Tiembla y titubea

TIEMBLA Y TITUBEA (meaning “shivering and shaking”) is the special Spanish simultaneous re-working of the 1930 two-reel comedy BELOW ZERO, and runs about a reel (approximately ten minutes) longer. “These are being made into longer releases for the foreign market than for America,” Stan Laurel told a reporter at the time. “That, too, is an experiment.” This extended running time affords an opportunity to see material shot for but deleted from the original domestic release. The extra footage also provides more clarity insofar as character motivations for their behavior. The supporting cast substituted Spanish-speaking actors including Enrique Acosta, Alfonso Pedroza, and Robert O’Connor (who was also the Roach studio’s Spanish instructor). In a wintery setting, Stan and Ollie play indigent sidewalk musicians who happen to find a wallet. It belongs to a policeman, whom they unwittingly invite to dinner in gratitude for saving them from a desperate character. Trouble begins following dessert, when the officer sees the boys intend to pay the check with his money! There are enough new gags and variations in this expanded version (the incidental music scoring, for instance) to more than reward any comparison of the two comedies. No matter how many times you have seen BELOW ZERO, the Spanish equivalent TIEMBLA Y TITUBEA is not to be missed. What fun, and what a discovery this is! 

-- by Richard W. Bann --