The Worst Film Ever

Simply A Masterpiece

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely the worst movie.

"Fra Diavolo" was written by Eugene Scribe (1791-1861) who dominated the French theater for 40 years with his rather ephemeral plays. On this basis, Daniel-Francois Auber wrote a libretto, called (my translation) "Fra Diavolo or the Inn at Terracina" (premiere 1830 in Paris). The roles of Stanlio and Ollio are originally those of the two monks "Giacomo" and "Beppo". In the film version by Hal Roach, Stanlio and Ollio are poor laborers who have now enough money together to enjoy the rest of their lives. Just in the moment when Ollio thinks that the money is not safe enough with Stanlio and asks him to hand it over to him, the two are robbed by bandits. Stanley then comes to the genial idea that, starting again from the bottom, they could start from the top since this is the "logic of conversation". "Fra Diavolo" (1933), which contains practically no stereotypes known from the other movies of "The Boys" and therefore motivates all slap-sticks and comical parts solely by causality, is a true highlight and at least from the standpoint of quality (perhaps a bit less from that of entertainment) most probably the best Laurel and Hardy movie. It was banned in Europe until 1957 - the reasons are unclear to me although I spent quite some time on research. (They are the first European broadcast of "Fra Diavolo", in Germany is interestingly the year in which Mr. Hardy died.) Moreover, different versions of "Fra Diavolo" have been broadcast under different titles - very similar as in "Babes in Toyland" (which movie also shared the same fate as "Fra Diavolo" and is also one of the rare high-quality movies with Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy). As far as I see, there is no DVD version available in the U.S. My own copy - which goes under the strange title "Bandits in Panic" - comes from Holland and is part of a rich collection of Laurel and Hardy movies most of them are even hard to get on VHS in the US. I wonder why nobody seems to be capable of editing classic films as the classic writers'work are edited since centuries: chronologically with commentaries, annotations and bibliographies. Why does Criterion not take over the whole work of Laurel and Hardy and edits it, lets say, in 20-30 discs containing also interviews, radio documentations, old stills, etc. which may give to the present audience an idea about the public appeal of these movie in their times.

Slapstick and opera go well together, as already the Marx Brothers proved, and here's another fine example. This entertaining version of the 19th century French opera contains some of the best scenes of Laurel&Hardy, such as the couples' hopeless attempt in robbery, the hanging fiasco, Stanilo's maddening finger and hand acrobatics and the drunk scene in the cellar. An absolute must for Laurel and Hardy fans! Especially as it also shows the superiority of Laurel's comedy over his partner's. Never mind that the scenery is as Californian as are the characters in the supporting roles. But after all - opera is all about illusion...

Laurel & Hardy could very easily have slid into musical comedies, as could the Marx Brothers. Hardy had a tenor voice, put to good use in WAY OUT WEST, and Stan (while he was not as good a singer) could talk sing quite nicely (and was prepared to do comic singing - his change of voice in singing "In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia" in WAY OUT WEST is an example). As a result a musical number will frequently pop up in their movies. In SONS OF THE DESERT it's the HONALULU, BABY! number. In SWISS MISS there were several (even a ditty, supposedly composed by Walter Woolf King, entitled "Crick, crick, crick goes the cricket"). Even in their earliest features numbers appear (in PARDON US we hear "MICHIGAN"). So it was not unexpected that Hal Roach and Stan Laurel would do full scale musicals. They turned to operettas (or spoofs of operas like FRA DIAVOLO) because the costumes and settings gave opportunities for Stan to come up with new pieces of business for himself and Babe Hardy.The actual opera by Auber is more dramatic than this comedy. Fra Diavola dies at the end (he is, after all, a villain). But here there is a light hearted element that overcomes the original. Stan and Ollie (or Stanlio and Ollio) are robbed by brigands on the road and decide to turn brigand themselves. Naturally, Ollie decides that he will protect them from discovery by claiming to be the infamous Fra Diavalo. Their initial attempt at theft is hardly successful. They confront a man with a hard luck story, and end up giving him money. Then they seem to be more successful confronting a younger man, until Ollie brags that he is Fra Diavolo. The younger man demands proof. Diavolo always sings a theme song, and everyone knows his voice. Ollie starts singing the tune, and the man (you've guessed it - it's Dennis King) continues singing it. They almost get hanged for that, but King decides to use them as minions in a plot to rob an English mi-lord and his wife (James Finlayson and Thelma Todd*).(*Finlayson's name, as a joke, is Lord Rocburg. In reality, the character in the opera was Lord Cockburn.)The bulk of the film deals with King and the boys in the inn run by Henry Armetta, where Finlayson and Todd are residing on their trip. King is romancing the frivolous and bored Todd, and hoping to get her jewelry. Finlayson is suspicious of her activities, but is not swift enough to catch King in action (at one point, he is mistaken for King by Ollie and Stan, who lock him up after beating him, and start telling him off - they think of course he's King, who listens to them annoyed but amused). The music is actually not overdone, and King (who had a fine trained voice) gets several opportunities to sing. He was not the first major Broadway star to work with the boys (Lawrence Tibbett had in ROGUE SONG) nor the last headliner to do so (Dante the Magician would in A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO). But he seems to work quite nicely with them, sharing screen time, and even showing elements of comic timing and reactions. In one song number, he even shudders and turns away from an ugly woman while addressing a romantic passage in the tune.For an early example of their use of operetta, THE DEVIL'S BROTHER is (as Stan Laurel said) one of their best films. Of course, to most people, it will always be recalled as the film where Stan drives both Ollie and Henry Armetta to distraction with his "finger wiggle" and his "earsie - eyesie - nosie" games that he can handle with ease but the other two can't quite coordinate. It is fun to watch here, and would later be subject to a rare repeat comment: in BABES IN TOYLAND, when Ollie insists that anything Stan can do Ollie can, Stan smiles and shakes his head. He then does "earsie - eyesie - nosie", much to Ollie's annoyance.

I confess that I am hardly an afficionado of Laurel and Hardy, having seen very little of their work, but from what little I had seen of them, I somehow expected this movie to be funnier than it was. Instead, it was a reasonably well thought out story about a thief in 18th century Italy who is trying to steal the money of a wealthy count, and who enlists the help of Stan and Ollie, much to his chagrin in the end.There's not as much of the slapstick as I would have expected in a Laurel and Hardy movie, which to me was a disappointment. It's what I would want to see when I watch "the boys." There are some mildly amusing moments (Stan's games of "kneesy, earsy, nosey" and "fingers wiggling" come to mind - and they're very difficult to do!) and Stan puts on a good acting job when it comes to being drunk, but somehow it just didn't work for me. It isn't bad. It has some good supporting performances from Dennis King as Diavolo and Thelma Todd as lady Pamela. It's a pleasant diversion and it will give you a few chuckles. It just isn't what I had hoped it might be.4/10