Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:01 pm

Long-time Nitratevillains know I have kvetched about the cost of any of the discs in the out-of-print DVD series called The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy (and here comes the chorus: "How can they be lost films if they're available in this set?")

Here's something to support my whining:

http://www.amazon.ca/Lost-Films-Laurel- ... +and+Hardy" target="_blank

Jim

Post by **Danny Burk** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:12 pm

True, but typical for Amazon resellers. Looking up an out of print book (or even in print, for that matter), you might find multiple sellers offering it between $20-40. A 100% spread, but still within reason. Then you'll find an idiot listing the same thing for $200, and another for $400. I see this so often that it must be standard practice for certain sellers.

boblipton · Post by **boblipton** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:17 pm

Just because they ask doesn't mean they're going to get. If I hadn't picked up the set when it was new, I'd be interested in the used set, advertised on the same page at $160.

Bob

LouieD · Post by **LouieD** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 5:50 pm

Seriously thinking about selling the newest version I got from Michael Agee from One Eleven Enterprises. Apparently not many copies exist.

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 5:58 am

Seriously, though, is there any other single DVD out there selling for $1,140? I don't cruise eBay precisely because I know how ridiculous their prices can be, so I honestly don't know if this L&H asking price is as totally insane as it seems to me.

What is Brownlow's VHS Hollywoodset going for?

Jim

rodney4130 · Post by **rodney4130** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:39 am

That price is pretty crazy, but for the most part, $50-$75 per disc is the going rate. Some go for a little more, some for a bit less.

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:12 am

rodney4130 wrote:That price is pretty crazy, but for the most part, $50-$75 per disc is the going rate. Some go for a little more, some for a bit less.

Are you referring to the L&H discs, or the Hollywood series?

Jim

rodney4130 · Post by **rodney4130** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:32 am

OH...Laurel and Hardy.

Hollywood is about $500 on VHS.

FrankFay · Post by **FrankFay** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:33 am

I saw a dealer offering Beth Custer's disc of MY GRANDMOTHER at a ridiculous markup......and doubly absurd since it's available at a reasonable price on her website.

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:44 am

rodney4130 wrote:OH...Laurel and Hardy.

Hollywood is about $500 on VHS.

Thanks for clarifying.

I know of only one video store that still has a few of the L&H DVDs in stock. They have not been marked up or down in price since they were first listed, god knows how many years ago. The problem is that that price was and still is over $40 CDN per disc. Add taxes and it's really close to the $50/disc you mention. And this is for brand new, factory-sealed copies.

Still cheaper than $1,140/disc, but...

Jim

Little Caesar · Post by **Little Caesar** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 3:45 am

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/3 ... try4040490" target="_blank
According to this post at the Home Theater Forum, the domestic video rights to the silent Laurel and Hardy films have been sold to Corinth Films. Michael Agee is out of the picture.

CliffClaven · Post by **CliffClaven** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:01 pm

Little Caesar wrote:http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/3 ... try4040490" target="_blank
According to this post at the Home Theater Forum, the domestic video rights to the silent Laurel and Hardy films have been sold to Corinth Films. Michael Agee is out of the picture.

Darn big news, if true. I have most of the Lost Films DVDs, and an upgrade is long overdue.

David Alp · Post by **David Alp** » Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:48 pm

Its currently $347 dollars! Blimey that's a lot!!!! Here in the UK we have a MASSIVE box set of Laurel & Hardy DVD's, and I always see it whenever I go to HMV. This is the box set, and it contains 21 discs apparently http://www.zetaminor.com/news_archive/s ... ox_set.htm" target="_blank I've never bought it because I'm not a huge fan, although I adore "The Music Box" and "Unaccustomed As We Are".

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:12 am

David of The Alps wrote:Its currently $347 dollars! Blimey that's a lot!!!! Here in the UK we have a MASSIVE box set of Laurel & Hardy DVD's, and I always see it whenever I go to HMV. This is the box set, and it contains 21 discs apparently http://www.zetaminor.com/news_archive/s ... ox_set.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank I've never bought it because I'm not a huge fan, although I adore "The Music Box" and "Unaccustomed As We Are".

