Search - Ultimate Masters of Comedy Collection (6pc) on DVD

Stooges, Keaton, Stan & Ollie, Bud & Lou... and MORE!

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With a few exceptions, ST. CLAIR ENTERTAINMENT's MASTERS OF COMEDY COLLECTION plays like a "next-to-closing" vaudeville act. Many of that medium's top stars are here: Buster Keaton, Wheeler & Woolsey, Bud Duncan, the Ritzes, the 3 Stooges, Olsen & Johnson, Bob Hope and Stan Laurel all traveled the country as vaudeville headliners. Oliver Hardy was a movie projectionist, briefly tried a singing act and then went to Jacksonville, Florida's fledgling film industry in 1914. Lou Costello and partner Bud Abbott got their separate starts in burlesque.

Monogram's East Side Kids movie series was an offshoot of a successful Broadway play called "Dead End." Actors Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll (Amos 'n Andy) came out of Chicago in 1928 and developed the first coast-to-coast radio sitcom. Bing Crosby had intended to be a lawyer, but his earlier stage exposure prevailed and in 1926 Bing joined Paul Whiteman's orchestra as half of a singing duo. English-born Sarah Padden (Mrs. Bud Duncan) appeared in over 170 movies between 1926 and '55.

Among the included extras on these six single-side recorded DVDs, are some interesting radio show excerpts.


COMEDY CLASSICS features nine amusing movies from Hollywood's Golden Age.


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.

DISC ONE - RITZ BROS./OLSEN & JOHNSON/DUNCAN & PADDEN/EAST SIDE KIDS--
(4.7) The Gorilla (1939) - Ritz Bros./Anita Louise/Patsy Kelly/Bela Lugosi
(4.8) All Over Town (1937) - Olsen & Johnson/Franklin Pangborn/James Finlayson
(5.4) Private Snuffy Smith (1942) - Bob Duncan/Edgar Kennedy/Sarah Padden/Jimmie Dodd
(6.2) Mr. Wise Guy (1942) - East Side Kids
BONUS: Famous Comedy Teams

DISC TWO - WHEELER & WOOLSEY/ABBOTT & COSTELLO/AMOS 'N ANDY--
(6.6) Half Shot at Sunrise (1930) - Wheeler & Woolsey/Dorothy Lee/Edna May Oliver
(6.2) Africa Screams (1949) - Abbott & Costello/Clyde Beatty/Max Baer/Shemp Howard/Joe Besser
(5.7) Check and Double Check (1930) - Freeman Gosden/Charles Correll/Duke Ellington orch.
BONUS: The Abbott & Costello Radio Show (segment) - Guests: Mel Blanc (as Bugs Bunny) & Lucille Ball (11/18/43)--

DISC THREE - KEATON/LAUREL & HARDY/HOPE & CROSBY--
(5.9) Speak Easily (1932) - Buster Keaton/Jimmy Durante
(5.3) Utopia ("Atoll K") (France/Italy-1951) - Laurel & Hardy
(6.8) Road to Bali (1952) - Bob Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour/Martin & Lewis (cameo)
BONUS: The Bob Hope Radio Show (segment) - guest: Bing Crosby (12/7/48)

DISC FOUR - BUSTER KEATON--
(7.3) College (silent-1927) - Buster Keaton
(8.3) The General (silent-1927) - Buster Keaton
(7.9) Steamboat Bill Jr. (silent-1928) - Buster Keaton
BONUS: Buster Keaton Stunt Reel

DISC FIVE - THREE STOOGES--
(6.1) Swing Parade of 1946 (1946) - Gale Storm/Phil Regan/3 Stooges/Connee Boswell/Louis Jordan/Will Osborne/Leon Belasco
(6.1) Jerks of All Trades (TV pilot-1949) - 3 Stooges/Joseph Kearnes/Emil Sitka
(7.1) Brideless Groom (1947) - 3 Stooges/Christine McIntyre/Emil Sitka
(7.7) Disorder in the Court (1936) - 3 Stooges
(6.9) Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947) - 3 Stooges/Virginia Hunter/Vernon Dent
(6.9) Malice in the Palace (1949) - 3 Stooges/Vernon Dent
BONUS: The Story of the Three Stooges

DISC SIX -Shorts (primarily) featuring STAN LAUREL or OLIVER HARDY--
(5.8) The Lucky Dog (silent-1921) Stan Laurel/Oliver Hardy (before they were a team)
(4.5) The Tree in a Test Tube (1943) - A Laurel & Hardy PSA for the wood industry, filmed in color
(6.0) The Stolen Jools ("The Slippery Pearls") (1931) - Cameos by L&H/Wallace Beery/Buster Keaton/Keystone Kops/Edw. G. Robinson/Our Gang/Norma Shearer/Hedda Hopper/Joan Crawford/Harold Lloyd/Gary Cooper/Maurice Chevalier/Barbara Stanwyck/Joe E. Brown/Fay Wray (et. al.)
Laurel & Hardy Home Movies - Mostly Stan's kids at a birthday party
(5.1) West of Hot Dog (silent-1924) - Stan Laurel
(5.6) Mud and Sand (silent-1922) - Stan Laurel
(5.5) Oranges and Lemons (silent-1923) Stan Laurel
(5.1) Hop to It! (silent-1925) Oliver Hardy/Billy Ray
(5.3) The Sawmill (1922) - Oliver Hardy
(5.7) Paperhanger's Helper ("Stick Around") (silent-1925) - Oliver Hardy/Billy Ray
(5.0) Enough to Do ("Wandering Papas") (silent-1926) - Oliver Hardy/Clyde Cook
(5.8) Kid Speed (silent-1924) - Larry Semon/Oliver Hardy
(5.0) Yes, Yes, Nanette (silent-1925) - James Finlayson/Lyle Tayo/Oliver Hardy
BONUS: Laurel and Hardy Stunt Reel"