A Laurel and Hardy question ...

[Osi Osgood]

I just noticed that there is a print of "Jailbirds", known as "Pardon Us", Laurel and Hardy's first feature film on ebay UK. My question is, beyond the different (and better, in my opinion) titles at the beginning of the feature, are they're any differences in the footage in the UK super 8 edition, compared to the US Blackhawk edition?

[Mike Newell]

Osi It is identical apart from title.


On reflection there might be a slight edit in the jail cell scenes with Walter Long but can’t recall what it is. Good old Walton. I think the length was 51 minutes if you check your Blackhawk print and time it you will spot any difference.

Mike

[Joe Caruso]

56 minutes from Blackhawk...yes, there might be different angle shots with JAILBIRDS...there were two camera negs, one for the domestic and another to European market, so there were some noticeable differences..Shorty

[Osi Osgood]

Hmmm, it does make me wonder. I had both a copy of Blackhawk films Sons of the Desert and then acquired Fraternally Yours, British version of the same, and the image and sound quality were a good deal better. I'm not as sure on this one, however, judging by the screenshots in the auction.

[Frank Commins]

February 07, 2021, 07:15 PM

This is such an interesting topic, that I pulled out my "Jailbirds" and "Pardon Us" prints for a comparison.

I'm assuming "Jailbirds" is a Walton print. Both this and the Blackhawk print of "Pardon Us" contain the original 'End' title, but after that the "Jailbirds" print follows up with the Walton logo.

However, "Jailbirds" does start off with the original British Censor Certificate, before the original opening ("Distributed in the U.K. By Ealing Studios") titles. Of course, the Blackhawk "Pardon Us", like most of the L & H releases, has their own custom introductory titles.

I did notice an edit in the "Jailbirds" print. During the Jimmy Finlayson prison schoolroom episode, Stan responds to Fin's question regarding how many times 3 goes into 9. He confidently answers "3, with two left over". In the Blackhawk print, Fin demands to know why Ollie is smirking at Stan's answer, to which he responds, "There only one leftover." Ollie's response is missing from the "Jailbirds" version. It's possible there could be more omissions in the "Jailbirds" version, but I wasn't astute enough to catch them.

Print wise, I prefer "Jailbirds". The contrast is head and shoulders above Blackhawk's "Pardon Us". In addition, "Jailbirds" has almost a light blue tint, which further enhances the detail. (Is the blue tint indicative of a polyester print?) Blackhawk's print has additional grain, and more grays than blacks. The "Jailbirds" version has (slightly) better sound overall. Also, and this might be a defect in my print, the Blackhawk "Pardon Us" sound is slightly out of sync for the first half of the film.

All the best.
Frank

[Mike Newell]

Great reply Frank. The blue tint would suggest a later Derann print using colour stock. They tend to be sharper than the original Walton releases. Blackhawk is either hit or miss. Some are grainy and look ancient some are great. I had a Blackhawk and Walton Derann prints of Sons of the Desert/ Fraternally Yours and you couldn't watch the Blackhawk despite being full length and missing the smoking gag and a few other cuts. It is funny but even with the remastered Blu Ray the scenes were they take the vow to attend the convention is still a bit soft.

[Osi Osgood]

Great response Frank and yes, Mike, you are right about the superiority of "Fraternally Yours", the image and especially the sound is much better. I get the impression that Walton Films were able to get they're hands on closer to first run prints/negatives than Blackhawk, as much as I love them.

[Steve Klare]

Just a note of interest:

The radio station I listen to on the way to work often does a Top Ten List, where they have the results of a poll and the audience calls in with guesses what the top ten responses to the poll were.

Yesterday's were "Duos of 'Last Name' and 'Last Name'"

As examples: some that were in the top ten of that poll:

Simon and Garfunkel
Proctor and Gamble
Lennon and McCartney

#8 in the top ten were Laurel and Hardy!

-not half bad for a pair that released their last film over 70 years ago!