The Florentine Hat (1939)

Movie
Original title	The Florentine hat
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1939
length	87 minutes
Age rating	FSK 0
Rod
Director	Wolfgang Liebeneiner
script	Bernd Hofmann Horst Budjuhn
production	Heinz Rühmann Terra Film
music	Michael Jary
camera	Carl Hoffmann Karl Löb
cut	Gottlieb Madl
occupation
Heinz Rühmann : Theo Farina Herti Kirchner : Helene Farina Christl Mardayn : Pamela Paul Henckels : "Bubi" Sarabant Viktor Janson : Barbock Hannsgeorg Laubenthal : Lieutenant von Parade Karel Štěpánek : Servant Felix Hans Hermann Schaufuss : Uncle Florian Gerda Maria Terno : Maid Virginia Helmut Weiß : Cousin Bobbi Hubert von Meyerinck : Duke of Rosalba Elsa Wagner : Baroness Champigny Alexa von Porembsky : Clara Edith Meinhard : Maid of the baroness Paul Bildt : Official Franz Weber : registrar Ernst Legal : Enrico Strizzi Leopold von Ledebur : Zürus Bruno Fritz : Organ grinder Käthe Kamossa : Aunt Walpurga Ilse von Collani : Helene's bridesmaid Else Eckersberg : 1. Relatives of Helene

The Florentine Hat is a German comedy film from 1939. Eugène Marin Labiche's stage comedy A Florentine Hat ( Un chapeau de paille d 'Italie , 1851) served as a model.

action

Theo Farina is a staunch bachelor until he meets Helene, the daughter of the nursery owner Barbock. He promptly makes her a marriage proposal, which her father consents to. On the day of his wedding, however, his cab horse eats the Florentine hat of beautiful Pamela, who was walking in the woods with her lover. Fearing that her husband Sarabant would find out about her relationship with her lover if he saw the eaten hat, she asked Farina to get her the same hat. Farina initially refuses, but then agrees when her lover threatens to shoot him.

While the wedding is going on, Farina walks into shops and people who have bought such a hat, and at one point he is even mistaken for a star singer. Since his bride's family also causes a lot of confusion, the whole wedding party finally turns up at his neighbor's, who - which Farina does not know - is Sarabant. Farina, drunk, tells him about the beautiful woman whose hat has eaten his horse and her lover. As a result, Sarabant wants to kill both of them who are still in Farina's house. In the course of the confusion, a wedding present emerges. To Farina's surprise, this is a Florentine hat that his uncle Florian gave him. He gives this hat to Pamela, whose problem is solved.

Stylistic peculiarities

Due to various - quite innovative - stylistic devices, Der Florentiner Hut stands out from other films made at the time (not only in Germany):

• There are no opening or closing credits; the actors and the crew are presented in the form of a morality  - presented by Bruno Fritz  .
• A subtle criticism of the censorship practice of the Third Reich can be read from the morality : Bernd Hoffmann and Horst Budjuhn wrote the script until “it was liked and passed the highest tests”.
• The beginning of this film is shown from Farina's ( Heinz Rühmann ) point of view in the form of flashbacks, with Farina addressing the audience in the manner of speaking aside . Director Wolfgang Liebeneiner used the method of the subjective camera . Farina herself does not appear in these flashbacks as his person is replaced by the camera. Farina repeats the words of his dialogue partners, imitating their voices.
• At the end of the film, the usual ending title is not displayed; rather a chandelier falls from the ceiling, it gets dark and you hear the words "Everything is off!".

background

The film was shot from mid-January to February 22, 1939 in Babelsberg , Ufast .

The unofficial premiere took place on April 3, 1939 in the presence of Adolf Hitler on the KdF ship Robert Ley during its maiden voyage. The actual premiere was on April 4, 1939 in Magdeburg . In Berlin , the film was shown for the first time on April 18, 1939 in the Gloria-Palast .

Herti Kirchner , the actress who played Helene, died in a car accident just four weeks after the film premiered.

Awards

• The film testing agency's rating is artistically valuable

Reviews

• A contemporary criticism read: “The film is made entirely for effect, the comical situations alternate without a break, the punch lines hail like machine gun fire, and the whole thing combines an effective idea. In the role of the groom, Rühmann pulled out all the stops of his comic talent ... "

• Lexicon of international film : "Turbulent staged comedy full of burlesque situations."

literature

• Eugène Labiche : A Florentine hat (original title: Un chapeau de paille d'Italie ). German by Eva Rechel-Mertens . Rowohlt Theater-Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg approx. 1977, 212 pp.

See also

• List of German feature films premiered in the German Reich during the Nazi era

Web links

• The Florentine hat in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Florentine hat at filmportal.de (with pictures)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Films - Carl Hoffmann
2. ↑ Adolf Hitler among the KdF vacationers. In:  Salzburger Volksblatt , April 4, 1939, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).
3. ↑ The great Heinz Rühmann book, p. 77
4. ↑ The Florentine hat. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 23, 2017 .