A Woman Who Knows What She Wants (1957)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | A woman who knows what she wants |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Arthur Maria Rabenalt |
| script |
Fritz Eckhardt Per Schwenzen Herbert Witt Arthur Maria Rabenalt |
| production | Hans Abich |
| music |
Alfred Grünwald Louis Verneuil based loosely on the operetta of the same name by Oscar Straus |
| camera | Werner Krien |
| cut | Lilian Seng |
| occupation | |
| |
A woman who knows what she wants is a German feature film from 1957 by Arthur Maria Rabenalt with Lilli Palmer in a double role. The story is based on the two-act musical comedy of the same name by Oscar Straus .
action
The story takes place in Central Europe at the turn of the century. Angela Cavallini, reverently called "La Cavallini" by her admirers, has died. She was considered one of the greatest revue stars of her time. Good advice is expensive, because a new revue was just being prepared in Director Arpad Kelemen's Apollo Theater, and nobody knows who has the skills to stand in for the Cavallini. Emmy de la Motte, a moderately gifted soubrette, would like to follow in the oversized footsteps of her predecessor, but despite the patronizing backing of a potent financier, the young lady is not really convincing. One day, a huge steamer trunk from Brazil arrives at the head office. It contains the Cavallini estate. In a letter, the dead woman asks that the suitcase with her magnificent revue costumes and the sum of 10,000 thalers in cash be handed over to her granddaughter. Director Kelemen, theater secretary Herzmansky and the revue writer and composer Viktor Keller suddenly drew hope: Perhaps that granddaughter may have inherited the talent of her grandmother, or at least she is willing to invest the said sum of money in the sluggish theater company.
When you see the young lady, you are very disillusioned. The granddaughter's name is Julia Klöhn, she is a shy and inconspicuous "gray mouse" and earns her living as a gymnastics teacher in the Lyceum of the director Dr. Kladde, a plump minded person. So the idea of making a new Cavallini out of Julia is quickly discarded. But then something unexpected happens: the wealthy patron Emmys has caught his soubrette in flagranti in the arms of the conductor Fritz Hollmann and suddenly wants to turn off the money. Now there is no longer any generous financier, and in view of this “scandal”, the Soubrette Emmy is no longer an option as Cavallini's successor. The elegant charmer Viktor Keller is then commissioned by the theater management to make Julia Klöhn beautiful eyes in order to persuade her to finance the next revue. The theater inexperienced agrees, but makes one condition: She absolutely wants to play the leading role. Director Kelemen and his men are horrified, they suspect that they will soon experience an artistic disaster. But they are supposed to be wrong: Julia is more talented than everyone thinks, and her dead grandmother appears regularly for artistic instruction and inspiration ... In the end, Julia decides to seek and find her happiness as Viktor Keller's wife.
Production notes
The shooting of a woman who knows what she wants place in November / December 1957 in Munich's Bavaria Studios instead. The world premiere took place on February 25, 1958 in the Düsseldorf Apollo cinema. German television broadcast was on April 22, 1963 on ZDF .
Producer Hans Abich also took over the production management. Walter Haag designed the film structures, Herbert Ploberger designed the costumes. Gerhard Krüger was a simple cameraman under head cameraman Werner Krien . The story is based on an idea by Robert Thoeren .
criticism
In the lexicon of the international film it says: "A delightfully cheerful contrast game with Lilli Palmer in a productive double role."
Individual evidence
- ↑ A woman who knows what she wants. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 1, 2020 .