This box set has been available on this side of the pond for at least 2 years now. It contains only their talkies. My complaint has to do with their silents.

My big grudge against this box set, and the only reason I won't buy it, is that none of the films are captioned.

Jim

Robert W · Post by **Robert W** » Wed Jan 22, 2014 9:09 pm

Did you even click on his link, Jim ? It's for the UK box set, not the domestic one that you are referring to. It contains the silent AND the sound films, and DOES have captioning for the sound films. I purchased it from Amazon.uk years ago, and the price has dropped a lot since then. It's not region-free, however, so you'll need a region-free player to play them.

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:54 am

Robert W wrote:Did you even click on his link, Jim ? It's for the UK box set, not the domestic one that you are referring to. It contains the silent AND the sound films, and DOES have captioning for the sound films. I purchased it from Amazon.uk years ago, and the price has dropped a lot since then. It's not region-free, however, so you'll need a region-free player to play them.

Yes, I did click on the link, Robert. But I did not scroll all the way down, and now I see that was a mistake. My apologies. The "Collection Group Price" lists all 20 volumes with "themes" that indicate talkies only, which misled me.

Where does it say the talkies have captioning? Are you quite sure of that?

Jim

rodney4130 · Post by **rodney4130** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:24 am

Regarding the UK set....the sound shorts are captioned, except for the Foriegn language films. Those are not captioned.

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:05 pm

rodney4130 wrote:Regarding the UK set....the sound shorts are captioned, except for the Foriegn language films. Those are not captioned.

Ooohh ... I'm starting to get peppy about it now! How much does it cost? The link above only takes me to the press release and there doesn't appear to be any link there to an order page or any further information.

Jim

Robert W · Post by **Robert W** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:19 pm

Just to back up Rodney, yes I am sure the sound films are captioned. I threw a disc into my Oppo and played the beginning of one just to be sure before posting, as I know how important this issue is for you.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the easiest place to find it is Amazon.uk, but it's currently very expensive. I know I've seen it much cheaper in the past.

todmichel · Post by **todmichel** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:58 pm

Quote: "Regarding the UK set....the sound shorts are captioned, except for the Foreign language films. Those are not captioned."

You are absolutely right - and it's the most ridiculous thing I ever saw. This set was made in UK for British collectors, and they get subs for all the movies made in their language, but NOT the ones in Spanish or French ! a totally stupid decision.

Moreover, they also had the bad taste to include the colorized versions of a lot of these movies, shortened, cropped, and simply hideous. Without these horrors the set would have been of 14 or 15 discs, and, probably, much cheaper.

And finally, they forgot to include the Spanish version of "Pardon Us". Not only it was available, but Universal had apparently the rights, as it was included (as well as the English-language version) in their Spanish set (of 12 discs if I remember well). And the print they used is simply gorgeous.

As long as the talkies are concerned the best choice seems to be the US edition, althought the movies aren't subtitled (excepted for the foreign-language ones, a much more logical decision) but the Spanish version of "Pardon Us" is still missing.

And finally, for me the real "lost" films of Laurel & Hardy (together) are one or two shorts, "The Rogue Song", some of their foreign-language shorts, and the French, Italian and German versions of "Pardon Us".

Jim Roots · Post by **Jim Roots** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 12:19 pm

As David noted above, the cost of the UK set is around $350 CDN even before shipping. Damn! Especially with our dollar's value falling below 90 cents, that's too much. I'm not saying it's not worth it, I'm only saying I don't have that kind of money.

Rats!

Jim

Gregbert · Post by **Gregbert** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:05 am

I got the 21 disc PAL set back when the cost was much cheaper. It's a pretty big box that is well put together. My one problem with the set is that the films are not presented chronologically. I would have preferred that. Instead they seem to be grouped in themes which sometimes back fire. Some of the films can be pretty similar to others so it sometimes can feel you are basically watching the same film on one disc multiple times.

Let me know if you have any questions about the set.

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