Michael Agee's L&H box set??
bubba
Anybody got the info?
Louie
Jim Reid
I've never seen a hard and fast date. Just hopefull estimates.
dirwuf
God bless Michael and all the fine work he's done, but meeting
deadlines has never been his strong suit...this set was promised years
ago, and while I have no doubt it will eventually come out, I'm not
holding my breath.
Mister Levity
dirwuf wrote:
>...this set was promised years
> ago, and while I have no doubt it will eventually come out, I'm not
> holding my breath.
Neither am I.
aintmyre...@yahoo.com
gerbonzo
> This is ridiculous!
I heard thru the GRAPEVINE that production has been delayed...Richard
W. Bann has a new, uncrackable security code on his home security
system.
gerbonzo
Paul Fitzpatrick
> ...this set was promised years
> ago, and while I have no doubt it will eventually come out, I'm not
> holding my breath.
The set seems to be overdoing it quite a bit, especially since the
main attractions -- the Laurel & Hardy films -- could fit on an
affordable set the size of a TV season boxed set, with room for
several extras. This mammoth set is so unaffordable, and it doesn't
look lime they've improved the situation with the music. The films
that have no music probably still have the same music taken from a
handful of films such as WRONG AGAIN. Every time I hear "Horses,
Horses," it reminds me of WRONG AGAIN! Kind of distracting! :)
gerbonzo
he did on LIBERTY (1929). I have the BLACKHAWK 16mm version with the
restored VITAPHONE DISC score. I am glad I purchased his video
edition. I never knew that I was missing all those freeze frames
between EVERY SINGLE CAMERA ANGLE. Also it is so much more fun to have
the complete 2nd. reel out of synchroniztion on the AGEE version. How
bland and predictable to have the action mated wither the music and
effects score on the 16mm.
Also, when Herr Agee released HABEAS CORPUS on VHS tape in the mid
1990's the box said that it was with THE RESTORED VITAPHONE DISC
SCORE. When i got it home, I popped it into my VCR, and it low und
behold, it was the same old score that had been on the film for years.
The box was emblazzoned with the blurbs that he helped to discover the
long lost VITAPHONE discs hidden in some cardboard boxes. When I
called his phone number to complain about the false advert. he said
that he had the box for the VHS version printed up before he "could
get the discs for the restoration." When I asked him why was he
waiting for the discs that were already discovered, he had no answer.
I hope he proves my feelings for his work wrong with this set.
gerbonzo
greg o r y
and i'd HAVE to buy it.
Paul Fitzpatrick
> Perhaps Dr. Agee is doing some more of his restorations like the one
> he did on LIBERTY (1929). I have the BLACKHAWK 16mm version with the
> restored VITAPHONE DISC score. I am glad I purchased his video
> edition. I never knew that I was missing all those freeze frames
> between EVERY SINGLE CAMERA ANGLE.
Agee has said that he was going to fix these freeze-frames for the new
edition.
> Also, when Herr Agee released HABEAS CORPUS on VHS tape in the mid
> 1990's the box said that it was with THE RESTORED VITAPHONE DISC
> SCORE. When i got it home, I popped it into my VCR, and it low und
> behold, it was the same old score that had been on the film for years.
When the film came out on DVD, it had the original score. By the way,
I don't know if it's correct to refer to it as a Vitaphone score.
These scores were done by Victor. Vitaphone did the sound for Warner
Brothers.
Shark
Michael Agee wrote an article in which he addresses the very
complaints you mentioned:
http://www.laurelandhardy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/roachset.html
Eric Perlin
} The last word I've heard is the release is scheduled
} for May 29. Michael Agee wrote an article in which
} he addresses the very complaints you mentioned:
}
} http://www.laurelandhardy.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/roachset.html
In case the page goes down in the near future, here is Agee's text:
--------------
Regarding the "Boxed Set" Rumors:
by Michael Agee -Hal Roach Studios
For some time now, many of my fellow Helpmates' members have asked, over and
over again (well, hounded me, actually), as to whether I had any plans to sum up
what has now been two decades of work on the restoration of the Laurel & Hardy
Comedies, by formulating a special collection of all of the Hal Roach films to
which we still control rights, and release everything in a boxed set. The
thought of having one more shot at everything was undeniably appealing
(certainly to my anal-retentive tendencies) because I simply cannot watch any
film I have ever restored without wincing in pain at this or that flaw which I
somehow, in my exhaustion of the moment, had missed - and, I swear, never have I
turned to an associate and groaned "Oh, God, did you see that?" and have them
reply "Yes-I certainly did. I saw that". Always the response is "What? See
what?" So I know it's just me and that it is absolutely a borderline illness.
