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Author Topic: Pardon Us ("Jailbirds") Blackhawk super 8 feature
Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted January 11, 2017 12:32 PM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Being that we are having fun with these reviews of our beloved "Lads", I thought I'd give one of my standard 8mm sound print.

This was they're first (I believe) feature, with Stan and Ollie as unsuccessful "Bootleggers" (Stan sells a cop some beer because he thought the fella was a streetcar conductor!), and they end up in hoosegow with a number of rough customers.

This film has always had a soft spot in my heart. There are some very good routines (the "dentist office", for one), though there are not as many fans of this one, possibly due to the black-face routines in it. Ollie sings "lazy Moon" (nice voice Ollie!), Ollie tries to go on a hunger strike (good luck with that Ollie) the classroom routine (complete with "Little Rascals" or "Our Gang" theme in the background) and the lads do get out of jail, we think, or do they, as Stan then tries to sell the warden some beer!

This print is on 3X400ft (the film runs approximately 55 minutes, though on my laserdisc, it runs about 70 or so minutes), and the image quality is nice and sharp, in my opinion, much better than most of thier features on super 8. My only slight complaint is that this specific print run seems to have been printed just ever so slightly bright, not quite as much contrast as one would like ...

but still, a fun film that doesn't take up too much time to watch but then, anytime spent with the Lad's, is time well spent in my opinion.

I'd like to hear from folks who have the super 8 Blackhawk print of this, as to how good the quality, especially if someone has the "Silver Box edition, as that would have been made from new and potentially better negative material!

Long LIve Super 8!!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Alexander Vandeputte
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 243
From: Belgium
Registered: Nov 2009


 - posted January 11, 2017 01:18 PM      Profile for Alexander Vandeputte     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My print is a Blackhawk on Eastman b/w stock dated 1974. It's been a while but your review makes an excellent occasion to watch it again.
As I don't have the original box, from what year on where the Silver Boxes issued ?

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015


 - posted January 11, 2017 06:04 PM      Profile for Joseph Randall     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The silver boxes started around 1979/80, I believe.

The laserdisc version is from a preview print and has additional scenes.

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012


 - posted January 12, 2017 02:07 AM      Profile for Terry Sills     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've got Jailbirds on 16mm which is the slightly abridged version of Pardon Us. One of their best features imo, but I would love to get the unabridged version.

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted January 12, 2017 11:00 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't think that there is an unabridged version on super 8mm or standard 8mm, unless overseas (non-Blackhawk) versions have additional footage. if somebody could verify that, I'd certainly love to hear it!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Alexander Vandeputte
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 243
From: Belgium
Registered: Nov 2009


 - posted January 12, 2017 01:02 PM      Profile for Alexander Vandeputte     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I screened reels one and three of my super 8 print and my observations are more or less the same as Osi's. Print is nice and sharp but is somewhat lacking in contrast. Still very watchable. Also my print seems in excellent physical condition and the image stays sharp throughout as there is no warping and soft image towards the reel ends...

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015


 - posted January 12, 2017 05:51 PM      Profile for Joseph Randall     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The original U.S. release of PARDON US ran 56 minutes. Foreign language versions had a few different scenes and generally run longer. Is JAILBIRDS shorter than 56 minutes?

The Blackhawk version should not be considered "abridged" since this is the version that audiences in the U.S. in 1931 saw during its general release.

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted January 13, 2017 11:21 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm not much for "restored" versions as a general rule, but i do like what I found on youtube awhile back, as it had another 5 or six minutes not even on the laserdisc in which Stan and Ollie rescue the damnsel in distress (the Wardens daughter) from a fire AND the manin thug that they deal with in prison and, until i had seen that youtube video, I'd never even SEEn that footage.

I believe some of it had lost the original soundtrack, so they added fire effect or just "cut and pasted" audio from other parts of the film, but it did work.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015


 - posted January 13, 2017 08:42 PM      Profile for Joseph Randall     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I believe that scene is only in the foreign-language versions, particularly the Spanish version. I last saw that version some 20 years ago.

I prefer the original U.S. 56-minute version above all others.

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Joe Caruso
Film God

Posts: 4105
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted January 20, 2017 03:25 PM      Profile for Joe Caruso     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
TCM just ran the 75-minute edition

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015


 - posted January 20, 2017 04:17 PM      Profile for Joseph Randall     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The longer version seems to be quite common now. The 56-minute version is rare and is probably seen mostly by people like us who have it on film, or those who have the old Nostalgia Merchant tape.

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted February 09, 2017 11:34 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just wanted to add that i purchased, quite a few years ago, a laserdisc copy of this film, which also had the bonus of a short with it as well, "The Chimp' (one of my least favorite shorts of the Lads), but it is quite interesting, in that wherever they found thier source material, must have been a pretty good site!

It was released by "3M" laserdisc, and no mention of the Blackhawk archives anywhere, so i can't be too sure that this was from Blackhawk archives.

it also hyas some curious differences, one of which is that, when they are put in the "sultry confinement" (as Stan says), they stay on the shot for an extensive period of time, then you hear a lot of clanking about in the cell, (everything unseen), and then a big crash, then Stan crying and the prison guard (off screen), yelling at them to shut up. one of the differences. it doesn't have the whole saving the wardens daughter bit, though.

Oh, also, the running time of this version of the film, on laserdisc is 1 hour six minutes, and that's without that whole extra ending of saving the Wardens wife. After having watched it again, i must say that I had forgotten how sharp this copy of the film is. It had to have been taken from 35MM, no way this was 16MM. The contrast is very good as well, deep grey tones throughout.

it would be awesome to take this version plus the other versions of this and compile a complete (so to speak) version of this film!

[ February 10, 2017, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: Osi Osgood ]

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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