In the early days of sound movies, the studios had not yet perfected the art of dubbing films into various languages...and that was important with international stars like Laurel & Hardy. Their films were popular throughout Europe, as their earlier silents were shown everywhere. So, instead of depriving the studio of revenue for their films in foreign markets, the Hal Roach Studio decided to make some of their Laurel & Hardy films in foreign languages*. But there was a problem. The length of a typical Laurel & Hardy film was too short for these markets, so they often would combine two of the team's films into one longer length short. And, if that wasn't long enough, they'd pad the films out a bit. This also meant the duo needed to speak the various languages of the shorts (some were in Spanish, French, Italian and German). But, they didn't speak the languages...so they delivered their lines phonetically.
In the case of "Los Calaveras", the studio combined "Be Big" with "Laughing Gravy" and made the film in Spanish. Unlike several of their other foreign language films, this one follows the English language ones more closely. And, the quality is roughly that of the American counterparts. Neither of these is among the best Laurel & Hardy flicks (particularly "Be Big"), but the film is enjoyable and worth your time.
This short, incidentally, was the last foreign language films the team made...after which they'd subtitle the films or dub them using other voice actors. It's also available along with several more foreign language versions in "Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection".
*Incidentally, some other studios did the same thing...such as Universal with both a Spanish AND English language "Dracula".
In the case of "Los Calaveras", the studio combined "Be Big" with "Laughing Gravy" and made the film in Spanish. Unlike several of their other foreign language films, this one follows the English language ones more closely. And, the quality is roughly that of the American counterparts. Neither of these is among the best Laurel & Hardy flicks (particularly "Be Big"), but the film is enjoyable and worth your time.
This short, incidentally, was the last foreign language films the team made...after which they'd subtitle the films or dub them using other voice actors. It's also available along with several more foreign language versions in "Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection".
*Incidentally, some other studios did the same thing...such as Universal with both a Spanish AND English language "Dracula".