Comedy > H Comedy > Laurel, Stan

Advantages: Much better quality than VHS
Disadvantages: Absolutely none

...life I have been a laurel and hardy fan. I was an advocate of the "old fashioned" vhs videos and had a great collection of all of the boys films, which I treasured, but was reluctant to play in case they got damaged. This new dvd boxset has been a godsend, in being concise, hard wearing, and excellent quality, so much so in I have even started given film shows, and lending the films out, to my sons to get them into carrying on the tradition of loving ...
...colourised films included, which to a die hard B+W film lover was a shocking concept, but I must admit it was great to see the boys in the digitised colour versions of all of their classic films. My advice to all the L+H fans out there is to grab a boxset while they are available and give yourselves a treat. ... Read review

Advantages: Funny, slapstick, classic
Disadvantages: Colour versions, some dated scenes

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy are one of the greatest comedy duos of all time. Many consider them in fact to be the greatest. They made many short films between 1927 and 1940 for the Hal Roach Studios. It was going to be interesting to view one of these digitally re-mastered DVDs of their work to see if they had survived the test of time and whether the films could still be seen as amusing if not hilarious. In this collection, all the films can be watched ...
...laugh fest, set wholly in Laurel and Hardy's rented bedroom. It was extremely clever how the whole film could be set in such a small environment and yet uses so many things to produce laughs without the need to go elsewhere. The duo is sharing a bed without any feeling or reference to sleaziness. Their innocent faces make it all appear perfectly natural and normal. The illness featured in this story is Ollie with such a bad cold that he does enormous ... Read review

Advantages: A bit different...
Disadvantages: Just too dated now, but read the review for full.

...cannot profess to being a Laurel and Hardy fan – I do not have their DVD’s lined up along a shelf and I don’t have posters of their inane grinning faces on my walls. I don’t walk along the street with a loud hailer shouting, ‘This comic duo are blooming ace, do you know that?’ No, I don’t have or do any of that, so why am I writing a review of this, their last film together? Why indeed… Well, I purchased this in a shop for about 50p… that’s right, ...
...as ‘Way out west.’ Stan Laurel (the skinny one) was born in 1890 in England and died in 1965, Oliver Hardy (the fatter one) was born in 1892 in USA, but died earlier in 1957. They were geniuses of slapstick comedy and Hardy usually played the brains of the outfit, whereas Laurel was the dumber of the two. Directed by Leo Joannon, the plot to Utopia (1951) is simple enough. Stan Laurel inherits a wad of cash, an island and a boat from his dead uncle. ... Read review

Advantages: Timeless Humour.
Disadvantages: None

Swiss Miss. Starring: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This single disc contains: Swiss Miss - Black And White short. Swiss Miss - Computer enhanced Colour short. The Chimp - Black And White short. The Chimp - Computer enhanced Colour short. Flying Elephants - Black And White SILENT short. Also contains a booklet, detailing interesting facts about filming, locations etc in respect to each short film. Swiss Miss ~~~~~~ This is the main ...
...'compose', of course, but his beautiful wife is distracting him. So he keeps avoiding her. Stan and Ollie come to sell mouse traps and Ollie ends up falling in love with her but with the usual hilarious and farcical results. This has the MEMORABLE scene where Stan tries to outwit a St Bernard and get a drink of its brandy from around its neck. In another scene the pair are trying to carry a piano over a rickety rope bridge while being harassed ... Read review

Advantages: Funny
Disadvantages: None

Laurel and Hardy - No. 18 - Married Life and Anita From 1927 to 1940 Laurel and Hardy made some fantastic short films at the Hal Roach Studios. Here is one of their DVD's This single disc contains: Blotto - Black and White short. Blotto - Computer enhanced Colour short. Be Big - Black And White short. Be Big - Computer enhanced Colour short. Laughing Gravy - Black And White short. They can also be watched with a Spanish translator ...
...film starts with Mrs Laurel playing bridge with Stan sitting in a smoking jacket puffing away on his long stemmed pipe. He is reading the 'Hebrew Times'? Who knows why? Stan is a house husband and is married to a very domineering wife. Ollie phones him and invites him out to a club; unknown to Stan his wife is listening in on another extension. Stan must now try to outwit his wife!, Escape from the house with a bottle of booze and then go on to ... Read review