Laurel and Hardy: Under lock and key

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Movie
German title Under lock and key
Original title Pardon Us
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1931
length 67 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director James Parrott
script HM Walker
production Hal Roach
camera George Stevens
cut Richard Currier
occupation
synchronization

Under lock and key is a US feature film comedy of the comedian duo Laurel & Hardy was from the year 1931. This film, the first own feature-length film of the duo and formed a kind of remake of the silent film The Executioner escaped (The Second Hundred Years) from 1927. The film was shown on German television under the title " Dick and Doof in Prison "

action

Due to a mishap, Stan and Ollie are caught brewing beer during Prohibition and imprisoned. For the time being, however, they manage to escape and go into hiding on a cotton plantation . They put on soot as camouflage so that they look like black people working there. However, their good-naturedness towards the prison director and especially his pretty daughter, who happened to drive by there and broke down his car at that very spot, was their undoing. Due to a hollow tooth, Stan makes a strange noise after every sentence, which blows the two up and leads to another arrest. Stan and Ollie want to go on a hunger strike here, but according to a guard's tale of juicy turkey steaks and strawberry tarts, they let go. The disappointment is all the greater because instead of the delicious food there is only soup and bread. Meanwhile, the other convicts have forged a plot: weapons have been smuggled into their hands and are now supposed to enable the escape. Stan and Ollie manage to thwart this plot and re-arrest all the convicts. In gratitude, they are released from prison.

Others

The film was made in Los Angeles in the summer of 1930 and production lasted from June to November. The film premiered in the United States on August 15, 1931; the theatrical release in Austria and Germany, however, was only in April 1932.

Actually, “Behind Locks and Bars” was supposed to be another short film on the subject because, although feature films were more popular at the time, producer Hal Roach was aware that it would be much harder to develop gags for an hour that would turn out to be constantly have to increase towards a final gag. It was already clear to shoot “Behind Lock and Bolt” as a short film and should be shot on the set of the MGM film Das Zuchthaus . However, MGM asked in return to be allowed to borrow Laurel & Hardy for one of their films, which Roach refused. For this reason, he had new, but elaborate buildings built in his own studios and had to convert the short film into a feature film in order to recoup the costs. Roach made a cameo in the film as a marching prisoner.

Because synchronization was not yet possible at the time, a French, German, Italian and Spanish version was shot in addition to the English version, with the artists reading from text panels behind the camera.

German versions

  • The first dubbed version was created in 1950 by the International Film Union (IFU) under the title Behind Schloß und Riegel . Eduard Wesener wrote the book. Walter Bluhm and Arno Paulsen can be heard for Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy . This slightly shortened version is available on DVD.
  • The second version, entitled Schuld und Atonement , was created by the MGM dubbing department in 1969. Walter Bluhm spoke Stan again, while Ollie was now dubbed by Gerd Duwner . Friedrich Schoenfelder can be heard as the prison director and Martin Hirthe as "Tiger". The dialogues come from Michael Günther.
  • Mutiny behind bars is the title of the third dubbed version, which was made in 1972 at Beta-Technik in Munich. Walter Bluhm can be heard again as Stan, Ollie spoke here as Bruno W. Pantel and introductory comments were made by Hanns Dieter Hüsch . The book was written by Heinz Caloué. This version was broadcast as a two-part series as part of the Dick and Doof series. The first part was titled A Bad Tooth Gap , the second as Blue Beans In the Soup .
  • We Have Your Grace , was made again in 1975 on Beta Tech and was part of the Laugh With Stan and Ollie series . To this end, the film was preceded by a short introduction with Theo Lingen . The book is by Wolfgang Schick , who mostly used the dialogues of the first German version from 1950. Walter Bluhm was Stan's voice again and Michael Habeck took on Ollie's role.

Publications on DVD

  • " Behind lock and bolt " - Kinowelt Home Entertainment GmbH (as a single DVD and in the collector's edition with 10 DVDs each in a box in box 2)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Norbert Aping: Das kleine Dick-und-Doof-Buch Schüren, Marburg 2014, appendix pp. 311-314.