Laurel and Hardy’s Treasures Pile Up

Good news comes Tuesday for Laurel and Hardy fans when Goodtimes Video releases one of the duo’s most beloved films, “March of the Wooden Soldiers.”

This comes on top of Video Treasures’ recent release of a new Laurel and Hardy collection featuring mint prints of several of their films. Each video contains production notes, recollections by Stan’s daughter, Lois, and rare home movies of the duo.

The whippet-thin British comedian Stan Laurel and the rotund Southern Oliver Hardy started working in silent films in 1915. They teamed for the first time in 1926’s “Slipping Wives” and over the next 24 years appeared in more than 101 shorts and features. Hardy also appeared, sans Laurel, in the 1949 John Wayne Western “The Fighting Kentuckian.”

Here are vintage Laurel and Hardy available on video, starting with this week’s release:

The lavish 1934 March of the Wooden Soldiers (Goodtimes $19.95) is a black-and-white film, but the video version is colorized. Based on the Victor Herbert operetta “Babes in Toyland,” this holiday musical-comedy finds the duo playing Santa’s incompetent assistants. Their giant wooden soldier toys thwart a villain who wants to take over Toyland. Charlotte Henry, who starred in “Alice in Wonderland” the year before, co-stars.

In 1940’s lightweight A Chump at Oxford (Video Treasures), the boys get into plenty of comedic situations when they enroll at England’s venerable Oxford University. Look for a very young Peter Cushing (“Star Wars”) as one of Stan and Ollie’s classmates.

Also from 1940 is the entertaining Saps at Sea (Video Treasures), a rollicking little comedy that finds Ollie suffering a nervous breakdown and trying desperately to relax with Stanley on a boat. He doesn’t get much of a chance to recover when they discover an escaped killer as a stowaway. Silent movie great Ben Turpin co-stars. And Harry Langdon, another silent movie clown, was one of the writers.

The boys enlist in World War I in 1932’s Pack Up Your Troubles (Video Treasures), only to end up helping an orphan girl find her relatives. George Marshall (“Destry Rides Again”) directed.

Laurel and Hardy at Work: 3 Classic Shorts (Video Treasures) features three shorts in which the boys are involved in different lines of work. Included in the compilation is 1933’s “Towed in the Hole” and “Busy Bodys” and the 1932 Oscar-winner “Music Box.”

Laurel and Hardy on the Lam: 4 Classic Shorts (Video Treasures) puts the spotlight on four wacky shorts in which the boys are on the run: 1932’s “Scram!,” 1930’s “Another Fine Mess,” 1931’s “One Good Turn” and “Going Bye Bye.”

In 1936’s Bohemian Girl (Media), Laurel and Hardy play members of a gypsy caravan who adopt an abandoned girl who actually is a princess. This funny flick also stars Thelma Todd, in her last film role, and Darla Hood of “Little Rascals” fame.

Laurel and Hardy join a Scottish military unit only to end up stationed in the desert in 1935’s amusing Bonnie Scotland (MGM/UA).

Though 1945’s Bullfighters (CBS/Fox) is one of the duo’s later films, it does contain a fair share of chuckles. The mistaken identity plot finds Stan a look-alike for a famous matador.

Less successful is 1941’s Great Guns (CBS/Fox) in which the boys join the Army yet again. Keep your eyes peeled for a brief appearance by a young Alan Ladd. The following year, Ladd would hit stardom in “This Gun for Hire.”

“Classic” is a word that’s too frequently used these days, but it’s a perfect description for the duo’s wonderful 1937 vehicle Way Out West (Media). The comedy, which also is available in a colorized version, finds the duo trying to deliver the deed to a mine to the daughter of a late prospector. And in typical L&H; fashion, the villain leads them to the wrong girl. Besides plenty of laughs, “Way Out West” features L&H; doing a sweet soft-shoe dance routine.

Many critics and fans alike consider 1933’s Sons of the Desert (Media) to be L&H;’s best film. In fact, the L&H; fan club is named after this film. Stan and Ollie sneak off to a fraternal convention without telling their wives. Veteran silent comedian Charley Chase, also stars.

Laurel and Hardy nearly breathe life into 1938’s overblown Swiss Miss (Media) in the scene in which Ollie sings to his lady love. Eric Blore, who appeared in several Astaire-Rogers comedies, co-stars.

The duo go the French Foreign Legion route in 1939’s Flying Deuces (Republic Pictures Home Video). Ollie has been unlucky in love, so he and Stan join the French Foreign Legion to forget their problems. Jean Parker and Reginald Gardiner also star. The duo sing and dance to “Shine On, Harvest Moon.”

Laurel and Hardy’s finale film, 1950’s Utopia (Goodtimes), is anything but a utopian comedy. Made on a shoestring budget in France--and partially in French--this wane, weak comedy finds the boys, who look as tired as the script, inheriting a uraninum rich island. Also known as “Atoll K” and “Robinson Crusoeland.”