DVD collects Laurel and Hardy classics

From the press release:

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Hollywood's most-beloved comedy duo, let loose on DVD April 18 in a brand-new release built around two of their best, but rarely seen, feature films -- "TCM ARCHIVES: THE LAUREL AND HARDY COLLECTION." This deluxe two-disc set from Warner Home Video, priced at $39.92 SRP, features the slapstick team's "The Devil's Brother" and "Bonnie Scotland" (both newly-restored from original nitrate film elements), and a number of bonus features.

Highlights of the bonus features are a full-length documentary, "Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story," narrated by Chevy Chase, which showcases not only the early films of Laurel and Hardy but also dozens of stars who developed a huge following from appearing in short subjects, such as The Little Rascals (Our Gang) and The Three Stooges. Also included in the extras are excerpts from several of the pair's movies, including the only surviving footage from the "lost film," "The Rogue Song."

Laurel and Hardy -- enduringly popular, perhaps because their irresistible antics were underscored by an indomitable optimism -- made 104 full-length features and shorts together, never running out of comic ideas or insane inventions. Accidentally paired up in the mid-twenties' silent era while both were under contract to Hal Roach, their comedy styles meshed so well that they gained immediate popularity with audiences. Unlike many of their peers, they easily survived the talkie revolution to become even greater stars during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when audiences craved escapist fare.

Stan Laurel (the thin one) did much of the writing and some of the directing. Oliver Hardy, known as "Babe" to his friends, mostly golfed when away from the movie set, leaving the more creative work to his partner Stan.

Some of Laurel and Hardy's other classics include "The Battle of the Century" (1927), the Academy Award®-winning "The Music Box" (1932), "Sons of the Desert" (1933) and "Way Out West" (1937).

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