Albert Paulig Movies
- 1932
The "terror of the garrison" referred to in the title is diffident Army private Felix Bressart, who simply can't follow the curriculum of the military with discipline. Somehow, Bressart's inability to follow orders makes him extremely popular with his superior officers -- and if one can believe that, the rest of the story will be easier to swallow. In love with Lucie Englische, owner of a small photo gallery, Bressart proves his devotion by presenting her with a basket of fruit, which he's stolen from the garden of royal princess Tamara Desni. As it turns out, this theft somehow patches up Desni's relationship with her own sweetheart, thus Bressart is freed from jail, presumably to continue breaking all the rules and getting away with it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Felix Bressart, Adele Sandrock, (more)
- 1932
Schoen ist die Maneoverzeit (Beautiful Maneuver Time) is the sort of military comedy that bred like minks in the early-talkie German cinema. A bunch of handsome soldiers who sing and joke a lot, fall for a bunch of beautiful girls, who sing and joke a lot. By film's end, practically everyone has proposed to everyone else. In the midst of all this youth, charm and beauty, Ida Wuerst offers some welcome "ugly relief" in the role of a dour old Baroness. If there was a single cliché left unturned in Schoen ist die Manoeverzeit, the critics in 1932 couldn't find it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ida Wuest, Gretl Theimer, (more)
- 1932
Hasenklein was based on a stage play by Hans Mahner-Mons. Arriving in the big city to visit his daughter, provincial dressmaker Jacob Tiedke finds himself attending a political meeting. Through a series of hilarious misunderstandings, our hero is elected a member of Parliament then is promoted to the Presidency. Tiedke wants nothing to do with all this, but the more he tries to disqualify himself, the more his followers are convinced that he's a legislative genius. After using his political clout to smooth the romantic path for his daughter and her sweetheart, Tiedke blissfully returns to the small-town dress shop whence he came. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacob Tiedtke, Lien Deyers, (more)
- 1932
Czikos Baroness was adapted from the stage play by Fritz Greenbaum and Ida Jenbach. Set in Hungary, it's all about Terka Von Marocisz (Greti Theimer), a headstrong noblewoman who prefers the company of the "Czikos," or Hungarian cowboys. Turning down a marriage proposal from Count Ruttkai (Paul Vincenti), one of her own kind, Terka disguises herself as a Cziko maiden and blends into a provincial festival. Not wishing to lose the girl, Ruttkai himself adopts native garb to prove his worthiness amongst the rough-and-ready Cziko men. A climactic horse race brings this musical romance to a rousing conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gretl Theimer, Paul Vincenti, (more)
- 1932
The title translates as Unfaithful Eckehart, and indeed Dr. Eckart Bleitreu (Ralph A. Roberts) is cheating on his loving wife (Luize Englisch). To throw his wife off his scent, Bleitreu claims that it's his brother-in-law Fritz (Fritz Schulz) who is the philanderer. The doctor's deception backfires when, thanks to his presumed prowess with the ladies, Fritz ends up with a cushy government job and a huge salary. Befitting its subject manner, Ungetrue Eckehart has plenty of old-fashioned door-slamming and ducking in and out of boudoirs. Reportedly, the film was also produced in a French-language version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Arthur Roberts, Lucie Englisch, (more)
- 1932
Willi Forst ably essays the title role in the frothy musical Der Prinz von Arkadien. Preferring to write songs and dally with the local damsels rather than concentrate on matters of state, young prince Forst is ordered to leave Arcadien and go into brief exile. This suits him fine, as he never cared for the responsibilities of his office anyway. Upon taking up residence in a tiny European village, Forst falls in love with actress Lianne Haid, who does not recognize him. Unbeknownst to Forst, Haid was also exiled from Arcadien for singing a song unfavorable to the "playboy prince." Returning to her homeland, she intends to humiliate the prince in public but changes her mind when she discovers Forst's true identity. And that's only half the plotline! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willi Forst, Liane Haid, (more)
- 1932
Max Hansen stars as the title character in Der Frauendiplomat (The Ladies' Diplomat). The hero is an Austrian duke with a roving eye who treats the various embassies of Europe as his own personal dating services. His galavanting days come to an end when he meets Marthe Eggerth, with whom he genuinely falls in love -- and who, of course, wants nothing to do with him. Famed Austrian opera singer Leo Slezak (father of Walter Slezak) makes his screen debut herein. Der Frauendiplomat was the first Paramount picture produced exclusively for the domestic German audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Hansen, Anton Pointner, (more)
- 1931
Though filmed after his first talkie Charlotte Lowenskold, Gustav Molander's Frida's Visor was released first in the U.S. The title translates as Frida's Songs, while the titular heroine is played by Molander protégée Elizabeth Frisk. Ake Brunander heads the cast as a grocery clerk who is so smitten by Frisk, the secretary of a city councilman, that he composes several love songs dedicated to her. The councilman's son, likewise in love with the heroine, employs less-romantic means to prove his ardor: in short, he steals, lies and cheats to win Frisk's heart. The wayward son is rescued by the grocery clerk, who as a reward wins Frisk as his bride. Curiously, none of the stars of Frida's Visor were billed on-screen in the prints made available in America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Håkan Westergren
- 1931
