II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull
II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull II. Anmerkungen zum Buchtext, Teil II - Einsnull
cast, plus the short TIT OR TAT added to the programme) finally did get the wertvoll certificate. Composer Peter Schirmann took up Schumann’s legacy in re-orchestrating or re-scoring the films for the German tracks. Atlas’ cineastic attitude towards these releases is also evident in the restrained trailers, effectively employing the re-designed main titles and Schirmann’s music (some Atlas trailers can be found on the German Kinowelt DVDs). Shortly after, Atlas presented new German versions of SONS O THE DESERT, BRATS, OUR RELATIONS and OUR WIE. In the same year, Hal Roach was honoured in Berlin on the occasion of the world premiere of the sound film compilation THE CRAZY WORLD O LAUREL AND HARDY. The compilation was, however, never generally released in Germany. Silent comedy remained a regular attraction on TV as well. Among the shows were two imports: DIE KLEI- NEN STROLCHE («the Little Mischief Makers» aka Our Gang), and British comedian Bob Monkhouse’s MAD MO- VIES. If Laurel and Hardy had gained new status – cult stars, boxoffice hits and film history icons at the same time — then Erich Pietrek wanted to profit from it, too. Germans had barely learned the sad news of Laurel’s death when NWD launched his new Laurel and Hardy programmes, including the previously unseen JITTERBUGS. Also, Atlas continued with additional programmes, but eventually boxoffice takings went down. Their last announced project, re-dubbing RA DIAVOLO, was never finished. M-G-M provided Youngson’s latest, LAUGHING TWENTIES, and a fresh BONNIE SCOTLAND (with «Jerry Lewis» Horst Genzten and «Ernie» Gerd Duwner providing the voices). Atlas went bankrupt, but its owner, cinephile Hans Eckelkamp, soon was back on the screen with DIE TEUELSBRÜDER («The Devil’s Brother», the erroneous German title maintained from the previous RA DIAVOLO announcement for another offering of PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES) and DIE KLOTZKÖPE (BLOCKHEADS), before this new enterprise closed down its shop, too. Eckelkamp’s former employees were near at hand and founded Alpha, which in turn took up Atlas’ project to release WISSEN IST MACHT (A CHUMP AT OXORD) and DIE SITTENSTROLCHE (RA DIAVOLO, aka THE DEVIL’S BROT- HER). Again, Duwner voiced Hardy, and he did the same for the 1967 German TV premiere of the solo Hardy film ZENOBIA. urthermore, he could be heard as Hardy in the dubbed 1969 James L. Wolcott compilation THE BEST O LAUREL AND HARDY. The notorious Pietrek was back, once more, with his final «special» Laurel and Hardy offering, DICK UND DOO DIE UNZERTRENNLICHEN («The Inseparable Dick & Doof») – a compilation of some of the team’s shorts ridiculously presented in the halls of the famous Munich Deutsches Museum. While some more shorts and features were to be released in theatres in the years to come, TV was to re-shape the reception of the team. In 1970, the last of the Youngson compilations, OUR CLOWNS, was also the last theatrical release prepared for the German market by Werner Schwier. Schwier, who had assisted Jacques Tati for the German PLAYTIME track, continued to work in dubbing (among other things adapting the popular Marty eldman show for German TV) and intended to publish a book about silent comedy. Being one of the strongest advocates of Laurel and Hardy’s art, he was missed after his untimely death in 1982. Part IV 1968 set a new standard in German TV presentation of classic comedy. The guiding spirit was Heinz Caloué, now fully in charge of his own TV shows. A complete 55-episode series was solely devoted to the films of a single comedy team. But it was not Laurel and Hardy. Once again, their success was preceded by a Pat and Patachon prelude. Caloué had worked for other shows before – those by Schwier as well as others. In general, their philosophy was essentially to try to recreate what was considered the style of the original exhibition. Together with German TV’s Gert Mechoff, Caloué tried an entirely different concept to revive the charming, but often somewhat tedious and not exactly timeless Danish feature comedies. The basic pattern was then maintained for the subsequent Caloué/Mechoff shows as well. As Caloué wrote, «Editing is feasible without compromising the spirit of these film comedies, by removing or condensing narratically extraneous parallel or subplots that do not feature the main protagonists. In dramatic terms, this is not a problem. On the contrary, the films available will generally benefit from the resulting tightening. [...] The added narration
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.
