Laurel & Hardy movies coming from ClassicFlix

[whiteberry]

Arguably the greatest comedy team in motion picture history, Laurel and Hardy will be getting the ClassicFlix treatment as we have licensed the 10 feature films below for release on Blu-ray.

• Pardon Us (1931)
• Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
• Sons of the Desert (1933)
• The Bohemian Girl (1936)
• Our Relations (1936)
• Way Out West (1937)
• Swiss Miss (1938)
• Block-Heads (1938)
• A Chump at Oxford (1940)
• Saps at Sea (1940)

Nine of the ten feature films will receive fresh scans and be restored by ClassicFlix. Troubles is the exception as we have already licensed the beautiful restoration performed by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Most, if not all, of our 9 restorations will be sourced from the best available 35mm elements courtesy of the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the releases will be spread out over five double features, with Pardon and Troubles likely being our next announced release in Volume 1 this fall.

Check out the raw scan clip of Pardon below, which while very rough, is typical of Hal Roach material from this time period, and shows a lot more image area on the left side and a sharpness not seen in the film's current home video form. Once restored, Laurel and Hardy's first feature film will finally get a presentation worthy of the team's iconic cultural status.

Pardon Us (1931) 35mm RAW SCAN Clip of First Laurel & Hardy Feature Film - YouTube

-A SPECIAL NOTE: The #1 request we've received over the last several years is to restore and release all the Hal Roach Laurel and Hardy sound films. And since we expect more questions are likely to be asked regarding our restorations and upcoming releases of the above films, we've posted some potential FAQs at below in this announcement.

--WHAT VERSION OF PARDON US WILL YOU BE RELEASING?
We will be releasing the very rare, final theatrical version (55 min.) of Pardon, and may or may not include the ubiquitous preview version (71 min.) as a bonus feature. There are no plans to include the extant Spanish version or any other "cut" of the film as it has put together in a variety of ways over the years.

--WILL YOU BE RELEASING THE SOUND SHORTS OR OTHER FEATURE FILMS OF THE BOYS?
There currently aren't any plans to release any other features films or sound shorts of theirs.

--WHY AREN'T YOU RELEASING THEM IN ONE BOXED SET?
Restoring the 9 features is a major project which, at best, could take 18 months to perform. At worst, it may take up to 3 years. Since this is the case, and including the large, up front costs that would be involved, we believe releasing them in double features is the best way to go.

--WILL THERE EVENTUALLY BE A BOXED SET?
There are no plans to release a boxed set. If it did eventually happen, it likely wouldn't be until 2028 or beyond.

--ARE YOU ALSO RELEASING THEM ON DVD?
Likely, but not definite.

--WILL THERE BE ANY BONUS FEATURES?
Bonus features will be slim as we'll be putting almost all our resources into the restorations of the films themselves.

https://www.classicflix.com/blog/202...aming-and-more