Laurel & Hardy: Be Big/Laughing Gravy (UK)

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Superb quality restorations of five distinct Laurel & Hardy motion pictures
Certificate: U
Running Time: 250 mins
Retail Price: £17.99
Release Date:

Synopsis:
Laurel & Hardy fans are hard to please. They always want to see more, and have more. They can never get enough of their comedy heroes. Sadly Laurel & Hardy can no longer give us new films to enjoy. Or can they?

One option is to present more of the classic films we already know, or think we know: not just more often, but more alternate versions, to the extent they were created, and still exist today. What film enthusiast wouldn`t be thrilled to finally view such lost versions, or previously unknown versions? The search is over.

In this extraordinary collection we are proud to present superb quality restorations of five distinct Laurel & Hardy motion pictures, including two feature films, all derived from shooting scripts on a pair of 1931 prime period short subjects. Together they represent the holy grail of Laurel & Hardy fandom.

It`s as though Stan and Ollie have magically returned to give us new films we never knew existed.

Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access

Video Tracks:
Standard 1.33:1

Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Mono English
Dolby Digital Mono Spanish
Dolby Digital Mono German
Dolby Digital Mono French

Subtitle Tracks:
German
Dutch

Directed By:
James W. Horne

Written By:

Starring:
Charlie Hall
Charles Dorety
Harry Bernard
Oliver Hardy
Stan Laurel

Soundtrack By:
Leroy Shield
Marvin Hatley

Director of Photography:
Art Lloyd

Editor:
Richard C. Currier

Producer:
Hal Roach

Distributor:
Universal Pictures

Your Opinions and Comments

5 / 10
I`m especially happy to have this DVD as I`m always fascinated by movies made simulataneously in different language versions, a chapter of Movies History generally neglected by film historians. For instance, having seen the two versions of "Anna Christie" with Greta Garbo, the English one by Clarence Brown and the German one by Jacques Feyder, I must admit I prefer the latter. So this Laurel & Hardy DVD is a real treasure for really curious film fanatics. This being said, I must add I`m perplexed by the inclusion of a German-dubbed print of the American versions, especially when we know that REAL German-speaking versions of BE BIG and LAUGHING GRAVY were made in Hollywood. Even if these original German versions are lost, or unavailable, their replacement by an US version dubbed in German made no sense, especially when the DVD contains the REAL French and Spanish versions of these films. Has anybody an explanation???
Jean-Claude Michel
posted by Jean-Claude MICHEL on 22/3/2001 16:42