laureatedvd.com

[Christoph Nestel]

In the earliest days of sound movies Laurel & Hardy did several of their two-reel comedies and even their first full-length feature simultaneously in Spanish, French, Italian and German besides the original English version. Stan and Ollie learned their lines phonetically or read them from huge boards besides the camera. Of the 9 Spanish versions are all known to exist execept but one, two of of the five French have been found. The two Italian and three German ones were supposed to be lost for a long time completely. So it turned out to be a sensation when a 3-minutes fragment of the German phonetic PARDON US, HINTER SCHLOSS UND RIEGEL, was found in Denmark three years ago, which is available on the German Kinowelt and other DVDs.


Now fate was even more lucky and sensation perfect when the Film Museum Munich announced that a print of DER SPUK UM MITTERNACHT, which is the German phonetic version of THE LAUREL AND HARDY MURDER CASE combined with an excerpt of BERTH MARKS, has been located in Gosfilmofond in Moscow. Stefan Drössler, curator of the Film Musum Muinch, made the following text available to Blotto online http://www.blotto.nl/index.php?/international


"To finish all the speculations about SPUK UM MITTERNACHT:
It’s true that the film has been found by Filmmuseum Muenchen in Moscow and that the film will be shown in the Bonn Silent Film Festival on August 14 as well as in Munich on October 26 and 27. The length of the original film was exactly 40 minutes, the surviving print is 31 minutes. There is a piece missing in the end of the sleeping car sequence and in the beginning of the haunted house sequence before Laurel & Hardy arrive, as well as the very ending. In general the film works very well even in this a little short version and contains all the unique jokes about Stan’s uncle in Berlin and Julius Caesar. Munich Film Museum will restore the film to its full length so that it can be made available for screenings and a future DVD release."


Happy days are here again !

[Ken Barnes]

Once again, Christoph, you have brought something intriguing to our website. I'm sure that all Laurel & Hardy fans will be fascinated with your report on their early adventures in foriegn tongues.

Many thanks for this

Ken

[Christoph Nestel]

Friday, August 06, 2004


For those who want to learn more on the rediscovery or just cannot wait for the Bonner Sommerkino re-premiere of the film next week, keep an eye on German cultural TV magazines this weekend. The Spuk um Mitternacht find will be a subject in the ZDF’s cultural magazine Aspekte at 10.30 pm tonight, and furthermore in Bavarian TV’s Abendschau today and Capriccio tomorrow.


For the blurb of the Aspekte item called "Dick und Doof” auf deutsch - Ein Überraschungsfund der Filmgeschichte, go to the magazine’s website at http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/16/0%2C1872%2C1020848%2C00.html, click “nächste Sendung” and scroll down in the resulting pop-up window.


Dick und Doof: Alte Filmausschnitte in Moskau gefunden is confirmed on today’s Abendschau‘s Videotext page available on the channel BR3, where the magazine airs at 5.45 pm.


Last but not least, the BR’s cultural magazine Capriccio reports on the Sensationsfund des Münchner Filmmuseums: Laurel & Hardy sprechen in einem nun entdeckten Film “Doitsch”! on Saturday at 9.15 pm and in a repeat showing, Sunday morning at 9.15 am.


Both ZDF and BR3 are available in a number of cable networks and via the Astra satellite.


http://www.blotto.nl/index.php?/international/