Laurel and Hardy: The Grueling Piano Transport

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Movie
German title The grueling piano transport / The crazy piano / Wire chest of drawers
Original title The Music Box
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1932
length 28 minutes
Rod
Director James Parrott
script HM Walker
production Hal Roach
music Harry Graham ,
Marvin Hatley ,
Leroy Shield
cut Richard C. Currier
occupation
synchronization

The Music Box is a 1932 American comedy short film starring Laurel and Hardy . It was the only film by the comedian duo to receive an Oscar for best short film . In the German-speaking countries, the film is also known under the titles Der grubende Klaviertransport , Das verrückte Klavier and wire chest of drawers .

action

A wife orders an electric piano from the store as a birthday present for her husband. The transport company Laurel and Hardy receives the order to deliver the piano to the address 1127 Walnut Avenue . The address is a posh house with a very long, steep staircase leading up to it. Because they misunderstand the well-intentioned advice of a postman, Stan and Ollie make their way upstairs with their heavy cargo with the greatest effort, but the piano slips away from them several times and slides back down to the street. Another problem is a belligerent maid and a strict police officer. After Stan and Ollie have finally maneuvered the piano up to the top, they learn that they could have taken their wagon across another street to the house. So they carry the piano back down the stairs and drive the easier way in front of the house with the cart.

Nobody is home, but that doesn't stop them from lifting the piano onto a balcony over a water-filled jewelry fountain by pulley. The piano and Ollie fall into the water several times. By the time the piano is finally in the right place, a large part of the house inventory is destroyed. Meanwhile, the house owner, the arrogant Doctor Schwabendrescher (in the English-language original: Professor Theodore von Schwarzenhoffen ), returns. Unaware that the piano is a surprise present from his wife for him, he hacks it up with an ax . During the destruction process, Doctor Schwabendrescher's wife also comes home and makes it clear that the piano should have been a present for her husband. Doctor Schwabendrescher asks his wife for forgiveness with a pathetic demeanor and also apologizes to Stan and Ollie. The doctor tries to sign the receipt, but the pen Stan handed him splatters its ink over the doctor's face. He throws the two out of the house in another fit of anger.

background

The grueling piano transport is partly a remake of the now-lost silent film Hats Off (1927), in which Laurel and Hardy also play the leading roles. Here a washing machine is also transported up a flight of stairs with some difficulty. As preserved photos show, Hats Off is also about the music box stairs. The staircase with 131 steps still exists today, it is in the neighborhood Silver Lake in Los Angeles , connecting the Vendome Street with the Descanso Drive. A plaque there has been a reminder of the film shoot since the 1990s. The steps came back in 1925 in the silent comedy Isn't Life Terrible? with Charley Chase , in which Oliver Hardy played a supporting role, also in the slapstick silent film comedy by Billy Bevan Ice Cold Cocos (1926), known in Germany as The Ice Man Comes .

  • The stairs (2009)

  • Opposite direction (2010)

  • Road sign

German versions

  • In 1932, the film was first released under the title The musical box with subtitles .
  • The first synchronization was made in 1952 under the title Das verrückte Klavier based on a dialogue book by Karlheinz Brunnemann , who also directed the dialogue, at the International Film Union . Stan was spoken by Walter Bluhm and Ollie was taken over by Hermann Pfeiffer . Wolf Ackva can be heard as a police officer.
  • The second dubbing was made in 1960 based on a dialogue book by Wolfgang Schick , directed by Manfred R. Köhler, for the dubbing company Beta-Technik in Munich. This version was published under the title Dick and Doof and the Wire Dresser . Walter Bluhm can be heard again as Stan, Arno Paulsen spoke for Ollie. Gernot Duda synchronizes the policeman, Erich Ebert the postman and Werner Lieven the professor.
  • The third synchronization was created in 1967 under the title Die Musikbox at Berliner Synchron . The dialogue book came from Werner Schwier , who also directed the dialogue. Paulsen and Bluhm spoke to Ollie and Stan again. Werner Schwier can be heard as a professor and Toni Herbert as a policeman. This version is available on DVD.

Awards

The Music Box was awarded an Oscar in 1932 in the then new category of Best Short Film Comedy . It is the only film by the comedian duo that has ever received an Oscar. In 1997 the short film was included in the National Film Registry .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Musicbox at laurelandhardy.org
  2. ↑ a b c d Norbert Aping: Das kleine Dick-und-Doof-Buch Schüren, Marburg 2014, appendix p. 332f.
  3. ^ "Der grubende Klaviertransport" (Synchro 1960) at the German synchronous index

Web links