The title of this French-filmed, German-language comedy translates as Head First into Fortune. The story is summed up in the title, as an enterprising young girl finds herself a millionaire, for no other reason than she truly deserves it. Musical-comedy star Jenny Jugo plays the girl, investing the role with her usual attention-getting theatrical tricks. Matching her scene-stealing prowess is supporting player Szoeke Sakall, who later went through many of the same motions in Hollywood under the new moniker of S. Z. Sakall. Kopfueber ins Gluck represented a collaboration between novelist Richard Arbey and satirist Charlie Roellinghoff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny Jugo, Fritz Schulz, (more)
- 1931
Felix Bressart, later one of the most delightful members of the Ernst Lubitsch "stock company," plays the title character in the Austrian comedy Hirsekorn Greift Ein (Hirsekorn Does Something About It). It's a typical worm-turns affair, as a mild-mannered provincial actor ends up working as a chauffeur for a scatterbrained female novelist. Slapstick is the order of the day, except in the scenes involving heroine Charlotte Susa. Guiding the actors through their paces was Rudolf Bernauer, a stage actor-manager of vast experience. Critics in 1931 felt that Hirsekorn Greift Ein was too thin to be stretched to 90 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Susa, Felix Bressart, (more)
- 1931
The plot of this German slapstick comedy can be summed up by its English-language title, The Stork Strikes. The humor is predicated on pregnancy, both imagined and actual, both planned and unexpected. The characters run around in helter-skelter fashion for nearly an hour and a half, but all problems are straightened out by fadeout time. Siegfried Arno, a splendid comic actor who later became a much-in-demand Hollywood bit player, heads the cast. Der Storch Streikt cost only about $70,000, but raked in nearly twenty times that amount at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ursula Grabley, Sig Arno, (more)
- 1931
Susanne Macht Ordnung (Susanne Cleans Up) top-bills Truus von Alten in the title role. Ostensibly orphaned, boarding-school resident Susanne believes that her parents are still alive. Determining to find out the identity of her father and mother, she greets the male half of five different married couples with a "Hello, Papa!" This has the negative result of breaking up each couple. Thus it is that Susanne "cleans up" her mess by arranging for the five couples to meet "by accident" in the same nightclub. Once again, Szoeke Szakall (aka S. Z. Sakall) steals everything but the cameras. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Truus van Aalten, Mary Parker, (more)
- 1931
Oscar Karlweis enacts the title role in the German operetta Der Tanzhusar (The Dancing Hussar). The hero is a none-too-bright military man who wriggles in and out of one scrape after another. He also pitches woo in the general direction of the film's two leading ladies, Friedl Haerlin and Gretl Theimer. Ernst Verebes and Oscar Sims provide comic relief, though they're not quite as funny as the corpulent Karlweis' efforts to portray The Great Lover. The inherent humor of Der Tanzhusar can be summed up in a sentence: Everything the hero and his fellow Hussars do, they do wrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oscar Karlweis, Friedl Haerlin, (more)
- 1930
This German comedy borrows freely from virtually every "college" picture made on both sides of the Big Pond. Campus life is nothing but an elongated party, with male and female students flirting, drinking, and singing, then drinking some more (the more things change...) Rich American girl Betty Bird shows up at Heidelberg college, whereupon students Willy Forst and Hans Brausewetter literally fall over themselves trying to impress her. But Bird is not so easily impressed; whoever asks for her hand will have to prove his worth academically as well as amorously. The most amusing moment occurs at the beginning of the film, when upon hearing a tour guide relate the entire plotline of the picture, a man jumps up and shouts "That isn't possible nowadays!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur, Betty Bird, (more)
- 1929
Lillian Harvey's second film for Ufa Productions was 1929's Adieu Mascotte. Based on a story by Michael Linsky, the story revolves around an artist's model named Mascotte (Harvey) who ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence in the Parisian art colony. In dire need of money to finance a friend's operation, Mascotte auctions herself off at an artist's ball. She is "bought" by a novelist named Jean (Harry Halm), who merely wants to teach his flirtatious wife a lesson. Discreetly keeping his distance, Jean persuades Mascotte to pose as his mistress so that his wife will become jealous and return to his arms. Of course, things don't go as planned, and before long Jean and Mascotte have fallen in love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1929
The German It's Easy to Become a Father spends much of its running time disproving its title. Lillian Harvey plays Harriet, an American actress who discovers an abandoned baby in the back seat of her car. Simultaneously, lazy young Lord Fairfax (Harry Haim) is being kicked out of his home by his father, who wants the boy to make something of himself. Through a series of circumstances that defy explanation or logic, the public at large come to believe that Lord Fairfax and Harriet are the out-of-wedlock parents of the foundling infant. Based on a novel by Ernst Von Wolzogen, this early Lillian Harvey vehicle was originally released in 1926 as Vater Verden ist Nacht Schwer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mathilde Sussin, Harry Halm, (more)
- 1927
Just before launching the American phase of his career, filmmaker Alexander Korda directed his actress-wife Maria Corda in the German production A Modern DuBarry. Corda plays Toinette, a saucy, somewhat amoral scullery maid. Bouncing from bed to bed, Toinette becomes the mistress of Count Martel (Alfred Gerasch) and, ultimately, the King of Andalia (Jean Bradin). This final liaison very nearly topples the Andalian government, but Toinette manages to survive this ordeal with nary a hair out of place, though she does cry and cry a lot when things don't go her way. It was Modern DuBarry, completed in 1926, that landed Korda his Hollywood contract -- and the rest, as they say, is history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
