Capriccio (1938)

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Movie
Original title Capriccio
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1938
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Karl Ritter
script Felix Lützkendorf
Rudo Ritter
production Karl Ritter
music Alois Melichar
camera Günther Anders
cut Gottfried Ritter
occupation

Capriccio is a German comedy film from 1938 directed by Karl Ritter . The stars of the film were Lilian Harvey , Viktor Staal , Paul Kemp , Aribert Wäscher and Paul Dahlke .

action

Madelone d'Estroux grows up with her grandfather because her parents died early. General d'Estroux taught his granddaughter not only to ride and fencing , but also to drink and swear so that the petite young woman could defend herself against dowry hunters when he was gone . And as foreseen by the general, men of this color take the handle of his rich granddaughter shortly after his death. Madelone's guardian Césaire, smart-eared and greedy for money, wants to squeeze as much capital as possible out of the guardianship and has struck a high commission from Prefect Barberousse, who has a great interest in Madelone's money , if he and the wealthy heiress get married. When Madelone categorically rejects this marriage, her devious guardian locks her in a monastery . In the monastery, Madelone decides that such a marriage might be the lesser of two evils and agrees. Césaire sees himself already at the goal of his dreams and shows the bride-to-be a picture of her future groom. Madelone looks astonished at the young man in the photo, "he looks really good" is her first thought. Césaire could have told her that right away. Little does she suspect that Césaire has shown her the wrong picture. Barberousse, the real bridegroom, also has a completely different idea of ​​his future wife.

The wedding is being prepared. When Madelone sees her bridegroom for the first time, she is horrified that she should marry this fat, elderly man? For his part, Barberousse is also disappointed, he did not remember his bride as thin in the photo shown. However, since she is rich, he sees that as the lesser evil, but does not want to pay the commission to Césaire until the marriage has come about. Madelone does not want to marry this man under any circumstances and wonders what her grandfather would have advised her in such a situation. She also has an idea, she summons her page to her room without further ado, hooks him on the chin, dresses up as a man, and through the window, her horse is caught and she is gone. Hard to believe, but the page in the wedding dress now has to serve as the bride. Barberousse, who has already given plenty of alcohol, only notices the fraud on their wedding night and rages on. Césaire should bring the real bride back, he insists.

Madelone is pursued on her escape by Fernand, cousin des Barberousse, and his friend Henri, who left the wedding celebrations prematurely because Fernand found it unbearable to watch a pretty young woman get hooked up to a drunkard like Barberousse. She manages to flee from her persecutors to her monastery mates. Through the screeching, the superior arrives and Madelone, who is disguised as a man, has to get back on her horse in no time at all and ride on. She can finally breathe in a lonely forest tavern. The audience there is more than questionable. Fernand and Henri also ended up in the tavern. Fernand immediately notices the delicate young man. How does he know him from? Madelone, in turn, shakes her head in confusion, that is the young man from the photo Césaire showed her. There is an argument in the narrow room and Madelone, with the help of Fernand and Henri, manages to compliment the brawlers out of the tavern by fighting with the sword. It has to be watered, you make yourself known and Madelone fervently claims that she is Don Juan di Casanova. The next morning they leave together. When you arrive in Perpignan , it is clear that you are going to Madame Hélène's establishment . And Madelone has to go with you, willy-nilly. She boasts that the name "Don Juan di Casanova" alone speaks for itself! Somehow she manages to get all three of them to leave the establishment without losing face. Little does she know that Fernand is absolutely convinced that she is not a man. To be certain, he hatches a plan. They want to visit Countess Mallefougasse, who has two adorable daughters, Anais and Eve. He tells Madelone that he wants to marry one and that “Don Juan” should look at the other.

Now there are all sorts of other entanglements at the end of which there is a kiss between Fernand and Madelone. They are surprised by Barberousse, who says that his cousin has kissed a man. Césaire explains to him that this is his wife who has run away. Full of anger and vindictiveness, Barberousse brings the two to court. Madelone, however, has her witnesses summoned and can thus prove that she was not at Barberousse at all on the wedding night and that the marriage did not take place. When the prefect discovers fat Charlott among the convent students, he is blessed. This is the woman he wanted to marry. After Charlott has given him her yes, he withdraws his complaint. And finally nothing stands in the way of Madelone and Fernand's happiness.

Production notes

Filming began on January 17, 1938 and ended on March 7, 1938.
The premiere of the film took place on August 11, 1938 in the Gloria-Palast in Berlin .

Capriccio was a production by Universum Film UFA - Tonfilm (Berlin), production group Karl Ritter. The buildings come from Walter Röhrig ; the costume designs by Manon Hahn and Arno Richter

For 63-year-old Anna von Palen , Capriccio was the last film. She died early the following year.

The production cost was RM 999,999.

Songs in the movie:

  • The woman's heart (a tango)
  • With flying colors (a song)

Text by Franz Baumann - music by Alois Melichar

From “Written History”: Letter of August 17, 1938 from Jena. A man writes a letter to a friend and mentions a visit to the cinema: "Today I was with Olga in the film" Capriccio ", he disappointed me a bit, I had imagined him to be completely different."

Hitler always gave a vote on the films he had seen, but this usually had no consequences. If all the films he didn't like had been banned, German cinemas could soon have closed. The film Capriccio got the verdict from him: Particularly bad .

criticism

“Romantic opera (ette) n parody, which tries to use the talent and charm of Lilian Harvey optimally, but from today's point of view only looks clumsy in its frivolous aspects. Karl Ritter, who as head of production at UFA was emphatically committed to Nazi film art (e.g. 'Company Michael', 1937 / 'Stukas', 1941 / 'GPU', 1942), proved a lucky hand for that in this film easy genre. "

- Lexicon of international film

"[E] in a completely unsuccessful Singspiel."

- The film's great lexicon of people, Kay Less

“The lovely Lilian Harvey in a 'trouser role'. Director Karl Ritter, who was also UFA's head of production, mainly directed films of the caliber 'Patriots' or 'Stukas'. In this light-footed romance with a musical twist, he skilfully staged Lilian Harvey, one of the biggest UFA stars. In 1957, screenwriter Felix Lützkendorf wrote the script for Veit Harlan's unspeakable gay drama 'Different from you and me'. "

- kino.de

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cit. History written from private letter August 1938
  2. ↑ cit. from Friedemann Beyer: THE UFA STARS IN THE THIRD REICH Women for Germany, Heyne Filmbibliothek No. 32/131, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Munich, 1991, p. 16
  3. ↑ Capriccio. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 3: F - H. Barry Fitzgerald - Ernst Hofbauer. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 558.
  5. ↑ Capriccio at kino.de. Retrieved May 16, 2012