Laurel and Hardy: The Silent Years (1927)

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Review added by
Jitendar Canth

15 Silent Shorts with Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy
Certificate: U
Running Time: 311 mins
Retail Price: £34.99
Release Date: 2024
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
Standing tall alongside Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin as pioneers of cinematic comedy, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two of the most beloved comedians in the history of moving pictures. Having acted alongside each other for the first time in 1921, they officially teamed up later in the decade in a series of shorts made for producer Hal Roach – launching a wildly successful partnership that would survive into the sound era and last for another quarter of a century.

This collection captures the duo’s earliest (mis)adventures on screen, chronicling their journey from their first films together – The Lucky Dog and the aptly titled 45 Minutes to Hollywood – to the dawn of their official partnership in thirteen shorts released throughout 1927. From Duck Soup and Sailors Beware! to Do Detectives Think?, Putting Pants on Philip and The Battle of the Century (once available only in incomplete versions until its missing scenes were rediscovered in 2015), these films show the development of two independent comedians into the most influential and celebrated comedy duo of all time.

The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the early works of Laurel & Hardy – painstakingly restored from the best available materials held by collectors and archives around the globe – in a special two-disc Blu-ray edition for the first time in the UK from 2K restorations.

The set contains the following shorts: Lucky Dog, 45 Minutes from Hollywood, Duck Soup, Slipping Wives, Love ‘em and Weep, Why Girls Love Sailors, With Love and Hisses, Sailors, Beware!, Do Detectives Think?, Flying Elephants, Sugar Daddies, The Second 100 Years, Call of the Cuckoo, Putting Pants on Phillip, and The Battle of the Century

Special Features:
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Scott Saslow
Scores by a variety of silent film composers including Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola, Eric le Guen and Donald Sosin
Brand new audio commentaries on Lucky Dog, 45 Minutes From Hollywood, Duck Soup, Slipping Wives and Love ‘em and Weep by film historian and writer David Kalat
Brand new audio commentaries on Why Girls Love Sailors, With Love and Hisses, Sailors Beware and The Second 100 Years by Patrick Vasey, editor of The Laurel & Hardy Magazine and host of The Laurel & Hardy Podcast
Brand new audio commentaries on Do Detectives Think? and The Battle of the Century by film writer Chris Seguin and Kyp Harness (The Art of Laurel & Hardy: Graceful Calamity in the films)
Brand new audio commentaries on Flying Elephants, Sugar Daddies, Call of the Cuckoo and Putting Pants on Philip by Glenn Mitchell (The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia)
Brand new audio commentaries on The Second 100 Years and The Battle of the Century by silent film accompanist Neil Brand
Alternate Robert Youngson score on Putting Pants on Philip, newly restored by Stephen C. Horne
Brand new interview with Neil Brand
Laurel & Hardy in the UK – 1932 recording by Laurel and Hardy to promote their UK tour, featuring footage of the duo visiting Tynemouth
Turning Point: Stan Laurel – Extensive interview with Stan Laurel from 1957
Stan Laurel talks to Tony Thomas – 1959 interview, featuring footage of Laurel & Hardy visiting Edinburgh as part of their 1932 UK tour
Sailors Beware – Super 8 version with audio commentary by Chris Seguin and Glenn Mitchell
The Bulldog Breed – Super 8 version of Do Detectives Think? with audio commentary by Chris Seguin and Glenn Mitchell
The Mad Butler – Super 8 version of Do Detectives Think? with audio commentary by Chris Seguin and Glenn Mitchell
The Battle of the Century Pie Fight – Super 8 version with audio commentary by Chris Seguin
Stills Galleries for each short
A collector’s booklet featuring newly written notes on each film by writer and comedian Paul Merton, and a new essay by silent cinema expert Imogen Sara Smith