Willi Forst, the master of the Vienna operetta movie genre, created another little gem with this movie. The story is set in the old Vienna of the 1890's, and Hans Moser and Theo Lingen are excellent as the two rivalling butlers. The strong supporting cast, including Willy Fritsch, Maria Holst and - last but not least - Fritz Imhoff also deliver top notch performances. If you like this kind of movies, and also if you are a fan of Hans Moser and Willy Forst, then I also recommend the movie "Wiener Madeln" (1945).
4 Reviews
Charming Little Comedy!
Lars-651 June 2002
Willi Forst, the master of the Vienna operetta movie genre, created another little gem with this movie. The story is set in the old Vienna of the 1890's, and Hans Moser and Theo Lingen are excellent as the two rival butlers. The strong supporting cast, including Willy Fritsch, Maria Holst and - last but not least - Fritz Imhoff also deliver top notch performances. If you like this kind of movies, and also if you are a fan of Hans Moser and Willy Forst, then I also recommend the movie "Wiener Madeln" (1945).
A good German classic during a hectic period
cynthiahost5 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It's an irony that Germany came out with good classics like this under siege by the Nazis. It was a state produced film,but, it was escapist movie.It almost makes you think nothing bad was happening but it did.This is a German Viennese style variations of ",Congress Dance," bedroom comedy.Once again the Abbot and Castello of Nazi Germany and afterwords Hans Moser and Theo Lingen show up as competing butlers or ballets.Willy Fritz, who plays the count,is coming back to Vienna from his honeymoon with Maria Holst, his new Frau the countess, at the time they are having the annual congress government get together including celebration. He's to serious and only wants to make a speech but she wants to have fun and wants to dance. He doesn't because he can't dance. They end up fighting and she goes home to Tante. When he's criticized that the congress get together is more than talk, he goes to the theater to learn how to waltz by dance choreographer. He meets dancer , played by Dorit Kreysler,and they end up having an innocent affair as she teaches. The only problem is that one of the officials catches them innocently together and thinks the dancer is the countess. So Willy is forced to get her to play the Countess. In the mean time old Tante encourages her niece to go to the annual dance escorting her.Well when they go there they catch hubby with dancer. Tante encourages her niece to do the same.So portraying a non countess,the niece flirts with the Prince Von Beyer, played by Fred Liewehr.But once he finds out , with the help of his servant, that the false countess is the dancer he ads two n two and flirts unpurpose with Maria. Both Kreysler and Holst lip sync the song of this film. The German beginning credits show the names of the real singers. The servants, played by Moser and Lingen have their celebration with the women servants at Scholtzes beer garden, just teasing, a beer garden. Some drunk customer challenges Moser to a fight. After the dance the next day their still fighting. So old Tante encourages her to go further to get him jealous. Well she visits him at is place. He is showing her his etchings and sees his bed out of fear it will lead to that.He surprises her when she offers a picture of him rather than a kiss letting her know that he knew she was pretending. Their are laughs galore in this picture, like Moser having a bad back from lifting heavy things and sometimes using this as an excuse not to pick up heavy stuff.Now back then an escapist picture had to go through the Goebbels office before approval. the filmmaker had to send a reedited version that promoted sutler Nazi propaganda. But after approval the other version would be released. I can imagine how the office print was. A comedy version of Bismark. This would have been terrible Corrections as of the 9th Prince Von Meyer was aware that Melanie was the countess. When his soldier guard told him that an actress, liesl ,was impersonating the countess, Melanie agreed with the prince that she would pretend to be the dancer, actress to embarrass her husband George , the count, when they invite the couple to the table.
"And a welcome without a song is like a rose without scent!"
morrison-dylan-fan25 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
When learning of a best of cinema in 1942 poll on ICM,I looked forward to viewing auteur film maker Willi Forst's creation from the year,only to not be able to find where I had placed it. A few weeks later I decided to watch Caprices (1942-also reviewed) and found Forst's film had somehow ended up in the same file! Which led to me at last going to Vienna.
View on the film:
Inviting the audience with a peculiar introduction of a scientist mixing "Humour", "Carelessness","Heart","History" and "Music" potions in a lab, co-writer/(with Ernst Marischka, and regular collaborator Axel Eggebrecht) directing auteur Willi Forst & cinematographer Jan Stallich cast an enchanting spell which conjures an extension of the visual themes running across Forst's work. Framing subjects having their portraits done as if they were living paintings,Forst crystallises his ultra-stylisation in lavish tracking shots down the glittering, immaculately detailed corridors of the palace, twirling into surrealist overlapping dissolves of dreamy dance numbers. Bringing his eye for Comedy to the forefront, Forst weaves the elegance of the Wiener Filme genre with longer takes for physical comedy, digging into uncomfortable awkwardness against the towering backdrop.
Going back in time again to a Vienna of old for this adaptation of Viktor Leon and Leo Stein's Operetta, the screenplay by Forst/ Marischka and Eggebrecht waltz the title onto a continuation of the themes Forst explores across his credits,in the refine-looking royalty slyly trying to keep secrets behind their image, a risqué painting being held-up as a threat,and the writers dripping the sweet flight of fantasy wish fulfillment on the shoes of Melanie catching the eyes of all. Reuniting with Forst from Operette (1940), Maria Holst gives a excellent, contrasting performance as the reserved Melanie, who breaks out into a ravishing flirt, when going under another name at the ball where Forst serves a slice of his Viennese Trilogy.
View on the film:
Inviting the audience with a peculiar introduction of a scientist mixing "Humour", "Carelessness","Heart","History" and "Music" potions in a lab, co-writer/(with Ernst Marischka, and regular collaborator Axel Eggebrecht) directing auteur Willi Forst & cinematographer Jan Stallich cast an enchanting spell which conjures an extension of the visual themes running across Forst's work. Framing subjects having their portraits done as if they were living paintings,Forst crystallises his ultra-stylisation in lavish tracking shots down the glittering, immaculately detailed corridors of the palace, twirling into surrealist overlapping dissolves of dreamy dance numbers. Bringing his eye for Comedy to the forefront, Forst weaves the elegance of the Wiener Filme genre with longer takes for physical comedy, digging into uncomfortable awkwardness against the towering backdrop.
Going back in time again to a Vienna of old for this adaptation of Viktor Leon and Leo Stein's Operetta, the screenplay by Forst/ Marischka and Eggebrecht waltz the title onto a continuation of the themes Forst explores across his credits,in the refine-looking royalty slyly trying to keep secrets behind their image, a risqué painting being held-up as a threat,and the writers dripping the sweet flight of fantasy wish fulfillment on the shoes of Melanie catching the eyes of all. Reuniting with Forst from Operette (1940), Maria Holst gives a excellent, contrasting performance as the reserved Melanie, who breaks out into a ravishing flirt, when going under another name at the ball where Forst serves a slice of his Viennese Trilogy.
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