Here’s another fine mess to get into

TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection

(Warner, $40)

The Devil’s Brother

IN this engaging 1933 adaptation of Auber’s 1830 operetta, “Fra Diavolo,” Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy play Stanlio and Ollio, down-on-their-luck travelers in 18th century Italy who decide to become bandits. The film was released internationally as “Fra Diavolo,” but MGM thought American audiences would get confused by the title and opted for the English translation.

Stage star Dennis King makes one of his few screen appearances as Fra Diavolo, a handsome highwayman who disguises himself as a marquis to ingratiate himself with the nobility. Thelma Todd, who was also an adept comic foil for the Marx Brothers and Joe E. Brown, plays the beautiful wife of an older wealthy man.

Hal Roach directed this slapstick farce, which features set pieces including Stanlio’s “finger-wiggle” and “kneesie-earsie-nosie.”

Extras: Informative and affectionate commentary from Laurel and Hardy buffs Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann.

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Bonnie Scotland

When this 1935 Laurel and Hardy comedy was sold to television, it was divided into three separate two-reel shorts that featured only the comedy duo’s bits. This new edition restores the film to its original form, complete with the title sequence.

Laurel travels to Scotland from America -- with Hardy in tow -- because he believes he has inherited a vast fortune. Unfortunately, the only things he was bequeathed were a snuffbox and bagpipes. Broke and starving, the two end up enlisting in the Scottish army and are sent to the frontier in India. The Laurel and Hardy sequences are imaginatively fun, especially when the two dance in their army kilts while trying to pick up trash and when they try to grill a fish on mattress springs using a candle.

“Bonnie Scotland” was almost not made because Laurel and producer Roach got into a contract dispute. Roach said that Laurel left the studio because he objected to the script; Laurel said that he was fired because he couldn’t agree with the studio on his new contract. Within a month, though, Laurel signed a new contract.

Extras: Commentary with Maltin and Bann.

Bonus disc: The DVD features an enjoyable 2002 Turner Classic Movies documentary, “Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story”; the only surviving fragment of the 1930 Technicolor Laurel and Hardy musical comedy “The Rogue Song”; a magic act segment from “The Hollywood Revue of 1929” starring the duo and Jack Benny; two segments from the 1934 musical comedy “Hollywood Party,” including one with Lupe Velez; and three lackluster segments from the 1937 comedy “Pick a Star.”

*

The Laurel and Hardy Collection

(Fox, $35)

Great Guns

After their contract with Hal Roach Studios was up in 1940, the comedy team went to 20th Century Fox, where they actually had less creative input -- the eight films they made for the studio paled next to their innovative work at Roach.

In 1941’s “Great Guns,” the two end up joining the Army to accompany their employer. There are some humorous set pieces, including one in which Laurel hides his pet crow Penelope down Hardy’s pants during an inspection. However, a racist joke seems totally out of character for the comedy team. Look for young Alan Ladd in a small part.

Extras: Effusive commentary from Laurel and Hardy historian Randy Skretvedt, the original trailer and the Emmy Award-winning documentary short “Revenge of the Sons of the Desert.”

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Jitterbugs

Hardy actually takes center stage in this uneven 1943 musical comedy, which casts the boys as struggling zoot suit musicians who get involved in a sting operation to help a young woman (Vivian Blaine) retrieve money that was swindled from her family. Blaine, who would find success on Broadway as Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls,” performs three songs; Bob Bailey also stars.

Extras: Skretvedt’s fact-filled commentary and the trailer.

*

The Big Noise

This lackluster 1944 comedy finds the two playing janitors while training to be detectives. A young Robert Blake appears as the mischievous son of a crackpot inventor.

The best scene finds Laurel and Hardy trying to get into their pajamas while sharing a cramped upper berth on the sleeping car of a train.

Extras: Skretvedt’s commentary and the trailer.

-- Susan King