Home     Mission     Film Notes     Reviews     Links     Contact Lou  

MGM - The Hollywood Dream Factory

The Devil's Brother - (1933) MGM/Roach

  Produced and Directed by Hal Roach. Assistant Director: Charles Rogers. Photographed by Art Lloyd and Hap Depew. Edited by Bert Jordan and William Terhune. Based on the 1830 comic opera “Fra Diavolo” by Daniel Francois Auber. Screenplay by Jeanie MacPherson. Sound by James Greene. Music by Auber. Musical Direction by LeRoy Shield. British Title: “Fra Diavolo”. Reissued as “Bogus Bandits” and “The Virtuous Tramps”. 90 min.
Cast: Stan Laurel (Stanlio), Oliver Hardy (Ollio), Dennis King (Fra Diavolo), Thelma Todd (Lady Pamela Rocberg), James Finlayson (Lord Rocberg), Henry Armetta (Matteo), Lane Chandler (Lieutenant), Arthur Pierson (Lorenzo), Lucille Browne (Zerlina), Wilfred Lucas (Alessandro), James C. Morton (Old Woodchopper), Matt McHugh (Francesco), Nina Quartaro (Rita), George Miller (Village Minister), Stanley J. Sandford (Tremulous Woodchopper), Jack Hill, Dick Gilbert, Arthur Stone (Brigands), John Qualen (Man Who Owns Bull),Edith Fellows and Jackie Taylor (Village Children), Rolfe Sedan, Kay Deslys, Leo White, Lillian Moore, Walter Shumway, Louise Carver (Tavern Patrons), Harry Bernard (Bandit), Nat Clifford (Waiter).
   
By 1929, it was apparent to producer Hal Roach that his new comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, had become an instant hit. Making their way from silent short subjects through the transition of talking pictures with ease, their popularity knew no bounds. As a matter of fact, theatre owners were now heralding their two-reelers on the marquee over the featured picture!
With audiences wanting more of the simple antics of the fat one and the thin one, Roach’s distributor, MGM, decided to cash in on their names by giving them an eight minute sequence in their all-star, all talking, all singing, all dancing extravaganza, “The Hollywood Review of 1929”. The following year, MGM decided to “borrow” the boys again for comic support in the all technicolor production of “The Rogue Song”. Metropolitan Opera star, Lawrence Tibbett was cast in the lead as the roguishly charming bandit, Yegor, whose two inept accomplices, Ali-Bek (Hardy) and Murza-Bek (Laurel), provide the laughs for this lavish operetta. .
With it’s assured success, it became evident to Hal Roach that his winning comedy team was destined
to star in feature-length productions. So, in 1931, the first starring Laurel and Hardy feature, entitled “Pardon Us” was released in August, followed by “Pack Up Your Troubles” the following year

For their third feature length production, Roach decided to cash in on the success of their former hit “The Rogue Song” by casting them in yet another operetta. This time, Hal Roach himself was slated to direct, with gag man Charley Rogers, who was also one of Stan Laurel’s best friends and confidantes, to co-direct the Laurel and Hardy related scenes. “Fra Diavolo”, based on the 1830 comic opera by Daniel Francois Auber, was re-christened THE DEVIL’S BROTHER, at the behest of MGM studio head, Louis B Mayer. According to Hal Roach, Mayer asked him, “What the hell kind of title is ‘Fra Diavolo’? What does it mean?” , to which Roach replied THE DEVIL’S BROTHER. With that, Mayer retorted, “Then, that’s what we’ll call it! Nobody has ever even heard of the operetta, anyway!” Having no choice,

Roach acquiesced begrudgingly, but slyly placed the notation “from the comic opera, FRA DIAVOLO” immediately under the title.When the film was released on May 5th, 1933, it generally received good to excellent reviews, breaking all previous box office records for the little studio in Culver City. The cast featured Laurel and Hardy’s regular nemesis,walrus mustached James Finlayson as the pompous Lord Rocberg and beautiful Thelma Todd, as his wife Lady Pamela. But the icing on the cake was Shakespearean actor, Dennis King, marvelously portraying Diavolo, who masquerades as the Marquis de San Marco, “in order to mingle with the rich nobility and locate their wealth”. Also cast in the proceedings is Italian dialect comedian, Henry Armetta, playing a perplexed innkeeper, who keeps witnessing two childish hand games that Stan is showing his partner.
These two examples of physical dexterity called “finger wiggle” and “kneesie, earsie, nosie” provide two of the funniest sequences in the film, especially when Armetta attempts to master them himself!

There are many other excellent moments to behold in THE DEVIL’S BROTHER, which is why this ranks as one of the team’s best pictures, as well as being one of Stan Laurel’s personal favorites.
  Notes Menu