. Once they set to work they offend all of the guests, the local cop and a visiting prince. Hardy gets most of the good gags although the best is when Laurel is stripped to his underwear and starts ripping off everybody else's clothes. "Early to Bed," directed by Emmett Flynn in 1928, is an atypical Laurel & Hardy outing because this time the boys go after each other. Hardy inherits a fortune, gets himself a nice new mansion and hires Laurel as his butler. For once, Stan is conscientious about his job, but Ollie decides the best way to enjoy his new wealth and power is to torment his friend, especially when Stan is asleep. Finally fed up, Stan proceeds to destroy everything in the house while Ollie tries to protect his huge vases and other breakables. This is not a great Laurel & Hardy film, but the final routine certainly ranks as one of their best: Hardy takes refuge in an elaborately decorated garden fountain, pretending to be one of the little cherub heads spewing forth water. The other two shorts are notable simply for the fact George Stevens was the cameraman, on his way to be a celebrated Hollywood director. "Angora Love." aptly enough, involves a stray goat that has attached itself to the boys who take it back to their room despite the "No Pets" rule. This 1929 comedy directed by Lewis Foster from a story by Leo McCarey has the distinction of being the last complete silent film by Laurel & Hardy. The best sequence is when Ollie gives the goat a bath. "Sugar Daddies" is the oldest of the two-reelers, directed in 1927 by Fred Guiol. James Finlayson is a newly-rich oil tycoon who wakes up one morning and is casually told by his butler (Hardy) that he was married last night. Finlayson calls his lawyer (Laurel) and then things get a tad confusing (somehow a blackmailing ring gets involved in this mess). There are two chase sequences, involving a dance hall and an amusement park. Finlayson is really the star of this comedy and the most interesting parts take place in the amusement park, where the routines involve various types of rides that have long ago disappeared. This volume also includes a pair of Stan Laurel solo shorts from 1923, "Roughest Africa" and "Oranges & Lemons" that are interesting curiosities. "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" series is apparently committed to bringing us all of the boys' silent work for Hal Roach-MGM, so we can expect the great, the good and the better luck next time with each disc.
Rating:
Summary: More Laurel & Hardy silent shorts from the late 1920's
Review: Volume 2 of this series includes four silent two-reelers for Hal Roach-MGM in the late 1920s. "Double Whoopee" was directed by Lewis Foster in 1929, with a story by Leo McCarey and a notable "appearance" by screen siren Jean Harlow (she loses the back half of her dress in a cab door). Laurel & Hardy arrive at a swank New York hotel and are mistaken for visiting royalty until they are revealed to be just doormen. Once they set to work they offend all of the guests, the local cop and a visiting prince. Hardy gets most of the good gags although the best is when Laurel is stripped to his underwear and starts ripping off everybody else's clothes. "Early to Bed," directed by Emmett Flynn in 1928, is an atypical Laurel & Hardy outing because this time the boys go after each other. Hardy inherits a fortune, gets himself a nice new mansion and hires Laurel as his butler. For once, Stan is conscientious about his job, but Ollie decides the best way to enjoy his new wealth and power is to torment his friend, especially when Stan is asleep. Finally fed up, Stan proceeds to destroy everything in the house while Ollie tries to protect his huge vases and other breakables. This is not a great Laurel & Hardy film, but the final routine certainly ranks as one of their best: Hardy takes refuge in an elaborately decorated garden fountain, pretending to be one of the little cherub heads spewing forth water. The other two shorts are notable simply for the fact George Stevens was the cameraman, on his way to be a celebrated Hollywood director. "Angora Love." aptly enough, involves a stray goat that has attached itself to the boys who take it back to their room despite the "No Pets" rule. This 1929 comedy directed by Lewis Foster from a story by Leo McCarey has the distinction of being the last complete silent film by Laurel & Hardy. The best sequence is when Ollie gives the goat a bath. "Sugar Daddies" is the oldest of the two-reelers, directed in 1927 by Fred Guiol. James Finlayson is a newly-rich oil tycoon who wakes up one morning and is casually told by his butler (Hardy) that he was married last night. Finlayson calls his lawyer (Laurel) and then things get a tad confusing (somehow a blackmailing ring gets involved in this mess). There are two chase sequences, involving a dance hall and an amusement park. Finlayson is really the star of this comedy and the most interesting parts take place in the amusement park, where the routines involve various types of rides that have long ago disappeared. This volume also includes a pair of Stan Laurel solo shorts from 1923, "Roughest Africa" and "Oranges & Lemons" that are interesting curiosities. "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" series is apparently committed to bringing us all of the boys' silent work for Hal Roach-MGM, so we can expect the great, the good and the better luck next time with each disc.
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