Laurel & Hardy Comedy Classics Volumes 1-9

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All 9 Volumes of Laurel & Hardy Comedy Classics Videos VHS Tapes

Laurel & Hardy Comedy Classics Volumes 1-9 Review

These 9 tapes were released in the 1980's (in both VHS and Beta formats), and each tape contains four complete, uncut Laurel & Hardy short films. Laurel and Hardy starred in a total of 40 sound short films, and this set only includes 36 of them. (I don't know why there was not a tenth volume to include all 40. Three of the missing four were being regularly shown on TV during the same period in which these tapes were released.)

What's more, the order of the films is totally jumbled. I prefer to have Laurel and Hardy's films in consecutive order, partly because you can watch their comedy style develop over time, and also because it makes it easier to find a specific film when I want to.

I bought 4 of the volumes in this set years ago. The tapes I bought had adequate but not exceptional picture and sound quality. Despite being recorded at the Standard Play (SP) mode, the picture lacked the sharpness of the 1980's TV broadcasts of the exact same films, and there was also a bit of hiss on the soundtracks. However, in the 1980's these tapes were the best available option for owning Laurel & Hardy sound short films. I didn't buy the whole set was because I obtained several other L&H films by simply recording them off of TV broadcasts, manually editing out the commercial breaks as I recorded them. Many of these films were shown uncut, and with picture and sound quality that was better than these tapes. However, several of Laurel & Hardy's short films were edited for TV to fit them into an allotted time slot, and two of them were primitively colorized. Therefore, I found it necessary to buy the tapes which had the films in their entirety and in black & white.

Anyhow, as I write this review, it is 2013, and the VHS format is almost obsolete. Currently available on DVD is a far superior set of L&H films called "Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection". This DVD set contains ALL 40 of Laurel & Hardy's sound short films in consecutive order, plus seven bonus foreign versions with English subtitles. (The foreign versions are worthwhile because they contain additional footage or alternate endings.) In addition to the 40 shorts are a variety of Laurel & Hardy feature films, and an assortment of other bonus features, including optional commentary tracks on some of the films, short films with Laurel & Hardy cameo appearances, and several contemporary celebrity interviews about Laurel & Hardy.

So, if you buy "The Essential Collection" on DVD, you will get ALL the material that was on these 9 tapes, but with superior picture and sound quality, and a whole lot more Laurel and Hardy material.

If I was writing this review in 1987 I would give these 9 "Comedy Classics" tapes my highest recommendation, as nothing better was available. However, being as this is now 2013 and not 1987, I am going to suggest you pass on these old VHS tapes and buy "Laurel and Hardy: The Essential Collection" instead.

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