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

[LouieD]

No, just a general review re: picture quality etc.
Oh, is Battle of the Century included?
Thx

Yes, it's included. The missing scene's have some pictures but mostly just the script filmed.

There really need a L&H expert to go through this thing and give it a real going over as I think I am not qualified to comment on what's missing/contained etc. Some prints are certainly marked copyright The Nostalgia Factory and Richard Feiner.

[rollot24]

Thanks. I have the VHS of "Battle" which shows it both ways, with and without the script and I would love to have it on DVD.

[LouieD]

I will say one film I know about, "The Stolen Jools", does have some of the bits not included on the Kino "Flying Deuces" DVD, but it is still edited and incomplete. Where is the complete version of this thing??

[LouieD]

HA! After all this, no disc #11!

[Doug Sulpy]

Does that say "Image Entertainment" on the spine?

[LouieD]

Does that say "Image Entertainment" on the spine?

Yes'm

[Rob Farr]

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes in Agee-world, but this looks like a slapdash effort to avoid getting dinged with mail fraud charges.

[LouieD]

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes in Agee-world, but this looks like a slapdash effort to avoid getting dinged with mail fraud charges.

Agreed.

[azjazzman]

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes in Agee-world, but this looks like a slapdash effort to avoid getting dinged with mail fraud charges.

If I remember the story correctly, at one point Agee mentions having received test pressings from Image before they decided to scuttle the project.

That's what these look like to me...test pressings, with some thrown together packaging.

[boblipton]

I would not be as harsh as you two, Louie and Rob. It may well be slapdash, Mr. Agee may have been mildly delusional, but I think it rather more likely that he is simply doing his best. It is, alas, far too frequent that the two are the same when dealing with people.

Bob

[LouieD]

I would not be as harsh as you two, Louie and Rob. It may well be slapdash, Mr. Agee may have been mildly delusional, but I think it rather more likely that he is simply doing his best. It is, alas, far too frequent that the two are the same when dealing with people.

Bob

Bob,
As someone who's sitting here with the discs in front of him I would have to say that you are 100% incorrect and if you got these discs in the mail, you would also be dissatisfied. If you actually read the sales pitch, ordered the discs, and then waited 5 months longer than you should have for discs that were mastered in 2006, from video masters (some from 1994) that are obviously substandard as to what was released on the first series, then "doing his best" wouldn't be something that is recognizable in this effort. This release is cheap, shoddy, and well below what anyone who ordered this set was promised.

[azjazzman]

Bob,
As someone who's sitting here with the discs in front of him I would have to say that you are 100% incorrect and if you got these discs in the mail, you would also be dissatisfied. If you actually read the sales pitch, ordered the discs, and then waited 5 months longer than you should have for discs that were mastered in 2006, from video masters (some from 1994) that are obviously substandard as to what was released on the first series, then "doing his best" wouldn't be something that is recognizable in this effort. This release is cheap, shoddy, and well below what anyone who ordered this set was promised.

I don't know, Louie... if Rob is correct and you got something slapped together to avoid mail fraud charges, and if they are indeed test pressings, your persistence may have been rewarded. You could well have a true collectors item with only a handful in existence.

[Scoundrel]

Louie...I've been following your progress on this matter on this board
and the Laurel and Hardy Forum and I'm sad to hear of your results.

Believe me, If I was in your situation I would feel the same way.

FWIW, it appears that the Laurel and Hardy Forum is down at this time.

[Richard Finegan]

HA! After all this, no disc #11!

You mean there's no disc in the case? Your photo shows 12 cases.
I was especially interested to hear what kind of print of "Utopia" / "Atoll K" they had.

[LouieD]

HA! After all this, no disc #11!

You mean there's no disc in the case? Your photo shows 12 cases.
I was especially interested to hear what kind of print of "Utopia" / "Atoll K" they had.

Yeah, no disc in the #11 case. Supposedly the "Utopia" is from a 35mm print, but having never seen it, I have no way to tell.

[radiotelefonia]

Here is something to make you feel less frustrated:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C6BYAPQI

[moviepas]

Well, I did not order this set because of what had been said for months. I am past been taken down the river by shonks of any kind.