Anyway, yes! I absolutely wanted to add that bathroom scene to Duck Soup, and
insert the transitional car sequence in Love 'Em And Weep, hack out the
freeze-frames and repair the reel change on Liberty, put in the entire Vitaphone
track on We Faw Down - I'm doing this from memory, so - YES! Obviously, it is an
obsession and I have to do it!
"So, why hasn't it been done?" you might ask. (Someone go ahead - ask. Good old
Rob!) Well, now that you ask, it hasn't been done because it costs an absolute
fortune and, you may be surprised to learn, we didn't even sell two thousand
copies on certain discs in the series - discs of which I was most proud -
including the volume which returned Why Girls Love Sailors to the world of the
living (and, in two languages, no less!). And, while I have always been quick to
tell our annual assemblages that without my old friend of three decades, Bruce
Venezia, the Vice-President of Image Entertainment, none of these films would
ever have been restored and would not today exist, there nevertheless have been
production problems which have caused some to believe the series had been
discontinued (not bothering to re-press Volume One for almost two years would
tend to leave that general impression!). But it was not intentional.
Also, I wanted to be certain I actually had something to offer that was worth
your support, because without the hope of a certain level of sales, no release
can be worth the while of a major public corporation such as Image. (Obviously,
my labour comes more cheaply.) While I, frankly, didn't think Image would be
interested, Bruce surprised me by saying they wanted to do it. (He knows how to
put a person "on the spot". Without such support, I could simply blame him and
slink off into the disappearing iris.)
So it has come down to a question of my health, which, as some of you may know,
has been almost laughably rather rough over the last few years. A minor fall
snowballed into one thing after another and now I look up at the calendar and
almost five years have passed, and I still don't feel a hell of a lot better
(trust me - stick with the NHS!). But to contrast the personal considerations,
as I look around my desk, I see filing cabinets filled with posters and stills I
want to share with you, along with stacks of different and improved printing
material on the films themselves which I have assembled over the years, along
with lists of additional Roach films I have amassed, and I know, if I leave this
world without doing it, nobody will do it (and I very nearly expired-wholly by
accident - this past July, and, as I recovered over the following three months,
I realised this definitely had been a wake-up call from the standpoint of the
responsibility I have always felt to make this material available).
SO! ..... (I feel that at this point there should be a bell or a buzzer or, at
least, a cheap chord on an accordion or even the raspberry of a whoopee cushion)
.... I have decided to do it. Assuming anyone is interested (and, if you are
still reading after all the preceding tripe, I assume you really must be
interested.), you must be wondering exactly what this "it" I'm going to foist
upon you actually consists of. Frankly, "it" is every film I've ever accumulated
which I ever wanted to share with you that I could manage to transfer to digital
tape. The boxed set will consist of a dozen discs - the "slim line" plastic
discs in a box (You don't really need another shoebox, do you?) and every disc
will be double-layered and absolutely packed with material (by my calculation,
each disc is over four hours long, -and I can still add to that). By popular
demand (and I can give you the guy's name if you insist upon it) I decided to
put all the Laurel and Hardy films - including the solos - in chronological
order. Now, in all seriousness, a lot of people have asked for this over the
years, and I'm sure you can understand that marketing considerations made this
previously impossible. But you will now be able to watch The Boys come together
in The Lucky Dog, then go their separate ways, only bumping into each other
occasionally, then finally - Boom!:- "The Boys".
Another big deciding factor in my going ahead with this project is that I have
just acquired what is remaining of the original European negative to (can you
believe?) Slipping Wives, which, as you know, has always been one of the most
spotty of titles. (Thank God for Bill Everson's 16mm print, or we would have had
nothing to work with over the past thirty years!). But this original negative
(which is missing the heads and tails in the same fashion as the material we
found on Flying Elephants and Why Girls Love Sailors) is a revelation and, I
think, adds a lot to our enjoyment if not perception of the Laurel and Hardy
body of work. And, that was the final straw in my deciding to proceed.
