The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Vols. 1-3 (1923) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am so looking forward to this release! I have seen only a few of Lloyd's features: Grandma's Boy, The Kid Brother, Speedy, The Freshman, Hot Water, Girl Shy and of course Safety Last! (I guess that's more than a few.) But the point is, most of these films have been hard to find; some have been unavailable for literally decades.
I think Lloyd as a silent comedian is second only to Keaton, and I say that as a Chaplin-lover. Buy this now!
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On November 15th New Line will release three two-disc collections with a MSRP of $29.95 each. All three collections will also be available in a boxed set, The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, which will include a bonus disc that will not be available separately. The boxed set will retail for $89.85. The discs will include the following films: Volume 1
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Disc 1:
Girl Shy (1924)
Safety Last! (1923) w/ commentary by Leonard Maltin and director Richard Correll
An Eastern Westerner (1920)
Ask Father (1919)
From Hand to Mouth (1919)
Disc 2:
The Milky Way (1936)
The Cat's Paw (1934)
Why Worry? (1923)
Featurette "Harold's Hollywood: Then and Now"
Volume 2
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Disc 1:
The Kid Brother (1927) w/ commentary by Harold Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd, author Annette D'Agostino Lloyd, and Rich Correll
The Freshman (1925) w /commentary by Leonard Maltin, Richard Correll and author/film historian Richard W. Bann
Bumping Into Broadway (1919)
Billy Blazes, Esq. (1919)
Disc 2:
Feet First (1930)
Grandma's Boy (1922)
Dr. Jack (1922)
Now or Never (1921)
High and Dizzy (1920)
"Scoring for Comedy" featurette
Volume 3
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Disc 1:
Speedy (1928) w/ commentary by Suzanne Lloyd, Annette D'Agostino Lloyd and Richard Correll
Hot Water (1924)
Never Weaken (1921)
Haunted Spooks (1920) w/ commentary by Suzanne Lloyd, Annette D'Agostino Lloyd and Richard Correll
Disc 2:
Movie Crazy (1932)
For Heaven's Sake (1926)
I Do (1921)
Among Those Present (1921)
A Sailor-Made Man (1921)
Get Out and Get Under (1920)
Number Please? (1920)
"Greenacres" featurette Bonus Disc
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Rare, vintage interviews and home movies
Tributes and interviews with family, friends and legendary celebrities including Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner, Tab Hunter and director John Landis
Narrative chronology detailing the life and times of Harold Lloyd, hosted by Leonard Maltin
Video bios of many of Harold Lloyd's collaborators and stars of the golden age of cinema
Harold Lloyd Academy Award speech
USC's Delta Kappa Alpha tribute to Harold Lloyd hosted by Jack Lemmon and Steve Allen
3-D photos shot by Harold Lloyd himself (3-D glasses included)
Photo and publicity galleries
Radio shows
And more!

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Having appeared in more than 200 films and widely considered to be one of cinema's most respected comic geniuses, Harold Lloyd was one of Hollywood's first true movie stars. Now, entertainment enthusiasts of all ages can enjoy the work of the man who inspired generations of acting greats with The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection. DVD Features:Audio CommentaryBiographiesComparison ScenesFeaturetteInterviewsIntroductionOther:*All feature films and shorts are full frame versions. **All content will have Spanish subtitles. Only the pictures with sound will have English subtitles and closed captions Photo gallery:REMASTERED! RESTORED! RESCORED!

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The Three Stooges Collection, Volumes 1-6 Bundle Review

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(More customer reviews)When Columbia Pictures signed The Three Stooges to a long-term film contract starting back in 1934, little did they realize that these knuckleheads would soon go on to become one of the country's most popular and best-loved comedy teams of all time. Finally, Sony has gotten things right for a change by releasing these DVD sets containing the classic short films made by the Stooges for Columbia. Even better is the fact that the shorts are presented in high definition and in the original release order. The complete contents of the first four volumes and the first half of volume five feature every one of the films with the trio of Moe, Larry and Curly from their debut "Woman Haters" to their last film together, "Half-Wits Holiday". The second half of volume five and all of volume six features the original Stooge line-up of Moe, Larry and Shemp starting with the film short "Fright Night". To have this collection is a Stoogeaholic dream come true. These shorts are in the most pristine versions ever made available. Now, we can hardly wait for the remaining titles with Shemp, along with the Joe Besser shorts that end with "Sappy Bullfighters". The Three Stooges are an invaluable part of American popular culture; and these DVDs are proof positive why they are still so much fun to watch, even into the 21st century.

