Meins, Gus

March of the Wooden Soldiers

The most lavish feature built around Laurel and Hardy, 1934's March of the Wooden Soldiers is also the most bizarre. Opening unpromisingly with one of several mawkish numbers derived from Victor Herbert's musical Babes in Toyland, the antics of toyshop laborers Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee are worked into a scenario midway between Lewis Carroll and the Brothers Grimm. Nursery-rhyme characters come and go in a surreal fantasy, with the evil Mr. Barnaby threatening to evict Widow Peep from her shoe unless he receives her daughter Bo in marriage. The movie culminates in a full-scale invasion of Toyland by the yeti-ish Bogeymen and their defeat by the 100 six-foot wooden soldiers which Stan and Ollie have built by mistake. Henry Brandon gives a characterful performance, while 1930s child star Charlotte Henry is an appealing heroine. Directors Gus Meins and Charles R. Rogers milk the slapstick to an increasingly unnerving degree. Reputedly Hardy's favorite among the double act's features, March of the Wooden Soldiers emerges now as their most audacious screen appearance. --Richard Whitehouse

Also known as Babes In Toyland, this 1934 classic stars Laurel and Hardy as Stanley Dum and Ollie Dee, who do their bumbling best to help poor Little Bo Beep (Charlotte Henry who, a year earlier, played the title role in the all-star Alice in Wonderland) escape the evil clutches of Barnaby (a truly frightening Henry Brandon) and his band of Boogeymen.

Also included is a special bonus: The rare 1921 silent short A Lucky Dog, which marked the very first joint appearance of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

The Little Rascals Collector's Edition III

Episodes Included: Free Wheeling, Mike Fright, Washee Ironee, Fishy Tales, Shiver My Timbers, Divot Diggers, Bored of Education, Choo-Choo!, When the Wind Blows, Framing Youth

March of the Wooden Soldiers

The most lavish feature built around Laurel and Hardy, 1934's March of the Wooden Soldiers is also the most bizarre. Opening unpromisingly with one of several mawkish numbers derived from Victor Herbert's musical Babes in Toyland, the antics of toyshop laborers Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee are worked into a scenario midway between Lewis Carroll and the Brothers Grimm. Nursery-rhyme characters come and go in a surreal fantasy, with the evil Mr. Barnaby threatening to evict Widow Peep from her shoe unless he receives her daughter Bo in marriage. The movie culminates in a full-scale invasion of Toyland by the yeti-ish Bogeymen and their defeat by the 100 six-foot wooden soldiers which Stan and Ollie have built by mistake. Henry Brandon gives a characterful performance, while 1930s child star Charlotte Henry is an appealing heroine. Directors Gus Meins and Charles R. Rogers milk the slapstick to an increasingly unnerving degree. Reputedly Hardy's favorite among the double act's features, March of the Wooden Soldiers emerges now as their most audacious screen appearance. --Richard Whitehouse

Laurel and Hardy Triple Feature

BOGUS BANDITS: OLLIE and STAN play Ollio and Stanlio, a pair of incompetent bandits who are hired as Menservants to Fra Diavolo (The Devils Brother), a real bandit played by Dennis King Who, in his other guise, is known as the Marquis de San Marco an aris

Little Rascals Vols. 3-4

Little Rascals Collection

Here are all your favorites - Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Porky and Darla - plus some of the earlier Rascals, including Jackie Cooper, Farina, and Joe Cobb. It's nostalgic fun for young and old.

The Little Rascals - Bear Shooters / Waldo's Last Stand / Dogs of War!

The Little Rascals - Little Papa, Dogs Is Dogs, Sprucin' Up

Created by producer Hal Roach, The Little Rascals (aka Our Gang) starred in more than a hundred shorts from 1922 to 1944 (one of which, Bored of Education, won an OSCAR®) and one feature, General Spanky. With the Gang aching to hit the gridiron, team captain Spanky's got to play Little Papa and mind the baby, while Pete is framed by Wheezer's hateful stepbrother, Sherwood, and sent to the pound in Dogs Is Dogs. Sherwood's dog kills a chicken, so he blames Pete, but Wheezer and his sister Dorothy have the last laugh; then Spanky and the Gang try to impress the daughter of Mr. Jones, the new truant officer, by Sprucin' Up. Black & White. 56 Minutes

The Little Rascals 6 Disk Collector's Edition

The Little Rascals: Vol 1 - 12 Cabin Fever Box Set (6 discs)