- Seite 611 und 612: Dick und Doof wie immer auf eigene
- Seite 613 und 614: Deutsches Plakat von 2003 zum Kabar
- Seite 615 und 616: WIR SIND VOM SCHOTTISCHEN INFANTERI
- Seite 617 und 618: XVIII. Quiz-Fragen zu Laurel und Ha
- Seite 619 und 620: 13. Was will der Küchenchef in SWI
- Seite 621 und 622: 2. Hier im Bild sehen wir Oliver Ha
- Seite 623 und 624: XIX. Antworten auf die Quiz-ragen A
- Seite 625 und 626: * Als Alles oder nichts ausgestrahl
- Seite 627 und 628: XX. Adressen der deutschen Laurel-u
- Seite 629 und 630: XXI. English Summary or Internation
- Seite 631 und 632: The next appearances of the emergin
- Seite 633 und 634: Some dialogue modifications were im
- Seite 635 und 636: Bluhm was born on August 5, 1907 in
- Seite 637 und 638: Keaton has meanwhile resurfaced (CA
- Seite 639 und 640: In September 1951, the dubbing supe
- Seite 641 und 642: Youngson’s next film, WHEN COMEDY
- Seite 643 und 644: cast, plus the short TIT OR TAT add
- Seite 645 und 646: or the new dub tracks, Walter Bluhm
- Seite 647 und 648: Deutsche Inseratmatern von 1937 fü
- Seite 649 und 650: At any rate, obviously the history
- Seite 651 und 652: singing! As is well-known, the film
- Seite 653 und 654: Cuts were also imposed on Laurel an
- Seite 655 und 656: 900 club members were to expect «a
- Seite 657 und 658: a musical setting as effective as t
- Seite 659 und 660: ATOLL K was followed by another ela
- Seite 661: team’s American successors into t
- Seite 665 und 666: Kirch also launched the first Laure
- Seite 667 und 668: XXII. English Captions or Illustrat
- Seite 669 und 670: Page 62, top They really were calle
- Seite 671 und 672: Page 122, bottom left Stage setting
- Seite 673 und 674: Page 178 Article in «ilmpost Magaz
- Seite 675 und 676: Page 203, top «Without dressing»
- Seite 677 und 678: Page 241, top German 1951 center sp
- Seite 679 und 680: Page 271 Take 126 to 129 of the Ger
- Seite 681 und 682: Page 300 Bus + rollercoater = plast
- Seite 683 und 684: Page 340 Rough scetches in the Köh
- Seite 685 und 686: Page 367 German 1962 lobby card for
- Seite 687 und 688: Page 397 «Detrimental for adolesce
- Seite 689 und 690: Page 429, top Rudolf Günter Wagner
- Seite 691 und 692: Page 459 NWD-Unitas 1972 advertisin
- Seite 693 und 694: Page 487, top Title sequence of the
- Seite 695 und 696: Page 517 left: The first ever Germa
- Seite 697 und 698: Page 550 Dubbing DANCE O THE CUCKOO
- Seite 699 und 700: Appendix XIX German 1937 ads for RI
- Seite 701 und 702: SK-Akten (ohne Jugendprotokolle) SK
- Seite 703 und 704: ilmpost Archiv ilms in Review (New
- Seite 705 und 706: Nürnberger Nachrichten Nürnberger
- Seite 707 und 708: ilmmuseum Wien (Hrsg.): ilmographie
- Seite 709 und 710: Glenzdorf, Johann Caspar: Glenzdorf
- Seite 711 und 712: c) filmwirtschaftliche Werke Aulich
cast, plus the short TIT OR TAT added to the programme) finally did get the wertvoll certificate. Composer<br />
Peter Schirmann took up Schumann’s legacy in re-orchestrating or re-scoring the films for the German<br />
tracks. Atlas’ cineastic attitude towards these releases is also evident in the restrained trailers, effectively<br />
employing the re-designed main titles and Schirmann’s music (some Atlas trailers can be found on the German<br />
Kinowelt DVDs). Shortly after, Atlas presented new German versions of SONS O THE DESERT, BRATS, OUR<br />
RELATIONS and OUR WIE.<br />
In the same year, Hal Roach was honoured in Berlin on the occasion of the world premiere of the sound<br />
film compilation THE CRAZY WORLD O LAUREL AND HARDY. The compilation was, however, never generally released<br />
in Germany.<br />
Silent comedy remained a regular attraction on TV as well. Among the shows were two imports: DIE KLEI-<br />