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The Art of Buster Keaton (The General / Sherlock, Jr. / Our Hospitality / The Navigator / Steamboat Bill Jr. / College / Three Ages / Battling Butler / Go West / The Saphead / Seven Chances / 21 Short Films) (1923) Review

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(More customer reviews)I had only seen a handful of Buster Keaton's films before deciding to take the plunge and buy the mammoth "Art Of Buster Keaton" DVD box set. I'm glad I threw the dice and ordered this. Here is silent filmmaking at its finest, with great attention to detail given to both short and feature films. The films are good and, although some of them are showing their age, I expect these are the best prints possible. You can't ask for anything more.
This is a huge collection of films (11 features and 19 shorts), so reviewing individual items is not going to be beneficiary. These discs have also been released individually, and I've already written many words on each of them. But in general terms, I did find that I preferred his short films to his longer works. The feature films don't quite have the frantic pace to them that made the shorter films so memorable and enjoyable. Of course, comparisons to his short movies a little unfair, as those shorts are rightly praised as some of the funniest sequences ever filmed. But there are some incredible moments in his features as well as some strong movies.
But those shorts. Wow. Here are some of the most memorable movie scenes I have ever viewed. Once seen, who can forget the literally hundreds of angry police officers chasing Keaton in COPS, or the prisoner bungee jumping from the end of a noose in CONVICT 13, or the DIY house being demolished by a train in ONE WEEK? These films are fast-paced, surreal, bizarre and hilarious. I loved them to pieces.
Prop comedy is something that is now horrifyingly associated with such painfully annoying clowns as Carrot Top (Lord help us). But in the slapstick era, this was something that was not only funny, it could be downright diabolical. I can only imagine how long it must have taken to construct the trap doors and false walls and other goodies that cropped up again and again. Clever, inventive and strangely sophisticated, these physical implements, when combined with Keaton's formidable athletic abilities, produced some amazing and breathtaking scenes.
One of the things I would wonder to myself was not simply "How on Earth did Keaton do that stunt?", but "How on Earth did Keaton survive that stunt?" His accomplishments are made all the more impressive given that he was performing all of these aerobatics himself with little in the way of trick photography (decades later, Jackie Chan would work in much the same way to similar acclaim).
The major bonus in this set is the final DVD, KEATON PLUS, which contains all sorts of rarities and extras. While the films here show Keaton in the 1920s, these extras focus on Keaton later in his career. It's somewhat sad to see the great man reduced to doing cheesy commercials, but he's always at least watchable. A few short excerpts from his 1950s TV series are included, and while it's fun to see that he could still take a pratfall thirty years on, I suspect that the thrust behind his return was the opportunity to make out with the incredibly tall and gorgeous model who appeared in virtually every clip. Lucky old Buster; though after being teamed up with Jimmy Durante, that's the least that karma owed him.
I noticed that some reviewers have had negative things to say about the musical selections used as the soundtrack to these silent pictures. My experience was quite different, as overall I enjoyed the music and was only occasionally annoyed by it. On the other hand, you may wish to take what I say with a grain of salt, as I thought the James Bond musical riff in SHERLOCK, JR. was absolutely wonderful.
This was a great purchase, and during the perusal of this set, I felt I was not only seeing some great filmmaking, but a real splice of cinema history. It's really a shame that Keaton's career went down the tubes after the 1920s, as I felt his features were gradually improving as he gained more experience. His shorts (from the early part of the decade) were uniformly excellent, but I got the impression that he was gaining more useful experience in feature-length movies and developing as filmmaker. It may be a bit depressing to know what happened after signing to MGM, but at least here we can enjoy the good times while they lasted. And they certainly were good times and great films.

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ART OF BUSTER KEATON COLLECTION - DVD Movie

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The Marx Brothers Collection (A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Races/A Night in Casablanca/Room Service/At the Circus/Go West/The Big Store) (1935) Review

