II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull

Bluhm was born on August 5, 1907 in Berlin. After failing to be accepted by an acting school at the age
of 18, he was instead supported by the famous theatre director MaxReinhard and, from 1930, appeared
with some regularity on the various stages of Berlin. Some film appearances, as well as dubbing work, supported
his income in the 30s until he was drafted into the army and sent to rance in 1940 and the Soviet
Union in 1941. Applications to be classified as ‹indispensable› for theatre work were dismissed, and only a
war injury brought Bluhm back to Berlin to recover. His last film acting appearance during that time dates
from 1944.
ast-forward to the seventies, when Bluhm was still dubbing Laurel for TV and had a chance to talk
about his work in a number of interviews. In particular, Bluhm described the massive search apparently
conducted by American M-G-M in 1936 to find suitable Laurel and Hardy dubbing voices. Sample recordings
were made and sent to the States for appraisal, where comparisons to the real thing were one of the criteria.
Among the contestants were actors Will Dohm and Erik Ode (later a dubbing director and TV krimi star).
The choice fell on Dohm and Bluhm. Dohm was born April 8, 1897 in Cologne, studied acting during WWI
and had appeared in various theatres throughout Germany by 1921. 1928 was the year of his first film appearance,
and he was soon confined to comedy. Sadly, Dohm passed away on November 28, 1948, right before
the massive dubbing of Laurel and Hardy movies started in post-war Germany.
Bluhm proved a particularily good casting: he was to keep the job until his death on December 1 st
, 1976,
and the German audience truly loved his vocal impersonation of Stan, or Doof.«Doof has been my alter ego
for 35 years. The search conducted by American MGM was exciting. Every applicant had to send resumé, photos
and sound recordings to Hollywood. inally, the lions at MGM decided I was to be the German dubbing voice for
Stan Laurel. I cannot remember just how many times I dubbed Doof. I only recall that in one instance I needed
to pass because of an earlier obligation. And right away, people asked what happened to Doof’s ‹real› voice.
[...] Dick has exhausted quite a number of well-known [German dubbing] voices...»
In any case, the next Laurel and Hardy feature, BABES IN TOYLAND, was merely shown in asubtitled original
version. It can only be speculated as to why the film was not dubbed; it mayhave been the result of
SONS not being considered satisfying, or perhaps the film was to be rushed on to the market. Even so, in
the subtitles Stannie Dum became Stannie Dumm (dumm = dumb), and the marketing materials not only
once more mentioned the Dick und Doof label, but also reported the team’s numerous other foreign names,
such as El Gordo y el laco (South America and Spain), Helan och Halvan (Sweden), Chondros and Highos
(Greece), lip i lap (Poland), Gøg ok Gokke (Denmark), Sisman ve Zaif (Turkey) and Crick e Crok (Italy).
While more Laurel and Hardy shorts kept appearing in Germany, the overall balance is far from complete.
Out of Laurel and Hardy’s 40 talkie shorts (plus four short films featuring cameos), as many as 22 were
first seen in Germany only after WWII! Among those shown, ONE GOOD TURN is an example were actual film
material of the subtitled German version survives; sadly its bare-bones German main titles cannot hold a
candle to the lovely elaborate originals.
BONNIE SCOTLAND was to become the second Laurel and Hardy feature to be dubbed into German. In contrast
to SONS, a bit more information on the adaptation has surfaced. The dubbing was a rather careful
adaptation, employing no less than two dubbing directors. Werner Jacobs, later a director of a number of
postwar German entertainment films, recalls: «Back then, a lot of care went into dubbing. Today, this isn’t
common anymore, everything has to be done quickly. Back then, there were long artistic discussions in preparation,
how to vocally recreate the original and be able to mature the text aesthetically and in terms of performance.
Also, voice recording required hard work, until a satisfying result was achieved for the section worked
on and with regard to the original. Up to seven authors were employed for one film, plus a cabaret artist for
Laurel and Hardy. Payment, by the way, was very good.»
But once again, it remains unknown which German actor dubbed for Laurel. Hardy’s German voice in this
case was Ernst Legal, a prolific and well-known German theatre actor.
The Austrian Paimann’s ilmlisten’s writer observed: «The German adaptation of the dialogue is appropriate,
but employs many northern German idioms, especially in the military commands, which appear out of line
with the milieu.»
Right before the Austrian premiere, the Vienna journal Mein ilm («My ilm») published an intriguing
piece, asking readers to join the Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Kid’s Club. The application form read: «I understand
that there is no membership fee. My only obligation is to live by the motto ‹always be cheerful!› anytime.»
The item was accompanied by a photo of Laurel and Hardy with the club membership cards; the first