DVD REVIEW - LAUREL AND HARDY VOLUME 2 Released by Hallmark Home Entertainment Region 1 (U.S., Canada) Review by John Larrabee THE FILMS (Use the links in each title to access our Original Reviews in a new window). Chickens Come Home (Short, 1931): Ollie's chances at a political career are seriously threatened by a secret from his past. WAY OUT WEST (Feature, 1937): The Boys deliver an important deed to the wrong person and must get it back and return it to its rightful owner. BLOCK-HEADS (Feature, 1938): Reunited with Stan after twenty years, Ollie quickly realizes that his friend has not changed one bit. Note: The picture from Way Out West used below is merely for illustration and is NOT a sample frame from the DVD. REVIEW      The second Laurel & Hardy DVD from Hallmark is a definite improvement over Volume I, although it could have been so much better.  While there are no egregious sins such as the use of television prints complete with fade-outs for commercials (as on Volume I's print of SONS OF THE DESERT), it is still frustrating that Hallmark does not use newly mastered prints, which they own and which are widely available on DVD releases throughout the world.  It is as if the makers of these discs simply grabbed any old prints off the shelf without bothering to check and see if something better was available.  It is also as if Hallmark has had its corporate head in the sand since the turn of the new century, unaware of the importance of picture quality to DVD consumers.  Someone who knows something about Laurel & Hardy obviously had a say in selecting some of the team's best films for both discs, but any concern for presenting a quality product apparently ended with the selection process.        But if randomly chosen prints were used, the law of averages dictates that a good one will turn up at some point, and such is the case with BLOCK-HEADS.  Although the print exhibits some debris and occasional scratches, it's as good as one could expect a 67-year-old film to look without a full digital restoration.  It's the sharpest, clearest print I've seen of the film, with good contrast and few signs of wear or fading.  Especially noteworthy is the soundtrack, with much more depth and bass response than the tinny-sounding TV and video prints to which I've grown accustomed.  For as long as BLOCK-HEADS runs, the disc is a success.  If all the films released by Hallmark were of such quality, there'd be no complaints.  It's almost worth the price of the disc to have this classic film presented so well.        WAY OUT WEST and the short Chickens Come Home fare less well.  Both films have decent clarity and contrast, but both show signs of age and numerous scratches.  The print used for WAY OUT WEST is also rather grimy, especially noticable during moments with light backgrounds (such as the sky in L&H's first scene).  It's also poorly matted, in that the right side and rounded lower right corner of the film frame were visible throughout on my computer monitor (although the matting on most TV sets will elminate this problem).  Also disappointing is the use of an old print of Chickens Come Home with Film Classics titles.  Were these VHS releases from 1985, the quality would be more than acceptable.  And neither of them is as bad as the worst prints on Volume I.  But when high-quality prints of both films are available, it's apparent that Hallmark again took the lazy route in assembling the disc.        Despite the problems, I can nevertheless recommend this DVD with much more enthusiasm than the first volume.  For a reasonable price, you get two of L&H's greatest features, plus a pretty good short as a bonus.  Hallmark still has a long way to go, however, in terms of presenting history's greatest comedy team with the respect they deserve.  Nearly all of L&H's films have been released in Germany, England and Holland on DVDs assembled with care, using the best available prints.  Other than the countless public-domain releases of THE FLYING DEUCES and ATOLL K, a grand total of nine films have been released in America, only one of which is of a quality worthy of the DVD era.  That Hallmark has done better this time around should be noted, but they are still underachievers turning in C work when they are capable of A's. Copyright © John Larrabee, John V. Brennan 2005. All Rights Reserved.