Agee's Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy to be Released

[R Michael Pyle]

Nor have I.

[LouieD]

Nor have I.

Did either of you send in papers for mail fraud? I did and got my set. I know 2 others from the Laurel & Hardy Forum who did the same thing and got theirs.

[JM]

I did not receive mine either, despite receiving Lou's recent email that "everyone will get their set before Christmas". I was about to follow Louie's lead and file mail fraud papers too.

[Scoundrel]

So you order this set with PayPal, which takes it's payment upfront...and then you don't get the set until you threaten them with mail fraud.

Nice.


FWIW, how was the print of THE DENTIST anyway...?

[Michael O'Regan]

So you order this set with PayPal, which takes it's payment upfront...and then you don't get the set until you threaten them with mail fraud.

Gone are the days when a simple cheque did the trick.

[LouieD]

I did not receive mine either, despite receiving Lou's recent email that "everyone will get their set before Christmas". I was about to follow Louie's lead and file mail fraud papers too.

You certainly should. If you have read this whole thread I paid for mine 7 months before receiving it. If you've waited that long or even past the 6-8 weeks as stated on the web site, then I suggest you file. If not you will get BS email after BS email about the delay.

P.S., still haven't gotten disc 11 in.

[moviepas]

Doesn't PayPal, & of course Visa, Mastercard, etc have a time limit on claims? I guess it would be impossible to get money back one this time elapsed then other, costly, methods need to be considered. Ugh. Glad I didn't order it. I did get a lot of my money back from my bank's Visa when the Canadian DVD Soon in Montreal area went fraudulent but I was too late to get all of it and that was the sneeky way they invoiced funny amounts & no goods arrived, even gave shipping details for titles that were withdrawn from pre-release by the producers such as Cantor's Kid Millions. There is a fine print catch that if the offending business replies that they shipped, gave evidence or whatever then they would not payout and charge a small fee($5 at the time). But I got back about A$600 & the fee VISA & the bank took as a local currency commission on overseas orders. Better than nothing. They were good to start with and their prices were excellent & there was often free postage which was usually normal few days airmail from shipping but there was usually a delay. There was also a points scheme but in the event this was worth nothing as they changed hands(supposedly same staff as the names on e-mails, when they did answer were the same). The authorities in Canada did nothing & let the trail grow cold. Our laws in Australia are a lot tighter but there are guys that know how to get around them and move from state to state with a new name until caught again. They get on TV and usually try & break the camera of investigative reporters & attack the poor guy all on TV making a publicly viewed offence chargeable by police on top of the fraud.

Unfortunately, there will always be guys who try to make a fast buck out of the public but the honest guy has a hard job keeping his head above water. When you think you have won against them you find they go bankrupt & have no assets in their name. We do have laws here in that large items disposed on in giving to another or selling within two years of a bankruptcy(used to be about a year) then those assets can be traced and taken off the person who has them at no compensation. This could include cash to family, cars, homes, boats etc. It's a long drawn-out process which these fraudulent guys know before they start their little game. I have always thought this guy was a bit too good to be true but then some seem to have got sets now no matter where they came from.

I'll will probably stick to what I have from Europe and be done with it.

I did have reservations about the 3rd & final volume of a series of Steve Canyon TV shows from the 1950s that a private person was producing but after a hiatus & mention of this third pre-paid volume in these posts, I got a Christmas message that all appears well and some final extras like some interviews were in the final phase. I hope so. But I got the other two volumes OK and the quality was superb on this material. But there were e-mails about HDD failures with all the files on it, running out of money & something about an animal shelter he & his wife say they run during the year . The amount involved is only $25 or thereabouts & I have the other two volumes OK so 2 out 3 is bearable.

[Mark Roth]

From the Laurel and Hardy Forum:

Well, the ripoff continues.

