Cheap Lost Films Of Laurel And Hardy #6 (DVD) (Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy) (Lloyd French) Price

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Customer Reviews of Lost Films Of Laurel And Hardy #6

Excellent compilation of classic comedies.
This DVD entry is heaven for fans of old time silent comedy. The three L&H shorts, though lesser-known are are brilliant in their way, especially "That's My Wife." "Flying Elephants" is a bit lame, due to the funny caveman bit seeming rather trite nowadays, but the Boys do their best with it. "Putting Pants on Philip" is always funny due to the superb comic acting of Stan and Ollie in roles other than their traditional personnas. "45 Minutes from Hollywood" is the weakest entry here, though it features Stan and Ollie in small -- but thankless -- roles. The bonus short "The Way of All Pants" is not only a nice surprise, but a little gem starring Charley Chase. Too bad it's only one reel (one suspects it was originally a two-reeler, judging from the jumpiness of it). Content of this disc rates the highest accolades, due to the stars. Quality-wise, most of the source material is fairly decent -- my main complaint is that the same old music track is repeated endlessly and gets annoying quickly. There has to be something else available.
Otherwise, this is a must for the L&H fan.

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Laurel & Hardy take on each other this time around
Volume 6 of "The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy" continues to mix classic shorts with lesser works of historical note. In "That's My Wife," Hardy's wife has left him in disgust right before his rich uncle arrives and reminds him that he will inherit everything as long as he is happily married. The only logical thing to do is to have Laurel dress up as Mrs. Hardy. The happy couple take the uncle out for a nice time at a night club, where eventually the truth is revealed and a bowl of soup adds insult to injury. Of all the many times Stan ended up in a dress, this is the best of the bunch. Despite its title "Flying Elephants" (which has to do with a sight gag) this 1928 Hal Roach-Pathe film directed by Frank is the famous one set in the Stone Age where the King has declared all bachelors must get married or face banishment and/or death! Both Stan and Ollie are interested in the same woman, the daughter of James Finlayson, who has a toothache as an additional concern. Might be the only Laurel & Hardy film where one of the boys kills the other. "Putting Pants on Philip," directed in 1927 by Clyde Bruckman, has Hardy as J. Piedmont Mumblethunder who greets Laurel as Philip, his dimwitted nephew from Scotland. The entire point here is to replace Philip's kilt with a pair of pants and stop him from chasing every flapper in sight. This is another rare one where the boys work against each other. "45 Minutes From Hollywood" is the 1926 Hal Roach two-reeler in which the boys both appear for the first time, although not together. Actually, Stan is made up with a big moustache to look just like Jimmy Finlayson. You will see every contract player on note in the Roach stable except for Charley Chase. Chase and Hardy team in the 1926 short "Crazy Like a Fox," while Laurel is represented by another 1926 film, "The Soilers" in the solo efforts tacked on at the end of this DVD.

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Bonus Short!
There is another pants-related short on this disc starring Charley Chase.