The English marriage
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The English marriage |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 97 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK from 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Reinhold Schünzel |
| script | Ludwig von Wohl |
| production |
Arnold Pressburger Gregor Rabinowitsch for the Cine-Allianz Tonfilm GmbH |
| music | Franz Doelle |
| camera | Friedl Behn-Grund |
| cut | Roger from Norman |
| occupation | |
| |
The English Marriage (also: English Wedding ) is a turbulent social comedy about the British upper class, directed by Reinhold Schünzel in 1934, with Adolf Wohlbrück , Renate Müller and Adele Sandrock in the lead roles. The film premiered on October 31, 1934 in Berlin's Gloria Palast .
action
The young and a little awkward Briton Douglas Mavis, who comes from a noble, venerable, British upper class family, fell in love with the pretty driving instructor Gerte Winter in Berlin. Since he is very shy, he has not yet dared to confess his love to her. Then he receives the message from a friend, the lawyer of the Mavis family, Warwick Brent, that he is expected at home and has to leave Berlin immediately. His grandmother, who heads the Mavis house in a matronly and all-powerful way and who no one dares to contradict, will soon celebrate her 75th birthday at home.
The old Lady Mavis thinks that it is time for Douglas' life to finally come to an end and therefore wants to betroth him to Roberta Buckley, the daughter of a befriended family. Douglas has to go home, otherwise the old woman will block the maintenance that has allowed him to live a carefree life in distant Berlin. His love, however, is called a crop, and only she wants to marry. Douglas is a little afraid of his own relatives, but above all of the energetic head of the house, the grandmother, who is used to basically and loudly getting her way through. In order to forestall any plans she might have for him, he spontaneously marries Gerte and thus presents the Mavis family with a fait accompli. But he doesn't really have the courage to teach this to the family. At home at the country estate in Mavis Hall, in his desperation, he turns to his much younger brother Tuck, who still enjoys puppy protection with the old woman and generally risks a pretty perky lip. He should try to teach Doug's marriage to the grandmother as gently as possible.
Douglas is dancing with Roberta at the birthday party when Tuck teaches grandmother that Douglas is already married. But Tuck misunderstands and believes that Douglas has just become engaged to Roberta. Lady Mavis then briefly interrupts the orchestra's music. The musicians give a flourish and well-wishers storm Douglas. Douglas and Tuck just look at each other questioningly and puzzled. In the meantime, Gerte has gone to England because she has not received the long-awaited letter from Doug stating when she should come. She wants to know if and what about Mavis Hall is brewing against her. On the way, Gerte meets Warwick Brent. The two had never met before. Warwick also wants to go to Mavis Hall. When Douglas sees them, he immediately redirects them and first of all puts his wife in a nearby inn. There Gerte learns that Doug has so far lacked the courage to inform his family about the marriage in Berlin. Tuck does that now and informs the 75-year-old anniversary girl that her oldest grandson is already under the hood. The old lady is furious and calls lawyer Brent over. According to her plan, he should resign the unloved German wife, who she considers a soldier of fortune or blackmailer, with a check. Brent refuses to do such a thing, he likes the new Lady Mavis very much.
Doug turns out to be a wimp and consistently avoids confrontations with the family in general and his grandmother in particular. Instead, he plans to look for a job in London. Gerte is disappointed with Doug's lack of backbone and wants to leave England immediately. Warwick Brent tries to prevent her from making her decision. But Gerte remains steadfast, gets into her car and speeds away. On the way, she meets a car that breaks down. The owner of the car, an old lady, drives home. There she realizes that she has helped the energetic Lady Mavis of all people. This turns out to be extremely friendly and invites Gerte to linger a little at Mavis Hall. Gerte, who now knows that she has ended up in the lioness's den, finds this situation amusing and introduces herself to the rest of the family under a strange name. When Brent shows up, he can't believe his eyes. She smiles at Warwick with cryptic friendliness ... and he doesn't give her away.