The Stolen Jools. This is an interesting title because I am still waiting for a Special Edition from Germany of which the latest is about March/April 2011. I have had some good prints from Germany. Usually DVDs from that part of the world are from legitimate DVD producers. But they do say they have the most complete but I have to wait & see.

I am still waiting for a DVD(Vol 3 of an early TV series of air adventures). Vol1 &2 were great black & white restorations with lots of extras & I got a free sample disc sent. Vol 3 I finally paid for after the guy got into money trouble & seems to run an animal shelter but it has not been shipped/made available yet. These been talk of hard drive failures with all the extras etc. But at least I got 33% of the material already and we are only talking $20 or so.

With the Chaplin shorts I had so much trouble from DD when they screwed my card numbers and cancelled the order so I have now opted to get the BFI set from UK which works out a bit cheaper for me.

But overall it does not seem like all is as it should be with L&H.

[Darren Nemeth]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

[radiotelefonia]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

The British set from the copyright owner for the other hemisphere. Even with their flaws they seem to care fare more than here.

[LouieD]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

The German Kinowelt discs blows everything else away.

[Doug Sulpy]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

The German Kinowelt discs blows everything else away.

Let me second that. I've A/B'd some of them, and the German discs are definitely better.

[azjazzman]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

The German Kinowelt discs blows everything else away.

Disagree, and I have both.

In the first place, Kinowelt, Dutch and UK releases all use the same video masters, they are just tweaked differently. Of the three, I prefer the Dutch DVDs. The Kinowelts tend to be a bit on the dark side, obscuring some details.

[azjazzman]

Which would be the better set to get?

This one or the UK 21 dvd boxed set found at Amazon UK for $46.14?

The German Kinowelt discs blows everything else away.

Disagree, and I have both.

In the first place, Kinowelt, Dutch and UK releases all use the same video masters, they are just tweaked differently. Of the three, I prefer the Dutch DVDs. The Kinowelts tend to be a bit on the dark side, obscuring some details.

I should clarify, I have spent a LOT of time with all three DVD issues of the L&H films, and I simply do not agree that Kinowelt blows the others away.

My personal preference is for the Dutch set, but since they all derived from the same video masters, there is a lot of similarity between the three.

[LouieD]

My personal preference is for the Dutch set, but since they all derived from the same video masters, there is a lot of similarity between the three.

OK, and my personal preference is for the Kinowelt discs. See, one happy planet of L&H viewers!!

[Doug Sulpy]

Certainly, they derive from the same sources, but they're not necessarily the same transfers. In these frame caps from "Duck Soup," the German one is on the top, while the U.K. is on the bottom - note the different framing, and the defect on the right side of the image that runs throughout the U.K. version (but isn't seen at all on the German).



azjazzman - I don't have the Dutch set. How does it compare?

[kndy]

Curious, did they respond back to your missing disc #11? This is going to be tough if he's handling customer control all by himself and people spent so much and are missing a disc(s).

[LouieD]

Curious, did they respond back to your missing disc #11? This is going to be tough if he's handling customer control all by himself and people spent so much and are missing a disc(s).

He says it was shipping out to me yesterday!

[Derek Gee]

Certainly, they derive from the same sources, but they're not necessarily the same transfers. In these frame caps from "Duck Soup," the German one is on the top, while the U.K. is on the bottom - note the different framing, and the defect on the right side of the image that runs throughout the U.K. version (but isn't seen at all on the German).



azjazzman - I don't have the Dutch set. How does it compare?

My understanding was that there was only one set of transfers done for outside of North America. The difference between the Kinowelt and the other releases was the amount of digital post-processing applied to it.

Derek

[azjazzman]

My understanding was that there was only one set of transfers done for outside of North America. The difference between the Kinowelt and the other releases was the amount of digital post-processing applied to it.

Derek

That was my understanding, too. As can be seen in Doug's frame grabs the Kinowelt set is generally darker which I noticed does obscure some blemishes and signs of wear. But, you also lose some details.

The Dutch set is sort of in the middle, which to me is a good compromise and why I tend to prefer it, though it is quite subjective.

[Mark Roth]

Has everyone who placed an andvance order received this set? I haven't.

Mark

www.reelclassicdvd.com