This company's releases can be easily obtained by visiting their website at a-1video.com. The Encore volume listed below is presumably distributed by A-1, while the other volumes are also produced by them.

releases:

Rascals Silents Vol. 1 (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• The Champeen! (no. 9) - This print is virtually complete with the original opening title. The picture quality is fair, making this version comparable to other available versions. The print totals 18:50, with 18:46 of it original footage.
• Back Stage (no. 13) - This is a home movie print from Exclusive Movie Studios with fair picture quality. The print totals 19:50, with 19:47 of it original footage. The reelclassicdvd version has better picture quality, but is run at a slower speed.
• High Society (no. 30) - This print has remade inter-titles like most of the other available versions, but is missing short bits of footage. The print totals 17:45, with 15:30 of it original footage.
• The Mysterious Mystery! (no. 33) - This is a home movie print from Pathescope with the original titles. The print totals 19:47, with 19:45 of it original footage. Almost the entire original film is included.
• Monkey Business. (no. 48) - This is a mostly original version, making it equivalent to the Video Classics print, but it runs at a faster projection speed. The print totals 18:29, with 18:26 of it original footage.
• Seeing The World (no. 55) - This is a nearly complete version with original titles. The print totals 19:45, with 19:44 of it original footage, making this the best version available.

Rascals Silents Vol. 2 (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• The Love Bug (no. 37) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers entitled "The Beauty Parlor." The print totals 12:20, with 12:08 of it original footage. Roughly two-thirds of the original film is included.
• Tire Trouble (no. 22) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers entitled "The Cure." The print totals 12:33, with 12:13 of it original footage, making it the longest available version. The best possible version would be a combination of this one with the A-1 version listed below, and the Video Classics version.
• Boys To Board (no. 10) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers entitled "Boarding School." The print totals 12:32, with 12:16 of it original footage. Roughly two-thirds of the original film is included. It nevertheless contains some footage not seen in the Video Classics version, and looks better.
• "An Average Day" - This is a Mischief Makers episode containing footage from four Our Gang silents:
  • Playin' Hookey (no. 65) - 4:50. None of this footage appears in the Video Classics version.
  • Telling Whoppers (no. 56) - 2:54. This film is otherwise unavailable.
  • Love My Dog (no. 59) - 3:53. All of this footage can be seen in the Grapevine version.
  • Ten Years Old (no. 58) - 0:36. This film is otherwise unavailable.
• Boys Will Be Joys (no. 42) - This is a virtually complete version with fairly good picture quality. The print totals 19:44, with 19:31 of it original footage. This is the best available version and is identical to the Encore Video version listed below.
• Sparky Goes To School (Buster Brown short)

Rascals Silents Vol. 3 (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• Dogs Of War! (no. 14) - This is a mostly original print, with an Atlas Films end title. The picture quality is very good. The print totals 26:20, with 26:18 of it original. The main advantage to this version is that the entire frame is shown.
• High Society (no. 30) - This is a nearly complete print, except that the inter-titles are remade (but with mostly original wording). The total footage is 24:54.
• Derby Day (no. 21) - This is a mostly original print with an Atlas Films end title. The picture quality is good. The footage totals 22:35.
• Shivering Spooks (no. 52) - This version is the TV print from Those Lovable Scallawags With Their Gangs, and is essentially the same as the Video Yesteryear version. The picture quality is fair. The footage totals 19:57, with 19:40 of it original
• Stage Fright (no. 17) - This is a home movie print from Exclusive Movie Studios entitled "Amateur's Delight." The opening portion of the film is missing, but the elements pertaining to the play seem to be complete, and include the original inter-titles. The opening and end titles are not original. The picture quality is fairly good. The footage totals 17:30, with about 17:29 of it original. Combine this with the commonly-seen TV print for the maximum footage.

