II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull

Keaton has meanwhile resurfaced (CASANOVA WIDER WILLEN), so more Laurel and Hardy rediscoveries are a
distinct possibility.
Part II
1945. After the end of WWII, during which German audiences were essentially cut off from the world market,
a new cinema structure slowly emerged. In essence, film production was controlled by the Allied orces,
establishing a film censorship with three main official goals: 1) Security, 2) Re-education and 3)
Screening (that is, ensuring that films did not convey imperialistic or national socialist ideologies) – criteria
that Laurel and Hardy films fulfilled anyhow. Youth protection was not an issue, even though formally
the German 1934 laws still applied.
The first theatrical reappearance of Laurel and Hardy was in the British and rench controlled zones of
Germany, strangely with rench dubbed prints, including a non-phonetic variant of SOUS LES VERROUS /
PARDON US / HINTER SCHLOSS UND RIEGEL. This was actually more than just the title film; ANY OLD PORT and
ONE GOOD TURN were added to obtain true feature film length. The German audience was to see much more
of that kind of manipulation from now on.
By 1949 (the founding year of the ederal Republic of Germany), one of Laurel and Hardy’s later 20 th
Century-oxfilms, shot during WWII and thus entirely fresh to German moviegoers, was then presented for
the first time, the amusing THE BULLIGHTERS. These two films, as well as TÊTES PIOCHES, the rench dubbed
version of BLOCKHEADS, were screened up until 1949, when ilm-Dienst («ilm Service»), the Catholic ilm
Commission’s official journal, observed that «seeing Dick and Doof again always provokes laughter.» Note
the new, orthographically correct spelling ‹doof›, which was now to become common in the team’s German
name.
urthermore, 1949 was also the year of the first post-war Laurel and Hardy dubbed version, SAPS AT SEA.
Voice artists for Laurel and Hardy were Werner Lieven and Arno Assmann, well-known actors who would
not, however, lend their voices to the team again.
In 1950, a number of additional dubbed versions appeared, kicking off what essentially turned into a
true post-war Laurel and Hardy boom. The rench patchwork version SOUS LES VERROUS was now re-dubbed
into German, as was BLOCK-HEADS, and, last but not least, Walter Bluhm was back as the German voice of
Laurel. Bluhm had worked on the stage following the war, but now returned to dubbing and further appeared
on radio and in bit parts in occasional films (notably, a 1962 German poster for THE INVISIBLE DR MABU-
SE prominently displays the supporting actor’s face, struck with fear at the infamous doctor’s doings). In
the same year, the definitive voice for Oliver Hardy was found, Arno Paulsen. Born Gustav Zubke in 1900,
Paulsen – as he started calling himself in the 20s – had started work as a choir singer in 1917 before becoming
an actor. Hardly able to make a living in earlier years, Paulsen appeared more and more often in films
in the late 40s, most notably in the early post-war, semi-expressionist classic DIE MÖRDER SIND UNTER UNS /
THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (1946). Arno Paulsen’s voice did not very closely resemble Hardy’s (although
the difference isn’t quite as distinct as in the case of Laurel/Bluhm), but his subtle intonation skills allowed
an amazingly effective vocal recreation of the character for the German language versions. ortunately,
his misguided attempts to approximate Hardy’s lower voice more closely in the BLOCKHEADS dub remained
an exception.
While Bluhm was a quiet, effective voice actor usually managing to ‹deliver› with the first take, the rotund
Paulsen’s temperament in the dubbing studio was more akin to that of the Hardy screen character, but
still there was an apparent chemistry between the new and charming German dubbing actors of Laurel and
Hardy. In other words, Laurel and Hardy had found their definitive German voices.
Another artist was also to contribute substantially to the German versions from now on: composer Conny
Schumann. Sadly, in many cases it was necessary to add new music and effects tracks for the dub track,
since no separate original elements were available. Due to the lack of such so-called music and effects
tracks, fresh compositions were a necessity, and Schumann, who had accompanied silents as a student,
was the ideal choice. It was animator Hans ischerkoesen’s little commercial film gems that first regularly
employed Schumann’s catchy compositions, thus qualifying him for the comedy films. Schumann provided