After finally receiving my set a few weeks ago, I realized that 3 of the 12 discs were defective. Upon analysis, I discovered that these are NOT factory replicated DVDs, but highly unreliable consumer grade DVD+R Dual Layer media. They even applied paper labels - a big no-no with DVDs of any kind! Lou Vecchio assured me verbally and in writing that these were legitimate replicated media. It also says as much on the elevenmemories.com website. If I had not been deliberately lied to, I wouldn't have paid a dime for this crap. Thus far, Lou has ignored my complaint and demand for a refund. Mail fraud charges are pending.

[LouieD]

From the Laurel and Hardy Forum:

Well, the ripoff continues.

After finally receiving my set a few weeks ago, I realized that 3 of the 12 discs were defective. Upon analysis, I discovered that these are NOT factory replicated DVDs, but highly unreliable consumer grade DVD+R Dual Layer media. They even applied paper labels - a big no-no with DVDs of any kind! Lou Vecchio assured me verbally and in writing that these were legitimate replicated media. It also says as much on the elevenmemories.com website. If I had not been deliberately lied to, I wouldn't have paid a dime for this crap. Thus far, Lou has ignored my complaint and demand for a refund. Mail fraud charges are pending.

Yeah, I hear it's going around. I finally got my set and it appears they play fine (although I haven't watched every disc). Anyone for a torrent??

[moviepas]

Well, after wondering in this week what happened to the set with no posts for a long time Mark(from whom I have bought before) starts it up!!

I agree about the media. Why DVD+R. Very few use this type of disc and until recently when sent stuff on DVD+R I could not do much with it, not even play it. The guy in his 90s, who still uses them, has a Philips machine and told me a couple of years ago to go buy another machine!!! All right for him, his mother left him over one million pounds decades ago and he was an only child. He has DVD-R equipment to copy from but is trying to be funny. he thinks he is the best producer of rare films and says he located the British nitrate of Jessie Matthews The Man from Toronto in a farmhouse decades ago and got it to the UK. Maybe he did, it had been a 'lost' film, apparently.

As for paper labels, I am also against them because those that one glues on can and do bunch up glue with heat etc and cause playback issues that were not apparent the previous time a disc was played. Printing on a white disc label with quick drying ink is the best. A wholesaler of DVD products near me does a lot of copy work for short length/short run medical DVDs for a large local hospital. The girls are often putting labels on at the cash sales desk and they use printed labels that are peeled off a roll like stickers. They say they have no trouble with those manufactured stickers. They use & sell those towers that copy multiple discs at the one time(up to 11, I think) which may well be what Mr L&H is using.

I am glad that I did not take the plunge and order this set. I just can't understand how someone can keep up this racket for so long and still think he is doing no wrong. Beats me. I guess there will always b someone out there having a go. Is this Free Enterprise!!!

[countryslicker]

Have been following this thread with interest. I only own one L & H DVD of “Flying Deuces” (poor quality) – just wondering where best to start with a bigger collection?

Last week my local branch of an Australia-wide chain suddenly had about 10 DVD’s on sale – all Universal region 2 & 4 PAL ("copyright 2010"). Mixed bag of silents & talkies – some features, some shorts, some with foreign language versions (Spanish, German), and some with colorized versions. With a price of AUD$8.83 each (same as US$), they’re quite good value.

Just wondering whether these are from the UK collection already mentioned in this thread, or the Agee source, or whether they have been sourced from elsewhere. Or should I wait for a boxed set?

[Mike Gebert]

They would appear to be the UK releases with local ratings stickers applied to the outside of the package, yes.

The complete box set is 33.97 British pounds at the UK Amazon site, so the point where that would be a better deal is around seven discs.

[Doug Sulpy]

I'm sure they're the same as the U.K. discs – which are encoded for both regions 2 (Europe) and 4 (Australia).

[radiotelefonia]

I'm sure they're the same as the U.K. discs – which are encoded for both regions 2 (Europe) and 4 (Australia).

4 is also South America.

[moviepas]

Whilst I paid at least double the current UK price which seems to be a static one(sometimes you only have a day and the price is higher) I got a good deal at the time compared with when it came out first in UK. The trick is that the UK set contains a top fitting lid box which is not with the Australian set and is 21-discs. The now 20% VAT comes off and when the order is placed you got to your orders page and click on the delivery change & select the Super FREE delivery option as it is over UK25 pounds. Way to go Jose!!!!

