I purchased this DVD assuming it was the K. Gordon Murray version
that he released to Kiddie Matiness in 1965. I was surprised to
discover that it was and it wasn't...
One cannot fault the visual quality of the transfer which appears to be from original negative elements. It's clearly
a superior picture to the grainy prints made by Murray from
a duplicate negative in the sixties. The Eastmancolor internegatives at the time had poor resolution and grain which
is why most American pictures were derived directly from the
camera negative in Technicolor, Eastmancolor and Black and White.
While the visuals are the same, this DVD has a newly dubbed
soundtrack. It's not the soundtrack that Murray created for
his release. There is no female narrator and the voice of
the hero is not as deep. While the translation is similar,
the hero's brothers call him 'dimwit' instead of 'dumbell'.
The title sequence is animated rather than the 1965 title card which contained the "K. Gordan Murray Presents" logo.
I prefer the Murray soundtrack which is more entertaining in
that uniquely awful way that made his fairy tale imports
so memorable. The movie itself is played for laughs and less surreal than his Mexican imports. It's still entertaining in
this version and I though the German track a curio. It would appear that the voices were dubbed in there
too which makes sense since many foreign producers did not shoot
live sound during principal photography. Italy and Russia were
among the countries that post-dubbed all versions of their movies, often with other actor's voices. I don't know if the voices in the German track are those of the actors on screen.
I didn't know that movie originated from East Germany. Fortunately, there was no propoganda in the film.
I had a little trouble accessing the American track
while playing the disc. I would reccomend purchasing
the VHS version of the movie too which contains the K. Gordon Murray soundtrack.
Richard W. Haines
Author of "Technicolor Movies", "The Moviegoing Experience 1968-2001"
