The Devil's Brother (1933)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

In this operetta, our boys get to try out a life of crime. They seem to think that you don't have to be very bright to be a thief. They try a con on a rich man, totally fail, and then are bailed out when a cop comes along There are lots of wonderful moments where the boys can show off their stuff, without worrying about the plot. Stan does some of his weird magic with his hands which astonishes Ollie. Ollie makes the mistake of saying he is Fra Diavolo, the master thief. Stan is instructed to hang him with comic results. Behind this is a plot of the adventurous criminal, a beautiful woman, and a theft of 500,000 Francs. Visually quite stunning period piece.

"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.

This is an incredibly uninvolving Laurel and Hardy vehicle, as it is so chock full of opera-style singing that the comedy, at best, takes a secondary position. I have never really understood why this funny duo was periodically subjected to musical crap like this as well as THE ROGUE SONG or BABES IN TOYLAND. Think about it...Laurel and Hardy were the funniest and best known comedy team of the era and yet instead of leaving them to what they knew best, they stuck them in movies that alienated most of their fans. Plus, while I hate opera-style movies from the 30s, the fans of the genre must have also felt frustrated in having comedy interjected into it. The closest melding of these styles that actually worked were the cute films starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.This film stars Dennis King as The Devil's Brother--a kissing bandit in 18th century Italy. Throughout most of the film, he croons to ravishing Thelma Todd in order to trick her out of her husband's fortune. There to assist him in his schemes are Stan and Ollie who just seem out of place and tacked on to the film. In addition, Stan and Ollie's routines are among the poorest I've seen. One involved Stan accidentally drinking a sleeping potion and another later involved Stan getting drunk and laughing. Both scenes went on way too long and milked a rather unfunny bit for all it was worth.My advice is only watch this after you've seen the rest of Laurel and Hardy's work. The only exceptions I can think of are their films of the 40s and 50s--these films made at the very end of their careers, if it was possible, are even worse than this musical fiasco.UPDATE: 9/2010--The Wheeler & Woolsey film "Cockeyed Cavaliers" was a costume comedy set during the same time period AND also featuring Thelma Todd. Now you might think I am crazy for saying this (especially since Stan & Ollie were great and Wheeler & Woolsey were usually pretty lame), but the Wheeler & Woolsey film is better, as the singing is not an important part of the film and what singing there is isn't operetta-style. Plus, the emphasis is first and foremost on the comedy team--which, sadly, is not true with "The Devil's Brother".

Of the three features L&H made based on operettas - The Devil's Brother (Auber's 'Fra Diavolo'), The Bohemian Girl (ibid, Balfe & Bunn), and Babes In Toyland (ibid, Sigmund Romberg) - I feel that this one shows off The Boys' comic abilities the best. James Finlayson, an L&H regular, is in his usual fine form, and Thelma Todd is marvelously coquettish. James C. Morton, who appeared so often as a policeman in so many of the L&H shorts, does a brilliant turn in the tiny part of the woodchopper. Best moment: Stan, ordered to hang Ollie, tightens the noose around his neck prior to hauling him up. "Stop that! You're choking me!" complains Ollie.