II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull

a musical setting as effective as that by Hatley and Shield in the original versions. His new original music
for BLOCKHEADS and PARDON US even appeared as a separate musical piece, the Burlesque Intermezzo, but
for the track itself, Schumann also readily adapted pieces from the rench and the original US versions’
scores.
While the production pattern of the new German Laurel and Hardy adaptations was thus established,
1950 still remained a chaotic year as far as distribution was concerned. New companies emerged, sometimes
to disappear even before the premiere of the films they had announced. This way German audiences
had to wait a little longer for OUR RELATIONS, SWISS MISS and THE LYING DEUCES. And while the German
branch of M-G-M did not have to face the prospect of running out of money, they did have to put a fresh
German dubbing of NOTHING BUT TROUBLE on the shelf, because of quota restrictions provided by the American
distributors themselves to give the German film industry a break in the young ederal Republic of Germany.
It is noteworthy that in an exception to what was a rule of sorts at the time, NOTHING BUT TROUBLE
was passed uncut, with its minor Nazi references intact.
While the star comedians were at that time shooting what was to be their last film, ATOLL K, in rance,
more Laurel and Hardy product appeared on the German market. Among the films, A CHUMP AT OXORD apparently
offended the undoubtedly highly sophisticated Catholic critics («primitive comedy, primitive script,
primitive acting and technique»), but it is safe to say it pleased the audiences. THE BULLIGHTERS (in a
fresh dub with Bluhm and Paulsen) was still popular, too, yet was edited down into a 23 minute short a
couple of years later.
Paulsen, by the way, was also heard in a delightful dubbed version of Hardy’s late solo appearance in THE
IGHTING KENTUCKIAN. Careful voice acting and directing maybe even added to what was a fairly standard
B-picture of American pioneer days, except of course for the stellar pairing of Hardy with John Wayne. Said
the Evangelische ilm-Beobachter, the Protestant equivalent of the confessional critics mentioned above,
with regard to the film’s standard plot: «As the fathers of this film considered that too basic, they forced Oliver
Hardy, the more voluminous half of Dick und Doof, into the plot’s meager bones...» — but this late, delightful
solo outing was in any case only a brief intermezzo to the steady flow of the genuine article.
Yet another notable artist contributed to the re-dubbing for one of Laurel and Hardy’s undisputed masterpieces.
HILE, WIR SIND ERTRUNKEN («Help, we’ve drowned») was the title of the newly dubbed SONS O
THE DESERT. resh dialogue was written by Erwin Bootz, the former pianist and singer of the legendary CO-
MEDIAN HARMONISTS. Dubbing had become his new field of expertise, specifically comedy such as Ralph
Thomas’ three DOCTOR films with Dirk Bogarde. Still, what survives from this version – the trailer – is disappointing.
Unknown voice actors for Laurel and Hardy did not help the appropriately translated dialogue. In
another first, the trailer featured narration by popular German comedian Georg Thomalla. Thomalla also
voiced Charley Chase in the film itself and was to narrate some 60s Laurel and Hardy compilations later on,
but most notably he was the default dubbing actor for a whole generation of contemporary American comedians.
Dubbing comedy stars such as Jack Lemmon, Bob Hope, Lou Costello, and Red Skelton, Thomalla
even succeeded in mastering a German equivalent of Danny Kaye’s «vessel with the pestle» routine in THE
COURT JESTER. But as Paulsen and Bluhm had already proven for what was arguably the most famous comedy
duo of them all, you do need to be an artist, but not necessarily a star comedian yourself, to succeed in
re-voicing the work of another actor, in what remains a unique, but marketing-driven craft.
Laurel and Hardy releases kept pouring out throughout 1951, vintage Laurel and Hardy like THE LYING
DEUCES and OUR RELATIONS as well as ox/MGM titles, including an edited BIG NOISE/A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO
hybrid that had already been shown in the States. Erwin Bootz returned to Laurel and Hardy dubbing for
OUR RELATIONS, and another brief solo glimpse of Babe Hardy was seen in rank Capra’s RIDING HIGH. Critics
did not seem to notice at all that Hardy – or «Dick without Doof» as they observed – wasn’t voiced by Paulsen
(not that he has much to say in the film anyway), but hearing the film’s star, crooner Bing Crosby,
«with not quite a congenial voice» understandably bothered them.
ATOLL K is unusual among the German dubbed L&H films. Their last film work and a European
co-production, the actual shooting took place in rance and the German adaptation took place in the same
period – thus allowing the distributor to involve himself in the adaptation for the German market at an unusually
early stage. To make matters even more complex, the poor quality of the English language variant
of the product was soon obvious.