Friday, July 30, 2004

Another Fine Message

Speaking of Laurel and Hardy, as we love to do here, several folks have recommended to me a new BBC radio play, about 30 minutes in length, called Stan, by Neil Brand. It's a touching — some might say overly-sentimental — supposition of the last meeting of Stan and Ollie as Ollie was dying. That moment has been dramatized a few times by alleged historians (there was once a TV special hosted by Dom DeLuise that stated, wrongly, that Laurel was at Hardy's bedside holding his hand when the latter passed) but this is the first time I know of where it's been the subject of dramatic speculation.

The author seems to know his history though, and the Stan impersonation by Tom Courtenay is pretty good. You should be able to access it on Real Player by clicking here but if that link doesn't work, go to this page and find the link to listen to last Friday's show.

A couple of quick notes if you're going to do this: First, the bandwidth there seems to be stretched thin so if you try during peak hours, you may experience pauses and delays. Secondly, the "broadcast" starts with some other material and Stan doesn't commence until a few minutes in. Lastly, the link may only be up for a few more days so if you want to listen, listen now.

• Posted at 3:06 PM · LINK

More Stan and Ollie Found

When talking films came in, the movie studios had a problem: How to market their product overseas. In the past, it had just been a matter of redoing the title cards in another language. Later on, the equipment would be developed to redub the soundtrack in a foreign tongue. But for a number of years there, an oft-employed solution was to actually film one or more alternate versions. A number of early Laurel and Hardy movies received this treatment. After the standard American version was completed, the crew would go back and film the movie (or at least, the talking scenes) again in French and/or Spanish and/or German. Stan and Oliver would repeat their roles, reading phonetic translations of their dialogue from an off-camera blackboard. Sometimes, their American co-stars would do likewise but more often, other actors would be brought in to play opposite them. Boris Karloff was never in one of their American films but he has a key role in the French version of Pardon Us.

Of special interest to Laurel and Hardy fans is that most of the foreign editions contain scenes that either were never filmed in English or filmed and discarded. This is especially the case when the overseas films were patchwork features, as some were, created by stitching two or more shorts together. New scenes with The Boys were written and filmed to connect and/or expand the shorts...and in some cases, rather elaborate extra scenes incorporated. A film called Politiquerias, for example, is the Spanish version of the American Laurel and Hardy short, Chickens Come Home. A number of popular Spanish variety performers were incorporated into the plot, performing their acts and padding a two-reel short (in English) to more than twice that length.

A few of the French and Spanish films exist but until recently, there were no known prints of any of the movies Laurel and Hardy made for Germany...so it's good news that one has been found. Spuk um Mitternacht was made by uniting Berth Marks (1929) and The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case (1930). In the latter, Stan and Ollie show up at the mansion of Stan's late uncle Ebeneezer for the reading of his will. The former is all about them trying to get to sleep in one upper berth on a train...so in the connected version, the idea is that they're travelling on the train to the reading of the will and new dialogue presumably establishes this.

Some reports say that this newly-found treasure may not be complete. The film library that is soon to exhibit it at screenings says it's around 30 minutes, whereas records say the original release was closer to 40. (Berth Marks and Murder Case are each about 20.) Still, any unseen Laurel and Hardy is better than nothing. Heck, any Laurel and Hardy at all is better than nothing. Even when they're speaking German.

• Posted at 1:43 PM · LINK

Today's Political Rant

I watched a few more speeches and wasn't too impressed. Yet another of the things that has made political conventions boring is the idea that everyone must stay "on message" and hew to the current campaign strategy. Apart from the personal references, 90% of the speakers up there could have given each others' speeches...and in some ways, did. Wesley Clark's, which drew raves from some bloggers, didn't impress me at all. It occurs to me that the Democrats trotting out all these military guys is a lot like the Republicans strategically placing minority delegates to counter the party image.

Leno had Michael Moore on last night for one of the least-interesting interviews either of them has ever done. I did laugh out loud when Moore said that if he wins an Oscar for Fahrenheit 9/11, he's not going to make a controversial acceptance speech. He said, "I'll just thank my wardrobe people and sit down." Other than that, there was nothing quotable. Leno was playing it too down-the-middle and Moore was trying too hard not to come across as a bomb-hurler.

I don't have a feel for who I think is going to win this election. I still think it's going to turn on events that have not yet occurred, issues that have not yet been raised. About all I'm sure of is that it's going to get a lot dirtier and that by November, people on all sides are going to think that the future of mankind hinges on the victory of Their Guy. And they'll have an increasingly difficult time convincing themselves that he's as good as they want him to be.

• Posted at 11:55 AM · LINK

The World's Foremost Birthday Boy

Forgot to post this yesterday: Happy 90th birthday to "Professor" Irwin Corey — seen in the above photo with Marlo Thomas, who's almost as cute. Corey is currently appearing on Broadway in the revival of Larry Gelbart's Sly Fox and everyone who's seen it tells me he's the funniest thing on the stage. This is easy to believe about one of the funniest comedians around...a man who has raised the bar for incoherent muttering and elevated rambling to a high art. How this man didn't wind up in politics, I'll never know. Years ago on the old Steve Allen Show, the Professor often managed to bring utter chaos to the festivities...you could tell Steve didn't know where things were going and neither did Corey.

That and his age probably disqualify Irwin Corey from gracing the guest chair next to any of the current talk show hosts...but I sure wish one of them would go against current trends and book the guy.

• Posted at 1:30 AM · LINK

Kerry's Speech

I thought it was pretty good. Liked the first part more than the end, and I'm sorry he felt he had to load it with so many promises to not fulfill the Republican stereotype of a Democrat (soft on religion and national defense, big on taxes). But he looked presidential and passionate, and I don't think he could have made a much stronger appeal to swing voters...that is, if any of them were watching.

As a couple of my friends have not noticed, I have not shown much enthusiasm here for Mr. Kerry. I have such a history of feeling disappointed by politicians that I'm reticent to make that emotional commitment. It's easier to deal with them letting you down if you never thought they were that wonderful to begin with. I'm sure Kerry has the capacity to turn into Michael Dukakis or worse on us...but so far, so good.

One hopes someone will tell Kerry, "Fine, we all know you were in Vietnam. You can stop mentioning it." I understand why it's up front and center. If Bush had Kerry's history and vice-versa, Republicans would be arguing that the guy with the medals was inarguably the better human being than the guy with the massive hole in his National Guard record. But I think it would be classier, and show that there's a better argument for Kerry than what he did several decades ago, if he reduced it to an aside.

I'm just watching the end of the C-Span coverage right now. A chaplain is trying to deliver the closing benediction with confetti and late-arriving balloons still cascading down from the rafters. A lot of what he's saying ("Send me...") sounds like replays of campaign-type speeches we've heard the last few days. I like my politics with as little religion as possible but I guess, when you're running for office these days, you need to cover your butt on such matters.

• Posted at 12:52 AM · LINK