The perplexed Gerte learns from the Buckleys who have also arrived that Douglas has become engaged to Roberta and that Brent, the family lawyer, should draw up the marriage contract. Gerte now senses betrayal by Warwick Brent, but he makes it clear to her that there is a misunderstanding. In London, Douglas was laughed at when trying to find a job. To lick his wounds, one evening he goes to a theater where the singer Bella Amery, with whom he is known, is performing. After the performance, Douglas goes to see her with some friends. Bella has her own plans for Doug, who comes from a wealthy family, and would like to marry him for very practical reasons. He tells Bella what is going wrong in his life right now, and she comforts him. At the end of the lively evening, all the friends present believe that Douglas Bella wants to marry too ...
The old Lady Mavis has meanwhile persuaded Gerte to spend the night in the castle. When she finally wants to leave the next morning, Douglas returns to the country estate. Tuck warned him that his wife would be there. Doug blames Gerte for not being allowed to come to Mavis Hall. Bella drives up, who, as she hopes, wants to take a look at the property of her future husband. She learns from the Buckleys present that their Roberta is already engaged to Douglas. Gerte joins in and breaks the barrel in which she introduces herself as Douglas' wife.
But she wants, she promises everyone, to divorce him again. Gerte is now bluntly telling Lady Mavis who she really is: namely the " mesalliance " that the 75-year-old had thought of her, the wife of her fickle, weak grandson Douglas, until now. Lady Mavis is amazed and delighted at the same time. She tries to hold back crop, but leaves the lordly estate with her head held high. Douglas fervently pleads with Brent not to let his German wife go. She is mad at Brent too for not telling her the whole truth about Doug and Roberta. Gerte continues ... and promptly breaks down the same car as the old lady the day before. Brent, who had a hand in the breakdown, appears quite “by chance” and tries to explain Gerte to himself. Finally, the two new lovers fall into each other's arms.
Production notes
Shooting began in August 1934. Shooting took place at Berlin 's Tempelhof Airport and on Helgoland , among others .
Ludwig von Wohl wrote the script based on his own novel.
Otto Hunte designed the film structures, Kurt Hoffmann assisted director Schünzel.
In this film, Hilde Hildebrand sings as Bella Amery Franz Doelle's song "Love is a secret". When this song sounds on the radio, Adolf Wohlbrück and Renate Müller dance elegantly to it and at the end receive applause from the members of the Mavis family (Sandrock, Fritz Odemar and Hans Richter ) who are present.
The accumulation of film talents ( suspiciously observed by the Nazi regime ) who met again in this film made in the Third Reich (1934) is remarkable . The main actor Wohlbrück and the director Schünzel had Jewish roots and emigrated a few years later (1936 and 1937 respectively). The author of Wohl left Germany in 1935 for the same reasons. Leading actress Müller was in a relationship with a Jew and was therefore put under massive pressure by the regime. Most astonishing, however, is the fact that the production company Cine-Allianz, run by the two Jews Arnold Pressburger and Gregor Rabinowitsch , was even allowed to make this film in 1934. This was due to the express approval of the first President of the Reichsfilmkammer , Fritz Scheuermann .
The German post-war performance of The English Marriage took place on September 21, 1963 on ZDF .
criticism
The film critics consistently found words of praise for this film, which still had all the merits of a lively comedy from the time of the Weimar Republic and completely lacked any dull brown undertones.
In Kay Weniger's "In life, more is taken from you than is given" you can read: Schünzel's "brisk, witty comedy [...] with an excellently presented Adele Sandrock as a matronly, formidable house board dragon (" Percival ... - in this house only screams one - and that's still me !!! ") was a delicious society farce about the British 'upper society'."
The film's large lexicon of people described the film as a "perky comedy"
The lexicon of international films praised: "A delightful, well-acted (Adele Sandrock!) Social comedy with parodic undertones."
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 399.
- ↑ Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 403.
- ↑ Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 452. However, the quote is not entirely correct: In the film scene (16th minute) grandmother Mavis rebukes her son: “Percival, moderate yourself. In this house I scream - [roaring] and nobody else. "
- ↑ 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 7: R - T. Robert Ryan - Lily Tomlin. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 201.
- ↑ Klaus Brüne (Red.): Lexikon des Internationale Films Volume 2, S. 871. Reinbek near Hamburg 1987.