A Century Later, Comedy’s Blueprint Still Shines

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MOVIE REVIEW
Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations Volume 2
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Year Released: Various, 2025 Blu-ray
Runtime: 6h 1m
Director(s): Lloyd French, James Parrott, Charles Rogers, George Stevens
Writer(s): Stan Laurel (uncredited concepts and gags), H.M. Walker, Leo McCarey (story contributions)
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Thelma Todd, James Finlayson, Edgar Kennedy, Charlie Hall, Mae Busch, Jean Harlow, Walter Long, Billy Gilbert
Where to Watch: available now, order your copy here: www.mvdshop.com or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS VOLUME 2 arrives as both an act of preservation and celebration. What Kit Parker Films and MVD Entertainment have assembled here is more than a nostalgia trip—it’s a technical and collector triumph that reintroduces one of cinema’s most influential duos to audiences who may have only known their work through faded prints or clips on YouTube. This Blu-ray set restores not just image and sound, but also a sense of comedy and timing that modern audiences may have forgotten how to appreciate.

Across its six-hour runtime, the collection gathers eight of the pair’s most celebrated short films: Men O’ War (1929), Perfect Day (1929), Blotto (1930), Another Fine Mess (1930), Dirty Work (1933), Going Bye-Bye! (1934), Them Thar Hills (1934), and Tit for Tat (1935). Each one feels alive, remastered from original 35mm nitrate elements. For anyone who has ever loved physical comedy, this isn’t just restoration—it’s resurrection.

What immediately stands out is the clarity of these restorations. The difference between the soft, damaged transfers many fans have lived with for decades and what’s presented here is like night and day. Every double take and disbelieving glance lands with renewed precision. The blacks, whites, and perfectly graded grays give each gag a sharpness that amplifies the timing. The sound, too, feels cleaner than ever—voices no longer buried beneath static, musical stings crisp and clean, and the occasional creak of a door or crash of a pan sound vivid.

For a duo whose comedy relied on rhythm and reaction, that fidelity is everything. Stan Laurel’s soft bewilderment and Oliver Hardy’s blustering frustration have never felt more distinct. There’s a moment in Perfect Day where Hardy’s patience frays past the point of civility—it’s a sequence so impeccably timed that you realize how modern comedy editing still borrows from their routines. The simplicity of setup and payoff feels revolutionary again, which says something about how timeless the duo’s craft really was.

The inclusion of previously lost silent versions of Blotto and Brats, featuring new scores by accompanist Andrew Earle Simpson, adds historical importance. These aren’t filler extras; they expand the context of the duo’s evolution from silent to sound comedy. Likewise, alternate audio tracks for Perfect Day, Blotto, and Another Fine Mess allow viewers to hear the tonal differences that were sometimes created for reissues. Each variation gives insight into how these films were refined, re-released, and adapted for changing audiences.

The supplements are exhaustive and essential. Rare trailers for titles like Pardon Us and Our Relations, the MGM promotional film Galaxy of Stars, and the rediscovered Ship’s Reporter (1952) piece all expand the value. The inclusion of This Is Your Life: Laurel & Hardy (1954) from a 35mm kinescope negative lends weight, a bittersweet look at the duo’s later years that reinforces their enduring popularity beyond their films. The Hal Roach backlot interview, footage, and color booklet filled with restoration notes and rare photographs give fans a tangible connection to film history that streaming can’t replicate.

Commentary tracks from noted historians Richard W. Bann and Randy Skretvedt lend not only academic authority but warmth—they’re the sort of voices that make you appreciate how seriously the work of comedy preservation is taken. The commentaries often illuminate the challenges of shooting physical comedy on sets that were never designed to survive 90 years of film stock degradation. It’s both technical insight and fan devotion wrapped into one.

What makes this second volume stand apart is its sincerity. It doesn’t attempt to modernize or reframe the duo; instead, it restores the purity of what made them enduring. The craftsmanship of these restorations mirrors the meticulousness of Laurel himself, who was notorious for rehearsing and refining every gag until it played perfectly. The result feels like he’d have approved—precision, patience, and perfection, one pratfall at a time.

LAUREL & HARDY: THE DEFINITIVE RESTORATIONS VOLUME 2 achieves what every archival release should aspire to: it safeguards laughter. It ensures that a new generation will see these films not as dusty relics of a bygone era but as living, breathing works of art that continue to shape comedy nearly a century later. For those who grew up with the duo or are just meeting them now, this Blu-ray set is proof that physical media remains a vital part of cultural preservation. It’s easy to take laughter for granted, but here it’s treated with the reverence it deserves. Laurel and Hardy’s brilliance isn’t merely restored—it’s reaffirmed.

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[photo courtesy of KIT PARKER FILMS, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

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