TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland)
by Charley Rogers, Hal Roach, James W. Horne
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Actor: Dennis King, James Finlayson, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Thelma ToddDirector: Charley Rogers, Hal Roach, James W. Horne
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Charley Rogers
Writer: James W. Horne
Writer: Albert Austin
Writer: Eugène Scribe
Writer: Frank Butler
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 268 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-18
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 67888
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Actors: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Dennis King, Thelma Todd, James Finlayson.
- Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC.
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono). Subtitles: English, Spanish, French.
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
- Not Rated. Run Time: 268 minutes.
DVD Reviews of TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland)
DVD Review: Laurel, Hardy, and MGM ==Possible Spoilers in this review==
Summary: 4 Stars
Way back in the 80's there were only two Laurel & Hardy movies to be found on video tape; "Utopia" and "Flying Deuces", both released by a multitude of cheapy video companies. And then finally MGM/UA home video released a third, "Bonnie Scotland". This would be followed by CBS/FOX's Playhouse Video released a couple of their 20th Century Fox movies, and Nostalgia Merchant did us all a favor and released 9 volumes of their sound shorts ( one volume more and they would have completed the task ) as well as several of the Hal Roach L&H feature films.
It wasn't long before MGM /UA realized that L&H sold well on video. And it was just their luck that they had the video rights to 2 of their movies. So in the 90's "Bonnie Scotland" was re-released marked down from $70 to $20, an "The Devils Brother" was also given a release at the same price. These movies made such a profit that MGM/UA continued to release any L&H movies they could get their hands on.
As it turned out, Laurel & Hardy had made two movies for MGM studios after they split with Hal Roach studios. "Air Raid Wardens" and "Nothing But Trouble", while the stronger of their post Roach movies, were still regarded to be substandard. Ultimately that did not stop MGM/UA from releasing them, or putting such phrases as "..hilarious..." and "...laughed packed 1944 film".
MGM/UA continued to try to milk the L&H cash cow dry with two more video releases; "Laurel & Hardy's Laughing 20's" and "Hollywood Party". The former was another Robert Youngson composite movie released by MGM that is best remembered for preserving most of the pie fight from "Battle of the Century". The later was a 1934 MGM all-star disaster that featured Laurel & Hardy in only a few segments. But that did not stop MGM/UA from prominently featuring Laurel & Hardy on the videos box.
It would have been nice if MGM had continued and paid for the rights to release several other L&H movies, but at the time they were only interested in releasing the movies they already owned the rights to. Now nearly 15 years later Warner Home Video is once again re-releasing the MGM owned Laurel & Hardy movies on DVD. While this set only contains their two Roach features, good sales could see the re-release of all the MGM owned material. ( I would actually like to see a DVD release of "Hollywood Review of 1929" as I am also a Buster Keaton fan. The only other release of this movie on home video was part of an expensive Laser disc set with a lot of other early musicals I was not interested in. )Hopefully this could also result in a release of other Laurel & Hardy movies through Warner & TCM.
As for the movies in this set, they are not the best that Laurel & hardy had to offer. At the time "The Devils Brother" was made Hal Roach felt that they had to beef up the feature films with what was selling tickets at the time, namely romance and music. As in movies like "Swiss Miss",
"Bohemian Girl", and even "Babes in Toyland", a sub plot revolving around a romance between two characters tends to take over the movie. As do singing numbers that do not involve Laurel or Hardy. They are by no means marginalized as Abbot & Costello were in many of their films, but the padding is still obvious. However, since Stan and Babe had less to do with the film it gave them more time to work out the gags in their individual scenes. And The Devils Brother does offer up a few comedy gems such as the "Earsy-Kneesy-Nosey" game ( which, by the way, quickly became a fad shortly after this film was released )
The plot is simple. L&H play Stanlio and Ollio, two failed bandit's in Europe around the 1700's. They are forced into service with Fra Diavalo, a notorious leader of a gang of bandits, after Stanlio and Ollio attempt to rob them. Disguising himself as a nobleman, Fra Diavalo infiltrates the home of Lord Rocburg and woos his wife in order to locate his money. A second sub plot is introduced where if Captain Lorenzo cannot capture the bandit Fra Diavalo he will never be able to marry his true love. Throughout the movie Laurel & Hardy are forced to help Fra Diavalo in his plot, but at the same time are interested in turning him in for the reward. Eventually they end up getting both Fra Diavalo and themselves caught and nearly shot by a firing squad. That is until Stanlio causes a distraction that allows them all to escape.
Bonnie Scotland, besides its name, barely takes place in that country. Stan & Olly travel to Scotland for a reading of a will where they are only left a snuff box. They end up enlisting in the Scottish army and for the bulk of the movie are in India. The sub plot here is one of Laurels relatives, Laurena MacLaurel, is brought to India by her guardian, and her boyfriend enlists in the same regiment as Stanly & Olly to be with her. In the end of the movie the subplot is abandoned without resolution as Stanly, Olly, and the boyfriend are all sent on a mission to infiltrate some insurgents. As they are about to be killed Stanly knocks over some bee hives which aids in their escape, but also sends swarms of bees to sting everyone. It is there the movie ends abruptly, leaving i=us to assume that somehow the romantic subplot was resolved, and at the same time not caring if it was or not. As in all the Roach movies, strong material from Laurel & Hardy, but ruined by dull padding with the lame subplot. And the second most misleading title in comedy history ( the first being "Abbot & Costello go to Mars ).
The disks also include some good extras, including their segment from "Hollywood Review of 1929" as well as their segments from "Hollywood Party" and their scenes from "Pick A Star". I suppose this is MGM's way of saying they are not going to be releasing those films, but here is all the L&H footage so you are not missing anything. And I agree, it will now be hard for them to sell those movies at a latter date. ( then again, Hollywood Party also has segments by Walt Disney and The Three Stooges, so perhaps they could afford to still release it.)There is also the existing fragment of Laurel & Hardy footage from the otherwise lost "Rouge Song". But one puzzler is a documentary on short subject films. One would think that this is just included as filler. But since the extras also boasts the scenes from the other films mentioned, throwing this documentary in does not seem necessary. It is almost as if it was tossed in by accident and was meant for another DVD set. And who knows, maybe in the near future a box set of random short movies released by Warner Brothers will include a documentary on Laurel & Hardy as an extra.
More TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland) reviews:
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Description of TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (The Devil's Brother / Bonnie Scotland)
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