Amusement Park Comedies From The 1920's (VHS/) from Encore Home Video and

Amusement Park Comedies (VHS/DVD-R) from A-1 Video

Contents:

• Beauty And The Bump
• Tire Trouble (no. 22) - This is a digest print from Pathegram with remade inter-titles. The print totals 5:48, with 4:15 of it original footage, but it still contains some footage not seen in the other available versions.
• The Shiek Of Hollywood
• Boys Will Be Joys (no. 42) - This is identical to the version found on Rascals Silents Vol. 2, and is the best available version.

Versatile Laurel & Hardy (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• Kill Or Cure (starring Stan Laurel)
• Save The Ship (starring Stan Laurel)
• Near Dublin (starring Stan Laurel)
• Collars And Cuffs ##40;starring Stan Laurel)
• The Rogue (starring Billy West, with Oliver Hardy)
• Love And Duty (Plump & Runt series, with Oliver Hardy)
• Seeing The World (no. 55) - With a cameo by Stan Laurel.

Rascals Silents Vol. 4 (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• Our Gang (no. 1) - This is the version originally released by CW Films. This version includes both original and non-original text-titles, but still boasts roughly half of the footage from the original film. The print totals 12:45, with 11:05 of original footage.
• The Glorious Fourth (no. 64) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers series entitled "Fourth Of July." The picture quality is fairly good, but the only inter-titles are those made by the TV production company. The footage totals 12:25, with 12:05 of it original.
• Baby Brother (no. 61) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers series entitled "Rockabye Baby." Six of the original inter-titles are included, and the picture quality is fair. The footage totals 12:27, with 12:21 of it original.
• Official Officers (no. 40) - This is a TV print from the Mischief Makers series entitled "Little Officers." The picture quality is fairly good, but only one TV-made inter-title is shown. The footage totals 12:26, with 12:13 of it original.
• The Cobbler (no. 8) - This is a home movie print from Exclusive Movie Studios entitled "The Hobo's Escape." The inter-titles are original, but the picture quality is fairly poor and only the last part of the film is included. The footage totals 3:22, with 3:11 of it original.
• Commencement Day (no. 26) - This is a home movie print from Exclusive Movie Studios entitled "A Country School Yard." The inter-titles are original, but the picture quality is fairly poor and only the middle section of the film is included. The footage totals 3:16, with 3:13 of it original.
• The Buccaneers (no. 24) - This is a home movie print from Exclusive Movie Studios entitled "Watermelon Feast," which derives from the middle part of this film. However, a minute and 23 seconds into it, it switches to the beginning portion of the film, presumably deriving footage from a different home movie fragment. The picture quality is fair and original inter-titles are used. The total footage is 3:03, with 2:55 of it original.

Rascals Silents Vol. 5 (VHS/DVD-R)

Contents:

• The Spanking Age (no. 80) - This is a home movie print from Blackhawk Films, but with a different soundtrack. In fact, the first eight minutes is made up of piano versions of Leroy Shield tunes. The rest is somewhat more generic. The picture quality is fair, and is tinted. The footage totals 25:29, with 25:24 of it original.
• Ten Years Old (no. 58) - This is a seemingly complete original print of the film with fairly good picture quality. The footage totals 27:21.
• Fast Freight (no. 85) - This is a home movie print from Blackhawk Films. The inter-titles are remade, but retain the original wording. The picture quality is fairly good. The footage totals 22:32, with about 20:05 of it original.
• Barnum & Ringling, Inc. (no. 74) - This is a TV print from Interstate Television Corporation entitled "Barnum And Ringling." The opening title is remade, but freeze-framing will reveal the original title card right before the crew credits begin, which are also on an original title card. The intertitles are original, and the picture quality is fair. Most significantly, this print includes the original soundtrack of music and sound effects. The footage totals 19:37, with 19:17 of it original.
• Rainy Days (no. 72) - This is a TV print from Interstate Television Corporation entitled "Rainy Day." The opening title is remade, but the crew credits are original, though reference to MGM has been optically obscured. The inter-titles are original and the picture quality is fair. There is additional footage at the end of this print which doesn't appear in the other available prints. The footage totals 22:18, with 22:05 of it original.

© Robert Demoss.