Linen for Ireland (1939) User Reviews

Engaging Thirties Light comedy.

[Mozjoukine · 30 November 2014]

Surprisingly for a film with a Nazi propaganda pedigree, this one has a very Viennese sureness of touch. It could be from the makers of ROMANZE IN MOLLE (Breuer is in both) even if it's not that good.

The 150 year Bavarian linen business is bought out by nasty Breuer, who plans on putting all the honest weavers out of work by importing cheap linen from Ireland. His evil plot is to take over the Czech Libussa Linen company and win the owner's daughter, the fetching Frauline Von Meyendorf as a blonde. This gets to hinge on the romance between Irena and upright young ministry official Wanka. Will he sacrifice his integrity to win her? Will she have him abandon his best qualities to save her firm?

Nicely made, it comes with a ball room scene and a floral parade to space the material in the solid looking studio interiors.

The villains are Jewish and the linen comes from the British Empire but it wouldn't be hard to find worse examples in English speaking movies.

An expensively-made curiosity

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 3 April 2015]

The German title is correctly translated on the very good IHF DVD as "Linen from Ireland", not "Linen for Ireland". Although labeled as "anti-British propaganda" by many critics, this film didn't seem to me to be any more libelous than many a contemporary British or Hollywood movie. In fact far less libelous than say On the Waterfront or A Streetcar Named Desire or Tulsa or The Last of the Mohicans or Pony Express or even Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Now if you had objected to the movie because it was somewhat dull and far too talky, I would be right there in your corner. True, there may have been an intention to make an anti-British movie – in fact, the Brits don't come into it at all – but it is most definitely an anti-Austrian movie and also most definitely an anti- capitalist movie. True, there were capitalists in Nazi Germany just as there were capitalists in Britain and the U.S.A., but the movie aims its big guns squarely at capitalists in Austria who were active in the early 1900s. All this stuff is actually rather dull and the players don't do much to improve matters. Only the spirited, super- lovely Irene von Meyendorff (who was later to marry James Robertson Justice in real life) excels.

Excellent story in spite of it's propaganda, but the Nazis are dead any how

[cynthiahost · 10/10 · 8 August 2012]

This is one of the few, about four to say,of Direct Nazi propaganda films that were shot in Vienna Austria.Most of the films of 33 and 45 ,even after the Anschluss, were either Willi Forst films that portrayed the good old days of Vienna,that never existed or other kinds of Hollywood style types.Thank goodness i have a better understanding of what was going on.After i read a few essays.As I guess it the depression gave the Nazis power.Will Forst would have never made this film.It was remade as a non propaganda film in 1971 for t.v .Germany that is.Take the anti Semitic ,which is too direct to be propaganda and the sneaky anti British and you got a regular comedy drama. Siegfried Bruer,without his mustache,plays a Greedy secretary Gohl, whose character is Jewish when his Uncle Pollack , played by Fritz Imhoff,make up reveals a hook nose and a German accent with Yiddish accent,has took advantage of poor old Alois Hubermayer,played by Karl Skraup. Because of the bad economy in Bohemia , he's force to sell his weaving company to the Czech textile corporation,Libussa'.Kuhns goal is to shut all weaving companies down to save money by buying them From Ireland,which violates British law.The head of the company,President Kettner,played by Otto Tressler doesn't realize what's going on as he's being lead to . But Secretary Kuhn can only make this petition a fact if he tries to push Ketteners daughter, Lilly, played by the serene Irene Meyendorff, to marry, German Iraten, The secretary of Libussa, D.r.Goll,played by the handsome Rolf Wanka, to make the deal.Kuhn can't case she' a catholic. Well Kruap decide to go to Libbusa to get every one in the business to sign the petition until he recognizes that he's being put out of business for linens imported from Ireland.D.r Goll can't sign it neither,under Oscar Simas Protest.There's a misunderstanding between Lilly and Goll cause she though he sign this greed.But George Alexander save the day.Kuhn and his uncle ends up leaving for New New York.Lilly and Goll make up and Alois get's his weaver business back. Happy ending,but put don't against Jews American,Britsh and Irish.this print is not from original film print.It looks like a video master converted to digital.The photos for the movies are a bit sharper.By the time this movie was played the Germans in the theater were already convinced that the Jews cause the depression.But Goebbels being a maniac wanted to make sure that they believed this.Bad economy can turn you into a bigot or a murderer. Ignore the message and you'll enjoy the movie. If you are a bigot then pleas don't exploit this classic for your ignorance.I'm sure your no going to listen to me. available at Internationale historical films, German war film dot com and Reich's Kino. 08/08/12