 Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved. |
We Faw Down
(1928)
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Contents: Eve’s Love Letters (1927), Now I’ll Tell One (1927) [fragments], Early to Bed (1928), The Finishing Touch (1928), From Soup to Nuts (1928), Galloping Ghosts (1928) [fragments], Habeas Corpus (1928), Leave ’em Laughing (1928), Should Married Men Go Home? (1928), Their Purple Moment (1928), Two Tars (1928), We Faw Down (1928), You’re Darn Tootin’ (1928) and A Pair of Tights (1929).
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Flicker Alley
2024 Blu-ray Disc edition
Laurel & Hardy: Year Two (1927-1929), black & white, 212 minutes total, not rated, including We Faw Down (1928), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0086, UPC 6-17311-68869-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc (two BDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, optional English language SDH subtitles; chapter stops; 36-page insert booklet; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $49.95.
Release date: 29 October 2024 (advance), 22 November 2024 (street).
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from archival and private collection prints. The collection has been curated by L&H historians Randy Skretvedt, Richard W. Bann, Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange.
The film is accompanied by its 1928 Vitaphone synchronized soundtrack.
Supplementary material includes audio commentaries for each film by L&H historians Randy Skretvedt and Richard W. Bann; audio interviews conducted by Randy Skretvedt with Anita Garvin, Thomas Benton Roberts and Hal Roach; a 1959 interview with Stan Laurel; “Laurel & Hardy On-Location in Year Two,” a video essay by historian John Bengtson on selected location exteriors — always fascinating information and worth many viewings; a rare one-reel fragment of the Charley Chase short Now I’ll Tell One (1927); “George Mann’s Home Movies” of the Roach studio; an image gallery containing original publicity materials, press reviews and rare production stills; and a 36-page insert booklet featuring an introduction to the collection by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange, an article on the Roach studio actors and crew by Sara Imogen Smith, an essay on the development of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system in 1928; and notes on each film by historian Randy Skretvedt.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This
Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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Hal Roach Studios
1999 DVD edition
The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy, The Complete Collection, Volume Three (1922-1929), black & white, 135 minutes total, not rated, including We Faw Down (1928), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated.
Hal Roach Studios, distributed by Image Entertainment,
HRS 4793, UPC 0-14381-47932-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 3.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 256 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase); $29.99.
Release date: 15 June 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 5 / additional content: 0 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition looks pretty good overall, but it does have notable shortcomings that have to do with the transfer rather than the quality of original materials. Since a good 35mm dupe print (that is too contrasty in places) was used for the majority of the transfer, along with a fine quality 35mm print this is seen for only a small portion of the running time, this film is of lesser quality than Liberty but is still quite watchable. However, the same pausing of action between cuts is present to a lesser degree in this transfer. Also noticeable to the discerning eye is a slight double image that extends downward of sharply defined light images in the picture — especially in the first reel of the film. This double image may not be detected on smaller screens. We especially love the final gag, transferred here from the original negative.
Overall, the disc is quite watchable and, while the condition of some of the surviving footage is rough, the disc is only compromised by the annoying pauses between cuts in some of the transfers. This DVD is recommended, with this small caveat. That being said, if you love Laurel and Hardy, the DVDs in this series are the best way to collect and enjoy Stan and Ollie’s films on home video.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era LAUREL AND HARDY films available on home video.
Other silent era STAN LAUREL films available on home video.
Other silent era OLIVER HARDY films available on home video.
Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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