Nitrateville Comment Dept: Laurel and Hardy Year One

[Richard M Roberts]

https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic. ... 5&start=60

A hoot of a comment from a nameless (or last nameless one) over at Nitwitvile:

"While I'd really like this, I'm going to hold off until all the silents are available, if ever. The delay by FA in releasing Volume Two of their Mack Sennett anthology is preventing me from committing to their collections until they're complete. It must almost ten years since the release of Volume One. Hopefully, this new collection doesn't suffer as badly."

Well kids, there a lot of reasons why Flicker Alley has not released Volume Two of Cinemuseum's Mack Sennett set, most of them will not be mentioned here, but we will say that their treatment of Volume One is one of the main reasons why Volume Two will be released by The Sprocket Vault when it is released. Stay Tuned.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Rob Farr]

Doubtless one of those "fans" who don't really like watching this stuff, but just like to see "Vol. 1" next to "Vol. 2" next to Vol. 3" on their bookshelves. The kind of people who sent you complaints that the 1929 Chases should have been "Vol. 1", not Vol. 4".

[William Ferry]

Oh, bushwa! For corn's sake (as Gildersleeve's nephew Leroy would say), buy what's available when it comes out. Your Charley Chase set, for example. The fact that EVERYTHING wasn't available all at once didn't stop me from buying volume one when it dropped. If people have this attitude, what incentives are there for content providers to do more?

If further L&H or Sennett sets DO come out, great. If not, at least I've got what's out there NOW and I'm enjoying it. I'm buying old Blackhawk Films prints that I couldn't afford as a teenager, and to be able to acquire more goodies on DVD that I'd never dreamed of getting spreads a lot of joy for me!

[Richard M Roberts]

Realize that this comment came in a Nitwitvile thread about the Laurel and Hardy set that has various internerds whining more about the type of Blu-Ray packaging they hate the most than Laurel and Hardy or the set in general, just the kind of time-wasting nonsense we expect daily from that sorry little site.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Richard M Roberts]

Oh, bushwa! For corn's sake (as Gildersleeve's nephew Leroy would say), buy what's available when it comes out. Your Charley Chase set, for example. The fact that EVERYTHING wasn't available all at once didn't stop me from buying volume one when it dropped. If people have this attitude, what incentives are there for content providers to do more?

And that is exactly why we told folk if they wanted more volumes of Chase and Roach materials, they had to support the ones that came out as they came out or they would stop coming out, not wait in hope for a big box set that won't ever materialize at the end. Yes, there are indeed people who are more jazzed by seeing matching numbered things on their shelves rather than actually watching and enjoying what comes out, people who really need to get lives. This is why I'm seriously considering making the other volumes of my proposed four-part trilogy on the Comedy Film Industry a different shape, color and size for each volume, just so they look weird together sitting on those seriously OCD folk's shelves.

And you thought I was kidding about driving the nerds crazy with the 1929/Volume Four Chase set, that really did get under some of their skins. I know my nerds.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

[William Ferry]

Richard, that was the best laugh I've had today, except for some Ben Turpin Blackhawk Films being delivered later.

[Rob Farr]

When the next Sennett set comes out, wouldn’t it be fun to label it Vol. 3? Imagine the lifelong quest it will unleash among those searching for the elusive Vol. 2.

[Ed Watz]

The oddest thing - as of today - is that among all the responses since folks received their copy, not one discusses the films themselves! How's the quality? Any "new" footage found? Are the new scores dirge-like or high-kickin'? Come on, somebody at least should describe one short, they're only about 20 minutes apiece. It's as though people are afraid to voice an opinion.

[Richard M Roberts]

The oddest thing - as of today - is that among all the responses since folks received their copy, not one discusses the films themselves! How's the quality? Any "new" footage found? Are the new scores dirge-like or high-kickin'? Come on, somebody at least should describe one short, they're only about 20 minutes apiece. It's as though people are afraid to voice an opinion.

That's because they can't get the Blu-ray discs out of the packages they hate so much.

It was just like when we premiered the Mack Sennett stuff on TCM back in 2012, they spent pages complaining about how they couldn't program their Tivos to record each short specifically (programming a block of time to record the whole program of shorts seemed to elude them) and barely discussed the films themselves.

Nitwitvile----the forest for the trees.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Richard M Roberts]

So in Gebert's Nitwitvile review of the Laurel and Hardy set, he mentions that SAILORS,BEWARE was "long thought lost" for many years......really.....is this pulled out of Gebert's ass or is Lobster making this nonsense claim, because SAILORS,BEWARE has never been lost, there were beautiful Pathegram and Kodascope prints around basically since the film came out, and it was one of Charlie Tarbos's best selling titles from Film Classics Exchange, I've had prints of this for over 40 years.

And you know, it's time to quit calling DUCK SOUP "long thought lost" since it has been back in circulation since the 1970's, nearly fifty years since it's rediscovery means it's a "long found" film.

RICHARD M ROBERTS