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(More customer reviews)Fans of the Marx Brothers movies have had to wait a long time to finally see their heroes done justice on the DVD format. Image Entertainment released a now out-of-print box set a few years ago with simply awful transfers and no extras. Hopes were raised when Warner Brothers announced that they would be releasing their own box set this year. The good news is that the Warners discs feature excellent transfers of every movie with a solid collection of supplemental material. The bad news is that many of the Marx Brothers most famous and beloved early films, like The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers are not included set. So what exactly does one get with this new box set?
The first film in the set is A Night at the Opera, arguably one of the Marx Brothers best films of their career. It was the first film after they were pushed out of Paramount Studios because of the commercial and critical failure of Duck Soup.
Opera was a huge hit and put the Marx Brothers back on the map. They wisely followed it up with another Thalberg collaboration, A Day at the Races.
Sadly, Thalberg died suddenly before the movie was completed and the Marx Brothers films would never achieve the same greatness. No longer under the producer's protective presence, the Marx Bros. were effectively at the studio's mercy. They put them out to pasture metaphorically speaking. This may explain why the Marx Bros. made Room Service for RKO instead of MGM in 1938.
At the Circus marked the Marx Brothers' return to MGM and is not one of their greatest moments but isn't awful either.
Go West begins with a very funny scene in which Chico and Harpo milk Groucho out of most of his money. However, all three eventually appear in the Old West without any logical explanation on how they got there.
Touted as their "first farewell film," The Big Store is a bit of a lackluster affair but does have its moments.
Upon completion of The Big Store, Harpo planned to retire, Groucho was going to focus on his radio career and Chico was going to form a big band. However, after World War II they reformed to make two more films, one of which rounds out the box set--A Night at Casablanca.
As one would expect, the bulk of substantial extras are on the discs for the Marx Brothers' most popular films, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. Each DVD features several short films, some animated, some not and a theatrical trailer for each movie. Here are some of the highlights.
The A Night at the Opera DVD features an audio commentary by film historian, Leonard Maltin. He lays it down right from the start that his track will not be a dry, academic analysis of the Marx Brothers' comedy. He delivers an enthusiastic commentary that is also informative.
"Remarks on Marx" is a 33-minute look at the Marx Brothers' legacy. It not only explains where they got their nicknames but also examines their anarchic brand of comedy.
A Day at the Races features an audio commentary by Glenn Mitchell, author of The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. This is a vastly informative track as Mitchell talks at length about the backgrounds of actors Allan Jones and Margaret O'Sullivan.
"On Your Marx, Get Set, Go!" is a look at the film and briefly explores the volatile relationship between the Marx Brothers and the film's director, Sam Wood.
The extras on the Room Service disc are pretty slim.
Aside from a vintage radio promo for Go West, there is little of relevance to the movie itself in the supplemental section.
Fans of the Marx Brothers are in for a real treat with this box set that covers the last eleven years of their careers. The transfers for each film are fantastic and a definite improvement over the Image box set. While the extras tend to get slimmer and less relevant in their later films, the ones for A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races are excellent. The audio commentaries, especially, are a must-listen for any Marx Bros. fan. One hopes that their early output of films will receive the same excellent treatment.

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This set includes seven of only thirteen Marx Brothers films ever made! Collection includes: "A Night at the Opera" (1935) - The Marx Brothers turn Mrs. Claypool's opera into chaos in their efforts to help two young hopefuls get a break. It contains the famous scene where Groucho, Chico and Harpo cram a ship's stateroom with wall-to-wall people, gags, one-liners, musical riffs and two hard-boiled eggs. "A Day at the Races" (1937) - Groucho stars as Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a horse veterinarian dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee. Chico selling racing tips, Harpo destroying a piano to turn it into a harp and favorite foil actress Margaret Dumont make this thoroughbred comedy wall-to-wall hilarity. "A Night in Casablanca" (1946) - This parody of the Bogart/Bergman 1943 classic features the Nazis vs. the "nutsies" as the Marx Brothers foil Axis criminals when they find stolen jewels and paintings Nazis have hidden in a hotel. "Room Service"/"At the Circus" - These two films are combined on one disc to provide double doses of laughter. In "Room Service" (1938), Lucille Ball and Ann Miller provide comic co-star support while the Marx Brothers play producers trying to keep their show above water and a hotel room over their head. In "At the Circus" (1939) Groucho stars as professional shyster lawyer J. Cheever Loophole in the middle of big-top bedlam as the boys try to save the circus and look to Margaret Dumont for the money to do so. Groucho sings one of his famous songs, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." "Go West"/"The Big Store" - Another Marx Brothers twin bill makes this a hilarious comedy "two-fer." In the first, the Marxmen "Go West" (1940) to the land of outlaws and Indians where the fun never stops and where they outwit a land grabber. In "The Big Store" (1941), Groucho plays Attorney Wolf J. Flywheel who with sidekick Wacky (Harpo) and bodyguard Ravelli (Chico) are investigating the shady dealings of a crooked department store owner. Bonus extras include commentary by Leonard Maltin.

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