The Devil's Brother (1933)

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

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

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

"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.

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.

As someone else mentioned, when Laurel & Hardy ventured into feature length films, they often adapted operettas. This is the best of the lot, although "The Bohemian Girl" runs a close second. This is L&H at the top of their form. I've seen every L&H film still extant, and this definitely ranks in the top five.The plot stays fairly close to the operetta in most major details, but adds genius bits of comic business for Stan & Ollie. The catchiest tune in the original, the "Romanze" (or Diablo's theme) is retained and used as a center piece for some of the funniest bits in the show.For those who can appreciate Stan Laurel's sublime comedic genius (he was the brains and creative force of the duo), I can't recommend this highly enough.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy is one of the greatest comedic couple ever.In this movie they get to be the retainers of a singing bandit called Fra Diavolo(Dennis King).Of course, everything goes wrong, when Stanlio and Ollio are trying to do their job.The Devil's Brother is a great musical comedy.The movie contains some very funny moments, that just make you laugh.From the couple Laurel is the more childish one, who cries in these movies many times. Hardy is trying to be more adult, who is barely standing his friend.There isn't one problem, these two fellas can't manage with their own stupidness.