Miss Piccolo

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Movie
Original title Miss Piccolo
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1914
length 40 minutes
Rod
Director Franz Hofer
script Franz Hofer
production Max Maschke for Luna-Film, Berlin
camera Gotthardt Wolf
occupation

Fräulein Piccolo is a medium-length German silent film fun play from 1914 with Dorrit Weixler in the title role.

action

first act

Lo returns from the girls' boarding school to her parents, who run the hotel "Zum Weißen Schwan" in the town of Sonnenburg. When we say goodbye, we chatter happily and give each other our hearts, and Lo has developed a special relationship with the girl Röschen Plappermund in particular at the boarding school. Back home, the greeting is very warm. When the crowd of male guests and employees greet the newcomer all too intrusively, Los father, the innkeeper, kept them at a distance with the words "Gentlemen ... the new chambermaid". Los parents tell her the bad news that the chambermaid with the piccolo has run away and Lo should therefore stand in as their substitute - especially since several soldiers bivouacking in the area are expected to a ball the next day. You ring in Lo: if the doorbell rings once, the piccolo is asked, if the doorbell rings twice, the maid is requested. And so Lo nolens will have to take on two jobs in two uniforms, of course. To make matters worse, of course, she also needs a wig for Piccolo, because he's a man after all.

As soon as the first of the six advised lieutenants arrives, a certain Clairon, he is greeted by the maid Lo. From the beginning he leaves no stone unturned to fool around with her, which the perky Lo is only too happy to get involved with, as the dashing officer really does it to her. But Lo also knows what to do if a guest should take things that are not his due. For example, when Pinkeles, a somewhat greasy sales representative, tries to hit her in a rough way, she throws his suitcase in his face without further ado, so that he falls backwards into his guest room. When he still refuses to rest and peeps out his door, he catches a slapstick from Miss Lo. Then the bell rings once, and you can see Lo peeling out of the maid's dress in no time at all to change into a Fraulein Piccolo.

Second act

As Piccolo, she appears in Lieutenant Clairon's room, who, however, had rang the bell twice, in the hope of being able to flirt with the chambermaid. But Lo makes fun of it, teasing the lieutenant in her role play, who is disappointed that only Piccolo has come. "The maid is no longer coming to you ... she sent me," she explains as Miss Piccolo. But the lieutenant doesn't want to be fobbed off so quickly. He wrote a short letter to the maid Lo, which he gave Piccola Lo for the maid Lo.

The big officers' party is to take place the next day. Clairon catches the piccolo early in the morning, but Lo tells him with thieving glee that the chambermaid does not want to know anything about him, but he could try it with her himself. She is currently in the hay barn. Clairon climbs up there after her, but cannot see properly in the dark and therefore attacks Los' fat mother, who then slaps him on the face. Piccola Lo, who ran after her lieutenant, almost laughs herself to death at the mix-up. Clairon follows the cheeky Piccolo and sees him climb through the window into the room for the hotel staff. He is all the more astonished that the pretty chambermaid comes out of the room again. But she has an explanation that is as simple as it is a lie. Lieutenant Clairon becomes more and more emphatic in his endeavor to win the favor of the young woman and chases her as far as the hotel's own lake. The first kiss almost takes place there.

Third act

In the evening the party is in full swing, and the lieutenants present ask Piccolo where the pretty chambermaid has gone. Before Lo can answer anything, the overzealous hotel waiter pulls her away from the guests by the ear. Lo is now showered with dishes that she should carry towards the ballroom. When she sees how Clairon is flirting with other women, jealousy boils in her, and finally she drops the pile of plates that shatter into a thousand pieces. Then she quickly disappears to change again to the housekeeping. Returning to the ballroom in this outfit, she wants to get back at Lieutenant Clairon and begins to joke and dance with other men. When Lo and Clairon have a moment to themselves outdoors, another officer appears and reports that Clairon's cousin Röschen Plappermund, Los's friend from their boarding school days, has arrived.

She is amazed when she suddenly sees Lo in the somewhat silly maid costume and runs after Lo, who runs away. Since she barricades herself in her office, Röschen cannot speak to her. But bright as she is, Röschen quickly understands what little game Lo is playing. She goes to Clairon's room and rings twice, for the maid. But now Lo has just turned back into Piccolo, and in this outfit she appears in the lieutenant's room, where she is waiting for Röschen to be hidden behind a screen. She laughs at Los disguise, she recognizes her friend immediately, and rips off her Piccolo wig. Late in the evening, each of the lieutenants went to his room, and Clairon was quite surprised to find florets in his own. Meanwhile, Lo hides behind the curtain. Cousin Röschen wants to help her and finally bring Lo and cousin Clairon together. Then she brings Lo up from behind the curtain and officially introduces them to each other. They both look a little embarrassed, but then smile. The happy ending follows.

Production notes

Fräulein Piccolo was made in the Luna-Film-Atelier in Berlin's Friedrichstrasse 224 until June 1914. The film was ready for showing in August 1914, but the premiere was postponed because of the outbreak of war that month. Possibly there was a world premiere in Germany in 1914, the Vienna premiere for Austria-Hungary was announced for January 1, 1915. On June 5, 1915, the German film censors imposed a performance ban for the duration of the war. Only at the beginning of 1919 is there evidence of a performance in Germany. The completely preserved three-act model was about 1017 meters long.

The buildings come from Fritz Kraencke.

Ernst Lubitsch , who embodies the somewhat greasy sales representative Pinkeles, who would like to complement the chambermaid Lo in his room, has only one scene that turned out to be very short with less than 60 seconds.

criticism

“In the series of Franz Hofer comedies… the newest,“ Fräulein Pikkolo ”, undoubtedly occupies a high place. Due to its short and effervescent plot, its play carried out with exuberant madness, a number of splendid types from small town life and above all through the person of Dorrit Weixler ... it should be placed above the previous comedies in this series. (...) Various changing scenes, a grotesque hayloft scene with the old maid, the dance floor story of the second act and, above all, the exciting endings of the act, raise the overall impression of the picture to a great effect. "

- Cinematographische Rundschau from October 25, 1914. P. 40 f.

“There you see the three-act comedy Miss Piccolo, which was once forbidden, in which the little, lively heroine, a high-spirited fellow, plays herself in the role of a hotel room maid. (...) The film, which was staged and acted with gusto and temperament, met with great success with laughter. "

- The film from February 8, 1919

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