NEN STROLCHE («the Little Mischief Makers» aka Our Gang), and British comedian Bob Monkhouse’s MAD MO-<br />
VIES.<br />
If Laurel and Hardy had gained new status – cult stars, boxoffice hits and film history icons at the same<br />
time — then Erich Pietrek wanted to profit from it, too. Germans had barely learned the sad news of Laurel’s<br />
death when NWD launched his new Laurel and Hardy programmes, including the previously unseen<br />
JITTERBUGS. Also, Atlas continued with additional programmes, but eventually boxoffice takings went<br />
down. Their last announced project, re-dubbing RA DIAVOLO, was never finished.<br />
M-G-M provided Youngson’s latest, LAUGHING TWENTIES, and a fresh BONNIE SCOTLAND (with «Jerry Lewis»<br />
Horst Genzten and «Ernie» Gerd Duwner providing the voices). Atlas went bankrupt, but its owner, cinephile<br />
Hans Eckelkamp, soon was back on the screen with DIE TEUELSBRÜDER («The Devil’s Brother», the erroneous<br />
German title maintained from the previous RA DIAVOLO announcement for another offering of PACK<br />
UP YOUR TROUBLES) and DIE KLOTZKÖPE (BLOCKHEADS), before this new enterprise closed down its shop, too.<br />
Eckelkamp’s former employees were near at hand and founded Alpha, which in turn took up Atlas’ project to<br />
release WISSEN IST MACHT (A CHUMP AT OXORD) and DIE SITTENSTROLCHE (RA DIAVOLO, aka THE DEVIL’S BROT-<br />
HER). Again, Duwner voiced Hardy, and he did the same for the 1967 German TV premiere of the solo Hardy<br />
film ZENOBIA. urthermore, he could be heard as Hardy in the dubbed 1969 James L. Wolcott compilation<br />
THE BEST O LAUREL AND HARDY.<br />
The notorious Pietrek was back, once more, with his final «special» Laurel and Hardy offering, DICK UND<br />
DOO DIE UNZERTRENNLICHEN («The Inseparable Dick & Doof») – a compilation of some of the team’s shorts<br />
ridiculously presented in the halls of the famous Munich Deutsches Museum.<br />
While some more shorts and features were to be released in theatres in the years to come, TV was to<br />
re-shape the reception of the team. In 1970, the last of the Youngson compilations, OUR CLOWNS, was also<br />
the last theatrical release prepared for the German market by Werner Schwier. Schwier, who had assisted<br />
Jacques Tati for the German PLAYTIME track, continued to work in dubbing (among other things adapting<br />
the popular Marty eldman show for German TV) and intended to publish a book about silent comedy. Being<br />
one of the strongest advocates of Laurel and Hardy’s art, he was missed after his untimely death in 1982.<br />
Part IV<br />
1968 set a new standard in German TV presentation of classic comedy. The guiding spirit was Heinz Caloué,<br />
now fully in charge of his own TV shows. A complete 55-episode series was solely devoted to the films of a<br />
single comedy team. But it was not Laurel and Hardy. Once again, their success was preceded by a Pat and<br />
Patachon prelude.<br />
Caloué had worked for other shows before – those by Schwier as well as others. In general, their philosophy<br />
was essentially to try to recreate what was considered the style of the original exhibition.<br />
Together with German TV’s Gert Mechoff, Caloué tried an entirely different concept to revive the charming,<br />
but often somewhat tedious and not exactly timeless Danish feature comedies. The basic pattern<br />
was then maintained for the subsequent Caloué/Mechoff shows as well. As Caloué wrote, «Editing is feasible<br />
without compromising the spirit of these film comedies, by removing or condensing narratically extraneous<br />
parallel or subplots that do not feature the main protagonists. In dramatic terms, this is not a problem. On the<br />
contrary, the films available will generally benefit from the resulting tightening. [...] The added narration