Laurel and Hardy: Without fear or blame
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Without fear or blame |
| Original title | The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1930 |
| length | 30 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James Parrott |
| script | HM Walker |
| production | Hal Roach |
| music |
William Axt , Marvin Hatley , Nathaniel Shilkret |
| camera |
Walter Lundin , George Stevens |
| cut | Richard Currier |
| occupation | |
| |
Without fear and blame (Original title: The Laurel & Hardy Murder Case ) is an American short film by the comedian duo Laurel and Hardy from 1930 . It is the first film that was shot in a total of five different language versions (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian) due to the dubbing that was impossible at the time. It premiered on December 6, 1930, without fear and reproach , and it was released in German theaters on May 21, 1931 in the Berlin Marble House under the title Spuk um Mitternacht . It was the 40-minute German language version.
action
Stan and Ollie are unemployed and earn their little money catching fish. One day they found out from a newspaper flew over there that Stan's uncle, a man named Ebeneezer Laurel, had died and that the will is to be read out, which promised the heir an amount of three million dollars. Because of the same surname "Laurel" Stan should introduce himself as Ebeneezer's nephew and heir. Immediately, the duo set off to Ebeneezer's dark villa, where a creepy atmosphere prevails that night due to a raging thunderstorm. In the house, the many heirs are also greeted by the police and the inspector tells them that Stan's "uncle" did not die of natural causes, but was murdered. Because of this, relatives are not allowed to leave the house until the killer is located.
Stan and Ollie have to spend the night in the murdered man's room, where there is all sorts of turbulence over the course of the night: sometimes a black cat runs across the bedspread, sometimes a horrific sight of a grim reaper painting and then again a bat gets lost under the bedspread . In addition, other relatives keep disappearing mysteriously in the study after the creepy old butler asks them to answer the phone. The police officers are also confused about the disappearance of the heirs until they go into the room themselves and don't come back. Ultimately, Stan and Ollie are called into the study by the butler and discover that the phone is apparently a lever to a trap door. When the two are busy getting to the bottom of the matter, the murderer, who until then was disguised as an old housekeeper and had the butler as an accomplice, sneaks up to them with a knife from a secret door and wants to eliminate them too. Then a fight breaks out, which relatively soon leads the viewer to the realization that everything was just a dream and that Stan and Ollie are actually in the harbor. As they continue to quarrel while half asleep, they fall into the water and the film ends.
background
- The film mainly parodies the horror film Spuk im Schloß from 1927 as well as other films of this genre. The original title The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case alludes to the titles of the then popular novels about the detective Philo Vance , which were always The (the word in between varied from book to book) Murder Case .
- Filming lasted from May 6 to May 28, 1930.
- The German language version "Spuk um Mitternacht" was made up of this film and the short film "Berth Marks" made in 1929. This enabled the end result to be linked to 40 minutes, which in turn meant that higher prices could be charged to the European rental company. After that, this German version was considered lost for a long time until it was rediscovered in 2004.
- In Austria, “Spuk um Mitternacht” premiered on November 8, 1931 in Vienna, albeit under the title “Three Million Dollars”. According to a rumor, the Austrian version is said to have had a length of five film roles, while the German version only has four roles. This in turn raises the question of whether there were possibly two different German-language versions, which, however, cannot be clarified without the untraceable Austrian version.
German versions
- The first German dubbing, entitled Dick und Doof auf Gespensterjagd , was created in 1958 by Berliner Synchron . Walter Bluhm voiced Stan Laurel and Bruno W. Pantel took on the role of Oliver Hardy. Horst Sommer wrote the dialogues .
- In 1961, the beta technology created a second version with the title Dick and Doof - Without fear and blame . The book was written by Wolfgang Schick , directed by Manfred R. Köhler and the music by Conny Schumann. Stan was spoken again by Walter Bluhm and Ollie got the voice of Arno Paulsen . This version had its TV premiere on July 24, 1970 and was also released on DVD.
Reviews
Especially Laurel and Hardy's struggles to do justice to the German language, and their English accent, resulted in mostly positive reviews. This is how the magazine Lichtbild-Bühne judged:
“They say the German language is a difficult language. Dock and Dof will be happy to confirm this: Our beautiful mother- sounds are laboriously wrested from them. But that doesn't matter much in this case. The pair's joke is based entirely on facial expressions and comical gestures, and - yes, they are just so amusing fellows that you can forgive them for everything. "
In Vienna it was no different, here too the reinforcement of the comedy through the language was particularly praised:
“This is the raw material for the two comedians to develop their grotesque skills. This time, the facial expressions of the two are supplemented by acoustic encores and dialogue. Your breaking a German wheel looks funnier than the funniest punch lines! The poor language skills of the rest of the ensemble are unfavorable. "
swell
- Norbert Aping: The Dick and Doof Book. The story of Laurel & Hardy in Germany. , Schüren 2004, pp. 60-65