La vida nocturna

BLOTTO was one of Laurel and Hardy's better shorts. However, most people today don't realize that for a while the team made multiple versions of their sound shorts because they hadn't perfected dubbing and didn't want to use subtitles for the European releases. As a result, there are Spanish, German, French and Italian versions available of many of the team's English language films and they're worth a look--particularly for devoted fans like myself.

While I am NOT fluent in Spanish, I am reasonably comfortable with the language so that watching this film after I've already seen BLOTTO made viewing pretty easy. Plus it's obvious that the boys didn't really know the language well and their slow and poorly accented Spanish is easy for me and should be for many non-Spanish speakers to follow. Because there aren't that many speaking parts in the film other than Stan and Ollie, you don't need to worry much about understanding the rest of the cast. Stan's wife in the film is a native Spanish speaker but I found her pretty easy to follow as well.

The plot is pretty simple. Ollie wants Stan to go out to a night club with him but Stan's wife wants him to stay home. So Stan concocts a lame plan to sneak out and have the wife think he was called away to work. She's no dummy and listens in on him and Ollie planning this, so she substitutes the bottle of liquor Stan is planning on sneaking with some fake booze. The boys arrive at the club--thinking they're pulling a fast one. They also think they are getting drunk as they drink the concoction. In the meantime, Stan's wife goes to buy a gun--a rather extreme overreaction if you ask me!! Through the first half to two-thirds of the film, it was very close to the original English. However, they added some filler late in the film--night club dance numbers, etc. I assume this must have been because many Hispanic countries had a need for a slightly longer film so it was padded a bit. While not all are completely bad, it did slow down the pace of the film and detract from Stan and Ollie--and to me, the less of them the poorer the picture. The worst was the unattractive and untalented lady dancing with a balloon--what a waste of time! Still, it's well worth seeing--especially so you can brag to your friends that you saw this seldom-seen film.

FYI--Years later, "The Honeymooners" ripped off the plot idea and variations of it have appeared on other sit-coms as well.

La vida nocturna (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 40

Spanish language version of BLOTTO has bachelor Oliver Hardy trying to get his married friend Stan Laurel to go out for the night. They decide on a plan of Laurel sending himself a message stating he's needed at work but the wife catches on and follows the boys to their nightclub. LA VIDA NOCTURNA is worth watching if you're a fan of Laurel and Hardy but I think others should certainly stick with the English language version since it's certainly a lot better and doesn't contain the extra footage that was added for this released. This extra footage is just some throw-away scenes inside the club where we see a couple vaudeville acts but these really add nothing to the plot and just make the film longer so that Hal Roach could charge more money. I thought the film started off well enough but if you've seen BLOTTO then you're not going to be taken by surprise by anything here. For the most part the start of the picture offers up some nice laughs as Laurel tries to get out of the house but things slowly run out of gas as the picture moves along. Having seen a number of these foreign language versions, I think Hardy was a lot better at speaking Spanish so he certainly handles it well. The extra running time is really what ruins this film so stick with the English version unless you're a die-hard fan who wants to see everything the boys did.

Having recently viewed the outstanding Spanish version of Chickens Come Home (Politiquerias), I decided to view the Spanish version of Blotto (La Vida Nocturna). I did this, having read a review stating that, unlike the exceptional performing acts that lifted the former, the really bad acts in the latter served to bring it down. Unfortunately, I have to agree with that reviewer's assessment. The four performing acts were bookended by the pointless opening & closing (& utterly unimpressive!) solo dancers. The horrible second act was a definitely not attractive female (or female impersonator--frankly, I couldn't tell which!) dancer slapping a balloon around until it breaks. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about it, the clothing was beyond awful, & the performance was clumsy in an utterly unfunny way. I've seen kids in a park do funnier things with a balloon without trying. Its my understanding that the performance was meant as an Isadora Duncan ballet parody. As she died in 1927, she must have been writhing in her grave over this sad act! I know it seems as if I'm being mean here, but honestly, what was the casting director thinking when he/she let this act in? I had to watch it twice to make sure it really was that bad!! It was a shame that the following act, a male singer, who was obviously the best of the bunch, was mostly unseen. It was also the one instance where the English language would have helped this gringo to better appreciate the message behind the song that moved Stan to tears!

Despite all of this, I give this film a six out of ten, because the acting performances are all very good. Linda Laredo (who sadly died in 1931 at the young age of 24 from peritonitis!), turns in a very good performance as Stan's cunning & vindictive wife. I did notice though, that she seems to be trying not to laugh during the scene at the nightclub when she's at her table with her rifle. An untrained eye probably wouldn't notice it, however (I watch too many movies, LOL!).

Watching this film & Politiquerias back to back gives one an interesting perspective on how performing acts can raise or bring down the level of a movie. While Politiquerias works on so many levels, La Vida Nocturna is more for Laurel & Hardy completists of which I am admittedly among.

In the early days of talking pictures, technology for dubbing or subtitling films for foreign markets didn't exsist. What film-makers had to do was to go back and RE-SHOOT the entire film in whatever language, Spanish, French, or German. English speaking actors had to learn these languages on the spot, often reading from off-camera blackboards.

In the case of Laurel and Hardy, the two boys do very well with Spanish. This short is a Spanish re-shoot of one of their best shorts, BLOTTO. Here the boys skip off to a speak-easy. Stan's annoyed wife decides to sabotage the booze bottle he is to bring along. The second half of the short takes place in the speakeasy where the boys cause more havoc than Godzilla through Tokyo. You don't understand what is happening, because it's all in Spanish.

And then there's this very strange exotic dancer who comes in and performs at the speak-easy. A terrific comedy short.

My main purpose in reviewing this short film of Laurel & Hardy is in response to another review posted here titled 'For Spanish Speakers And Laurel & Hardy Completists Only!' In this, the reviewer makes some rather startling comments on the three nightclub acts included in this Spanish-language version. All three performers serve to enrich the action more than I can express! The Mexican dancer with her grace and agility, the exotic 'belly dancer' with her sinuous moves to some spellbinding music, and above all the clumsy Isadora Duncan wannabe who is a COMEDIENNE! The reviewer seems to think she is simply a very bad performer... questions the sanity of those who hired her... wonders at her lack of ability. Well, that is the idea! Her act is pure buffoonery and I do not exaggerate when I say that I have to watch it DAILY since discovering the film on you-tube. Laughter is medicine, and she is hilarious! Wish I knew who this forgotten lady is. So having said my piece, I will conclude with highest praise for the boys in any language, but 'La Vida Nocturna' is even better than the original 'Blotto' in my humble opinion!