Garv’s Pick of the Week: The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1
For the release week of June 1st:
Garv’s Pick of the Week: The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1 [Blu-ray / ClassicFlix]: ClassicFlix has undertaken an ambitious multi-volume project to scan and restore all of the sound-era Our Gang comedies produced at Hal Roach Studios between 1929 and 1938. Since the shorts are being released on Blu-ray in chronological order, this first volume does not contain the familiar line-up of Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, etc. Instead, it contains the earliest eleven talkies, featuring Allen ‘Farina’ Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Bobby ‘Wheezer’ Hutchins, Norman ‘Chubby’ Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson, Jackie Cooper, and Harry Spear. Many of these short comedies were never included in the syndicated broadcast television packages, due either to their antiquated sound recording or because of a few examples of casual racism. While none of these eleven shorts represent the best of what Our Gang had to offer, I’m very happy that ClassicFlix is going the completist route, as I was most interested in seeing the films that have been previously unavailable. Expect a full review in the upcoming week.
Additional Titles of Interest —
The Green Man [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: Alastair “Scrooge” Sim gives a primo comedic performance in this dark comedy farce about a professional assassin whose latest hit job is disrupted by a nosy vacuum cleaner salesman. You can find my full review HERE.
The Blue Lamp [Blu-ray / Kino Lorber]: The U.K.’s Ealing Studios is best remembered for its classic comedies with Alec Guinness, but they produced all types of films, including this popular noirish police procedural.
Smokey and the Bandit [4K UHD / Universal]: Buford T. Justice gets a 4K UHD upgrade. Maybe we’ll be able to see what is actually in a Diablo Sandwich.
Rat Race [Blu-ray / Paramount]: This 2001 multi-star comedy tries to recapture the spirit of epic comedies like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It works much better than you would expect.
Doctor Who: Jon Pertwee: Complete Season Two [Blu-ray / BBC]: The 1971 season of Doctor Who gets an HD upgrade. Much of the show was shot on tape, rather than film, so don’t expect top-level picture quality. However, previous HD releases of the early seasons looked surprisingly good.