Countryslicker(when did we start using this term in Australia?) this sounds like a pricing for the local Kmart-type chain BigW owned by an Australian supermarket giant Woolworths/Safeway which is not American owned but I am unaware of this release at this time. Funny things happen here and if they don't sell or there is a limited window the stores send them back and they cannot be reordered by customers and not available in any other stores. May or may not be the case in this release.

[countryslicker]

Countryslicker(when did we start using this term in Australia?)

Don't know - just wanted to make sure no-one thought I was a cityslicker .

this sounds like a pricing for the local Kmart-type chain BigW owned by an Australian supermarket giant Woolworths/Safeway which is not American owned but I am unaware of this release at this time. Funny things happen here and if they don't sell or there is a limited window the stores send them back and they cannot be reordered by customers and not available in any other stores. May or may not be the case in this release.

I live in a small rural town. The DVD's are for sale at my local BigW - haven't seen them for sale anywhere else. I thought the big display and pricing was unusual - especially here "in the sticks" - also that they are marked "copyright 2010". Certainly seem to be the UK set, but broken into separate discs.

It seems that all the separate DVD's I saw can also be purchased online (and cheaper at $7.43):
http://www.bigw.com.au/entertainment/DV ... ume-12-dvd

And I didn't know South America was also Region 4 - thank you radiotelefonia - one learns something new every day.

[MJE]

Hello!

Is this now a long-dead issue or is anyone still hoping to get the set ordered? I haven't heard a word about it in a very long time.

-MJ

[moviepas]

Not the only item not heard about for a longtime.

What about the Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet?

[MJE]

I hadn't heard that there was an Ozzie & Harriet set coming. Is that all not in the Public Domain at this point? I know I've seen the cheap multi-DVD sets around.

I've seen Rick's sons perform a few times in recent years. People always bring those sets for them to sign. They jokingly refer to them by saying things like, "Well, thank you for buying bootleg home movies of our family!" They always sign them with a smile, though. They seem like genuinely nice guys.

-MJ

[moviepas]

Recently, after long silence, there were a few more posts on http://www.hometheaterforum.com" target="_blank from the family of the Nelsons re the proposed sets. It all sounded good but who knows? Ozzie is said to have vaulted 35mm footage all over America. I did have some of the films including a few faded color ones but they disappeared from my storage area. They were a long running series in Australia and repeated over and over like Superman, Our Miss Brooks & UK's The Adventures of Robin Hood. At least I have the Robin Hood & Superman all in legitimate sets.

If Ozzie & Harriet(called The Nelsons in Australia due to the ads on the opening & closing credits on The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet titles.

[Mr. Bear]

Two things (since this post drifted way from L&H):

On O&H: Most of those PD sets are missing the musical numbers since they're still under copyright.

On L&R: I would like to take the plung and get that set, but since it sounds like a scam since customers arn't getting their overpriced DVD-R sets, I'll take a pass. Torrents anyone?

[MJE]

I really don't like the world of torrent. I just wish that Agee would wake up and sell the material to someone who will do something worthwhile with it. I think that "Essential" set did all right and, if so, it proves that L&H will sell on the mainstream market.

People do buy the cheap DVDs that repackage "Flying Deuces" and "Atoll K." Maybe because they ARE cheap. If the L&H silents are put out as an affordable set, there's not much chance of losing, I would think.

I guess it's pretty much accepted that Agee is a somewhat delusional nutcase. Somebody's just gotta make him an offer. Catch him at the right moment and the ball could start rolling.

On the Ozzie & Harriet matter, I didn't even think about the copyrighted music being an issue. I never bought one of those sets, but I've seen other collections and figured that they were just thrown together with no regard for law. I suppose there is a brother-in-law somewhere serving as the legal department.

I did just order the set you were discussing. The green one. Yeah, I read about the edits, but I doubt that I would even notice them. Thanks for making me aware of the product!