4½ musketeers
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | 4½ musketeers |
| Original title | Három és fél muskétás |
| Country of production |
Hungary Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1935 |
| length | 86, 73 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | László Kardós |
| script |
Felix Joachimson Karl Noti |
| production | Heinrich Haas |
| music | Nikolaus Brodszky |
| camera | Stefan Eiben |
| cut | Josef Szilas |
| occupation | |
| |
4½ Musketeers , also known as four and a half musketeers , is a Hungarian-Austrian comedy film from 1935 and one of the last emigrant films in both countries that was free from anti-Semitic guidelines. Directed by a Hungarian who was largely unknown at the time and who would later have a moderate career in Hollywood as Leslie Kardos (1905–1962), an impressive line-up of outstanding top comedians in German film gathered up to the beginning of 1933, who were no longer allowed to work under Adolf Hitler's rule and finally left the country: Ernst Verebes , Szöke Szakall , Otto Wallburg , Karl Huszár-Puffy and Felix Bressart . In the female lead, Annemarie Sörensen , who is also no longer well-liked in Germany for racial reasons, can be seen.
action
The four-and-a-half musketeers from which the title is based are no heroes swinging dikes and jack-of-all-trades from bygone times, but rather friendly, harmless and not particularly successful musicians: there is the violinist Fritz Körner, the drummer Sattler, the pianist Bender and finally the trumpeter Maurer. The quartet is completed by the dog Jonny, a fox terrier who is half the musketeer. They all play in a garden café. Due to Sattler's ability to interfere in everything, one day the four musicians lose their last remaining engagement. Körner, the violinist, then turned to the well-known radio singer Hans Doratti with a request for help. He promises the four to take care of an engagement for the small band.
In return, Doratti has a small request to his friend Fritz: He is in a hurry because a tour is coming up, and so Körner should please take care of a young lady who has announced herself. Since the face of the radio singer is largely unknown and the young Annie desperately wants Doratti's autograph, Fritz should now issue it instead of Doratti's. When Annie meets Fritz Körner, she is blown away and promptly falls in love with the wrong Doratti. The violinist is also extremely impressed by the pretty professor's daughter. When Annie Volksmann reads in the newspaper one day that Doratti is about to get married, she is of course very sad, but her father is extremely angry. The professor and Anni appear indignant at Doratti's wedding, and both have to realize that Annis Doratti is not the new husband. Annie can finally hug her Fritz. Professor Volksmann also ensures the combo's economic survival and buys his daughter and the future son-in-law their own restaurant, in which they can now play.
Production notes
4 ½ Musketeers is one of the last emigrant films in Austria before the film industry there had to submit to the pressure of National Socialist Germany and no longer employed Jewish filmmakers. The film, which was created in Vienna and Budapest, was presented to the public for the first time in Vienna on September 27, 1935; On January 30, 1936, the film premiered in co-producing Hungary. In view of the massive Jewish participation in this film, both in front of and behind the camera, 4 ½ musketeers was, as expected, banned in National Socialist Germany.
Kardos, who made his directorial debut here, was the brother-in-law of leading actor Szöke Szakall. Márton Vincze designed the film structures, Gerhard Goldbaum provided the sound. The musical direction was with Hans J. Salter .
The following music tracks were played:
- Listen to me, you beautiful stranger!
- Four and a half musketeers!
Fates of the contributors
Hardly any of those involved in this film remained untouched by fascism in Europe of that era:
- László Kardos (director): Emigration to the USA
- Felix Joachimson (screenwriter): Emigration to the USA
- Karl Noti (screenwriter): interned in Hungary during the war
- Nikolaus Brodsky (composer): Emigration to the USA
- Ernst Verebes (actor): Emigration to the USA
- Szöke Szakall (actor): Emigration to the USA
- Otto Wallburg (actor): murdered in Auschwitz
- Karl Huszár-Puffy (actor): died in a Stalinist camp
- Felix Bressart (actor): Emigration to the USA
- Annemarie Sörensen (actress): emigrated to Great Britain
- Gerhard Goldbaum (sound engineer): murdered in Auschwitz
- Hans J. Salter (musical director): Emigration to the USA
Reviews
The film was not particularly successful and received mixed to poor reviews, mainly because of its banal plot. In recent times, however, the assessment has also pointed to the socially critical subtext that sometimes shines through despite the classic film happy ending in 4½ Musketeers . Here are four examples:
In its October 4, 1935 edition, the Austrian Film Newspaper saw 4½ Musketeers as a “film rich in comical situations”.
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Thin, towards the end hardly believable film events around a mass roster of first comedians. Even if not everything is extracted from them, the laughing success is theirs. "
film.at located “polished irony” and “grandiose punchlines” in the comedy and also referred to the fact that the majority of the actors appearing here were persecuted, forced out of the country or even murdered in Hitler's Germany . "Before that, they created artistically high-quality, but" undesirable cinema "that knew how to hint at the serious social problems of the time with a subtle laugh."
“As in many other émigré films, in 4½ Musketeers, too, social references to time play a not insignificant role as the action matrix of an ostensibly cheerful narrative. Unemployment, the threat of losing one's home and the need for human solidarity are the determinants of a story whose obligatory happy ending can never be doubted. "
Individual evidence
- ^ 4½ Musketeers in the Austrian Film Newspaper
- ↑ 4½ Musketeers in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from April 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 4½ Musketeers on film.at
- ↑ Armin Loacker, Martin Prucha (ed.): Unwanted cinema. The German-language émigré film 1934–1937. Vienna: Filmarchiv Austria 2000, p. 196
Web links
- 4½ Musketeers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- 4½ musketeers on filmportal.de