Version of Laughing Gravy shown in August on TCM

[John]

I just noticed that when Laughing Gravy was shown on TCM on August 23 it
was the 3 reel version. In content it is very close to the 3 reel
colorized version on Volume 10 of the UK DVD box set, but it is not
quite identical. About 9 1/2 minutes into the film, after Ollie comes
back into the house with ice and snow on his feet, they go upstairs and
there is a scene about 8 seconds long where he tries to warm his hands
over a small heater before getting into bed with Stan and the dog. In
the colorized version, the hand warming scene is absent. I have never
seen the 3 reel version before anywhere other than on the UK DVD.

In doing the comparison with my recording from TCM, I also noticed
something strange about the UK DVD. The 2 reel version and the black and
white 3 reel version both have the 4% speedup which is normal on a PAL
DVD. The 3 reel colorized version does not have the 4% speedup. It plays
at exactly the same speed as what was shown on TCM. I wonder why this is
and how it was done? If it was possible to put this particular film on a
PAL DVD without the 4% speedup, why weren't all the other films done
this way?

John

[Derek Gee]

Post by John
In doing the comparison with my recording from TCM, I also noticed
something strange about the UK DVD. The 2 reel version and the black and
white 3 reel version both have the 4% speedup which is normal on a PAL
DVD. The 3 reel colorized version does not have the 4% speedup. It plays
at exactly the same speed as what was shown on TCM. I wonder why this is
and how it was done? If it was possible to put this particular film on a
PAL DVD without the 4% speedup, why weren't all the other films done
this way?

The non-colorized films in the UK DVD set are native PAL transfers done by
telecining the print at 25 fps in PAL. The colorized films are all NTSC
masters transferred at 24 fps that were converted to PAL. The colorized
films look awful on my TV when converted back to NTSC by my player. I doubt
they look much better in native PAL.

If you want the restored versions without the speed up in NTSC, you'll have
to lobby RTI & Hal Roach Studios to create new NTSC masters from the
restored prints and then digitally restore them to remove dust & damage.

Derek

[Jimmy Fin]

The 4 percent speed-up bugs me. It is especially distracting in the audio.

Post by Derek Gee

Post by John
In doing the comparison with my recording from TCM, I also noticed
something strange about the UK DVD. The 2 reel version and the black and
white 3 reel version both have the 4% speedup which is normal on a PAL
DVD. The 3 reel colorized version does not have the 4% speedup. It plays
at exactly the same speed as what was shown on TCM. I wonder why this is
and how it was done? If it was possible to put this particular film on a
PAL DVD without the 4% speedup, why weren't all the other films done
this way?

The non-colorized films in the UK DVD set are native PAL transfers done by
telecining the print at 25 fps in PAL. The colorized films are all NTSC
masters transferred at 24 fps that were converted to PAL. The colorized
films look awful on my TV when converted back to NTSC by my player. I
doubt they look much better in native PAL.
If you want the restored versions without the speed up in NTSC, you'll
have to lobby RTI & Hal Roach Studios to create new NTSC masters from the
restored prints and then digitally restore them to remove dust & damage.
Derek