Rob has a list of everything (I hasten to add-subject to change!) see PDF link
below, but let me briefly say we will presenta very broad overview not just of
L&H but of the Roach Studio itself over the decades. There are several hours of
Streamliners from 1941 which are not only very funny but, having been done by
Fred Guiol, you can catch him re-using some of the first gags he originally
devised for The Boys back in 1926-there they are, fifteen years later in the
wartime comedies (and you thought I was recycling material!). I'm including an
amazing World War Two-era informational film about the Signal Corps motion
picture unit which is, in effect, a guided tour of Hal Roach Studios! This U. S.
Government film shows the tank, the different departments, even the prop room,
where you will recognize some of the ephemera from the various Laurel and Hardy
comedies. (That aerial shot perpetually shown of HRS came from this Signal Corps
production.) There's a serious WWII Army informational film teaching soldiers
how to act under enemy interrogation (I'm sending a copy to the White House),
shot by the Boys at Fort Roach. And, because I think they're funny, a baker's
dozen of Edgar Kennedy R-K-O comedies (hey--this was the entire Roach unit that
was laid off by the pencil pushers in 1931-THAT'S how I'm justifying it!).
There are even a couple of episodes of The Trouble With Father (The Stu Erwin
Show) from 1952.
Oh yeah-and a big surprise I'll tell you about later.
I plan to add a book of around 150 pages which will include all of the posters,
printed full page size (the book will be inside the box, so that's exactly how
large the pages will be-the size to fit next to the slim-pac DVD's) with all of
the same boring text you have come to know and love. I am working on a treatise
about the Roach-Victor Agreement (something for you fly-speckers out there!),
and hope to have room to include large-sized copies of many of the great
off-the-set stills we have accumulated, a few of which I am leaking to Mr. Lewis
for his next issue, including such items as Stan playing golf with Art Lloyd and
Bob McGowan.
BOOKLET PROOF
Now, this is not to say that the single DVD's have been discontinued-they
haven't. At my insistence, and with the thought that I'd somehow actually like
to be financially able to do all of the things with the boxed set that I want to
do, Image has re-pressed all ten discs. But there are only a couple of hundred
copies of each disc. I doubt they will ever again be made available in this
format, so if you are missing any - ACT NOW
The boxed set will retail for $199.95-whatever: Two Hundred dollars. That means
close to a hundred with all the discounts and, I hope, well worth it. Any
suggestions are appreciated though not all will necessarily be implemented (Hey!
the guy with all the nagging about the chronological order got lucky, so - who
knows?).
I truly appreciate all your kind support over the years and, frankly, without
it, I would never have continued. I think it's very hard doing this sort of work
in a vacuum so, when I say "thank you," I sincerely mean it.
As to the release date, I cannot be certain. It's a hell of a lot of work, I
have absolutely no help, and, on my bad days, it seems insurmountable. But,
we've made it this far, and I'm pecking along and hope to have something more
definitive for you in the next issue.
Best Wishes,
Michael Agee
Colonel Buckshot
Image Entertainment (who would be releasing this) doesn't have this
set listed in their new release schedule which goes out until July.
Also, Mr. Agee's website, www.halroachstudios.com, is no longer
online.
But on a more positive note, the latest issue of the L&H magazine
(Helpmates tent in UK) indicated that they had received a proof set of
this box set (which proves it does exist) but that no information was
available yet as to a release date.
Kimba W. Lion
>Also, Mr. Agee's website, www.halroachstudios.com, is no longer
>online.
The actual notice given from that address says that the condition is
temporary. Since the notice comes from a different IP address than the server
assigned to halroachstudios.com, it may be a problem with the hosting company
(which is way too expensive, btw, so hopefully he's moving the site to another
host).
Jim R.
A lot of the stuff on that Web page is very old news, but some is new.
I hope this set comes out. Too bad it won't have the surviving reel of
"Now I'll Tell One." Or a complete version of "Atoll K."
Who is the "Rob" to whom Mr. Agee refers? Stone? Farr? Those are the
only two Robs I'm aware of who fit the context. - Jim Roebuck
Mister Levity
Rob Lewis of the Helpmates UK tent:
http://www.laurelandhardy.org/
tony fallon
tony fallon
MJ Emigh
I had no idea that this ng was still around. I used to be pretty involved, but when L&H sites started popping up all over, I joined the exodus from alt.L&H.
The last time I checked in was over a decade ago, and this was a topic even then. I ordered my set even before THAT. He took the money, but I haven't received my order yet. I can't figure out why he can't just sell the rights to someone who can get the job done. I'm getting old and would like to see nice prints of the silents before I'm asked to leave this planet. Sheeeeesh......