II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull

should relate to the dry nordic sense of humour, without losing its intelligibility by carrying this too far. Since
the silent film shown will largely be obvious to follow, too much — redundant — text needs to be avoided.
Stylistically I could imagine some lightly ironic chat: whatever is timeless about these daddy and granddaddy
films can be spiced up by occasional injections and references to the present. Topical elements should be treated
with irony.»
urther, Caloué addressed the issue of timing film, music, sound and narration by appropriate editing
techniques. In essence, what Caloué proposed was a dramatic intrusion in the films’ artistic integrity.
It is only logical that Caloué’s shows were harshly criticized for this very reason. Yet it should be noted
that they were done with genuine affection for the original artists. The silents in particular benefitted from
the narration and voice impersonations by top German cabaret artist Hanns Dieter Hüsch, who was first heard
in the 1968 Pat and Patachon show and was to contribute to most of Caloué’s subsequent slapstick
adaptations for the next fifteen years. In essence, a whole generation of movie aficionados and historians
grew up on these programmes; for many kids, watching silent movies in this form once a week was a normal
part of their childhood entertainment. And, what counted most at the time, the show was such a success
that the idea of a follow-up was without question.
After a brief, four-episode trial run of slapstick compilations, the new show started. As if Atlas’ efforts
had been in vain, the title was obvious, too: Dick und Doof. As agreed with German TV station ZD («Zweites
Deutsches ernsehen», 2 nd
German Television), there were to be three categories: silents «adapted in the
style of the Pat and Patachon show;» sound shorts (padded with solo material to fill the 24.5 minute time
slot); and features (cut into sequential episodes). or the talkie shorts, generally the versions made by
Kirch’s Beta Technik in the early 60s were used. Among the solo shorts used as fillers was, remarkably, a
piece of SCORCHING SANDS, which was considered lost by mainstream film history for a long time after the
Caloué version aired, until a print was turned up in a film archive and the title was «officially» rediscovered.
Also, an episode including THE INISHING TOUCH provided a rare opportunity to see an alternate version
of the film, deriving from the export negative and thus offering minor variations compared to the standard
prints.
In 1971, the KirchGroup managed to secure all rights to the Hal Roach Library ‹for the eastern hemisphere›,
but this did not mean that the KirchGroup was in possession of all the Laurel and Hardy films. Soon,
Beta was out of raw materials, and only an agreement with Erich Pietrek secured a further flow of feature
films. Dick und Doof’s last episode aired in May 1973. Cut in DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID style, the two comedians
travelled to Mainz, Germany, to visit the ZD’s main offices and meet Mechoff and Caloué. The episode
ended with a preview of the next show to come: Spass mit Charlie (Chaplin).
East Germans saw more of Laurel and Hardy, too, during these years. Two compilation films were released,
and author Michael Hanisch published a companion volume to his previous Chaplin book, featuring
Laurel and Hardy, Lloyd and Keaton – the first German Laurel and Hardy book ever published.
Other appearances of Laurel and Hardy were noted in Michael Bentine’s GOLDEN SILENTS show, adapted
from the BBC series; Larry Harmon’s cartoon spin-off featuring the comedians’ likenesses; and a TED disc
(sort of a mechanical grand-grandfather of the Laserdisc and DVD, a needle-played PVC foil disc) of Pietrek’s
German version of THE LYING DEUCES. The 16mm distribution market, as well as that for 8mm and Super
8, had also drastically expanded, the former providing viewing copies, the latter packages for outright
purchase, which remain collectible to this day.
Yet, Dick und Doof wasn’t the end of Laurel and Hardy on German TV. Spass mit Charlie was over, and further
vintage comedy was needed. By now, Caloué and Mechoff went for colourful mixes, treating the audiences
to the Väter der Klamotte (‹athers of Slapstick›) and Männer ohne Nerven (‹Gentlemen of Nerve›),
including films by the like of Larry Semon, Charley Chase, Billy Bevan, Billy West and many others, and of
course plenty of Laurel and Hardy solo shorts. Eventually, this show was followed by yet another revamp of
Laurel and Hardy’s silents entitled Zwei Herren dick und doof («Two Gentlemen fat and dumb»).
The next step for Laurel and Hardy on TV was, however, a welcome return to a presentation more faithful
to the originals. A new show, aimed a mature audience, presented 21 of the comedians’ features, newly
dubbed (to be presented in a unified style) and with film history introductions. The latter were written by
film journalist Joe Hembus and presented by popular German comedian Theo Lingen, as homage to his famous
colleagues. Sitting at his desk with piles of books like those of McCabe and Durgnat, Lingen even managed
to communicate with his late colleagues, interacting with carefully chosen (and re-dubbed) clips.