Even Don Malkames’ 25-minute documentary about the first generation of movie cameras is surprisingly compelling. I’ve never seen a more meaningful or resonant presentation of then-and-now footage. featuring master sleuth John Bengtson and historian Marc Wanamaker. The company also commissioned filmmaker Daniel Raim to present Time Travelers, a breathtaking short piece about Keaton locations in L.A. Audiences of the time would have recognized these songs immediately and enjoyed these cues.)
Just when you thought you’d seen (and purchased) all the Keaton you need, along comes The Criterion Collection with a gorgeous copy of The Cameraman, with a brand-new orchestral score composed by the estimable Timothy Brock-plus Buster’s final silent feature Spite Marriage as a “bonus feature.” (Incidentally, no one mentions that the synchronized score for Spite Marriage recorded when the film was new is full of musical jokes, using popular songs of the day like “Jealous” and “I Faw Down an Go Boom” to comment on the action. It’s available on DVD and Blu-ray from ClassicFlix.
It’s not one of the duo’s best but it has its moments and a great supporting cast, including two very funny men: Shemp Howard and Joe Besser. But the main attraction is the film itself, looking better than anyone could possibly imagine. Because the film has been so widely available the folks behind this endeavor have worked hard to find bonus material: outtakes and gag-reel highlights, an unedited Abbott and Costello radio show with Bela Lugosi (including Lou’s studio audience warmup) as well as the finished program that aired on ABC, a fascinating two-minute film of Lou Costello talking to Max Baer and Joe Louis from 1940, a restored A&C 3-D comic book (glasses included) and other entertaining odds and ends, including an introduction and commentary by A&C expert Ron Palumbo. The same compliment I just paid Laurel & Hardy goes for Abbott and Costello and the new release of Africa Screams (1949), beautifully restored in 4K from original 35mm nitrate elements by the 3D Film Archive. It’ll knock your eyes out…and make you smile. Even if you already own an L&H dvd set you owe it to yourself to add this to your library. I’ve seen great shorts like Helpmates, Hog Wild, Towed in a Hole, and The Music Box over and over again but once I dipped my toe into this collection I couldn’t stop. For Brats and Berth Marks you can listen to the original background music or the scores that accompanied their 1937 reissue. The generous set includes commentary tracks and some 2,500 images: publicity stills, photos of deleted scenes, trailers, original posters, scripts, and contracts, along with vintage audio and video interviews with L&H colleagues and coworkers and the first good copies I’ve ever seen of the wartime short The Tree in a Test Tube and the Ship’s Reporter interview with Oliver Hardy. Bann, Randy Skretvedt, Jon Mirsalis, and Kit Parker, who has released this welcome collection. There are many people responsible for giving these films the attention they required, including the aforementioned Jeff Joseph, Scott MacQueen, Richard W.
Nineteen shorts and two features ( Sons of the Desert and Way Out West) are spotlighted here, including the long-lost silent gem The Battle of the Century with its unforgettable pie fight. (UCLA also established a Laurel & Hardy Preservation Fund, to which many devotees contributed.)
In recent years, UCLA Film and Television Archive embarked on a dedicated program of 35mm photochemical restorations, spurred on by Jeff Joseph, who then did a digital “pass” to add the finishing touch. The Hal Roach library has been neglected and mishandled for years. I’ve been watching Laurel and Hardy since I was very young, when they were a daily presence on local television, but I’ve never seen their films look or sound as good as they do on the new four-disc set LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS (Kit Parker Films). LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS (Kit Parker Films)