Due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn’t get the opportunity to check out any OTR at work last night, but in the interest of filling up the white space on the blog, I do have a few sundry items of interest:

I received this week’s Entertainment Weekly in the mail Friday, and I was amused by the cover article which advises: “Why Hollywood Can’t Find the Next Julia Roberts.” (They say this like it was a bad thing.) There’s also an article on what Chevy Chase is doing now; it’s very well-written and almost makes you sympathize with a guy that for the life of me I never did find funny. (Almost.)

In keeping with the magazine’s policy of putting something between its pages that is of interest to me, they had a blurb on the three new Kino DVD releases spotlighting three of the greatest silent film comedians: Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase and Stan Laurel.

I’ve mentioned the Lloyd release earlier, and this might be the best chance you’ll get to own some of his finest public domain material on DVD until the Lloyd Estate decides to stop holding out for the best deal. The shorts in this collection include classics like Bumping Into Broadway (1919), Number, Please? (1920) and His Royal Slyness (1920, co-starring brother Gaylord); Lloyd’s 1922 feature Grandma’s Boy is also included.

Charley Chase is one of filmdom’s most neglected comedians; at one time, his shorts were just as successful as those starring Lloyd, Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, etc. This Kino DVD contains six shorts, including two that are probably among the funniest of all silent comedies—Mighty Like a Moose (1926) and Crazy Like a Fox (1926). (Note to Hallmark: you’re sitting on some of Chase’s great sound comedies—how about getting on the stick and releasing a few as you’ve done with Our Gang and Laurel & Hardy?)

And speaking of Laurel & Hardy, Kino has a collection of Stan Laurel’s fine solo shorts available in this collection—a great opportunity for L&H fans to observe the incredible comic genius at work. (This set includes a pair of shorts, Chasing the Chaser [1925] and Yes, Yes, Nanette [1925], which don’t star Stan but are directed by him—Nanette co-stars his would-be partner, Oliver Hardy.)

I like what the EW reviewer says about these three collections: “As we bemoan the fourth Ben Stiller film in seven months, consider an era when comic actors routinely cranked out a half-dozen pictures a year…and we liked it!” It’s almost enough to make me renew my subscription…almost. You see, on Saturday I received last week’s EW…which indicates that someone is asleep at the switch.
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Convention-al wisdom

I also received the latest issue of the SPERDVAC Radiogram, which contains fine obits about the late Sam Edwards (extremely well-written by Stewart Wright) and Jackson Beck, plus it fills in some info on their upcoming convention November 12-14, 2004. I’d love to be able to attend this one, because among the re-creations, they'll be doing The Fred Allen Show with the likes of Harold Gould, Alan Young, Herb Ellis and Janet Waldo. Other re-creations include The Mysterious Traveler and a couple of others that will be announced (Harlan “Hal” Stone is scheduled to direct one of these.) This fall, SPERDVAC will celebrate their 30th anniversary, so the convention promises to be a good one.

Also in the Radiogram was an announcement of a rental special: a 12-hour collection of some real radio rarities—including shows like Mayor of the Town, Escape, Amos ‘n’ Andy and Broadway Is My Beat. You can rent the whole enchilada for half-a-sawbuck, so it certainly sounds like a deal I’ll want to get in on.
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DVD tidbits

Jaime J. Weinman at Something Old, Nothing New has an excellent article on the upcoming DVD release of Happy Days: The First Complete Season. He really nails it when he observes that the first two seasons of the show were its apex, and captured (if in a little too optimistic fashion) the feel of the 1950s. It’s so well-written that I briefly flirted with the idea of snapping up a copy…but I think it’s one that I can wait around for. (The first season of Happy Days’ spin-off series, Laverne & Shirley is also being released as well.)

A pair of classic sitcoms will be seeing some DVD action in the next month; Paramount will release I Love Lucy: The Complete Second Season August 31, and praise be to them for issuing it at a much more affordable price than the First Season (which was rashly released as nine separate volumes and then as one box set—what a mess!). Lucy’s second season also contains some of the funniest episodes of the show—including the not-to-be-missed “Job Switching” (yes, the one where Lucy and Ethel work the chocolate candy conveyor belt).

And on September 7, Rhino will usher in the first season of one of TV’s wackiest sitcoms, My Favorite Martian (starring Ray Walston and Bill Bixby). The Rhino folks issued two previously DVDs of this cult comedy (containing only a handful of episodes, though) so I’m excited to see that they plan to release the whole series lock, stock and barrel. (Rhino has really stepped up to the plate in the area of classic TV, with box sets of The Monkees, H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, Lidsville and The Bugaloos, among many others.)

(Update: In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was sad to see that the movie Smile (1975) had not yet seen the light of day on DVD. I spoke too soon, however; MGM/UA has boldly issued it forth; it hits the streets August 24.)
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