Woman at the wheel
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Woman at the wheel |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 84 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Martin |
| script | Paul Martin Peter Hellbracht based on the novel “Kétezerpengös férfi” (in German: Men have it easy) (1937) by Pál Barabás |
| production | Max Pfeiffer for UFA |
| music | Harald Boehmelt |
| camera | Werner Bohne |
| cut | Klaus Stapenhorst |
| occupation | |
| |
Frau am Steuer is a German feature film from 1939. Directed by Paul Martin , after twelve films, Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch , the “dream couple of German films”, appeared together in front of the camera for the last time.
action
Maria Kelemen has made herself indispensable as a hard-working secretary in the office of the Budapest Danube Bank. Her boss, Director Bordon, is madly in love with her and wants to win her over because he believes that she is unbound. But Maria has a fiancé named Paul Banky, which she has kept from Bordon, and he also works at a bank. Maria loves her office work and considers herself indispensable, not least because of Bordon's constant advertising. Paul, on the other hand, is a macho of the old kind and thinks that his future wife shouldn't work, after all, it is enough if he brings the money home. But Maria is emancipated enough not to want this, and so Paul finally gives in. They both get married, and everything could be so wonderful if it wasn't for Paul, of all people, to lose his job because of downsizing. Now he is in the extremely unfortunate situation for him of having to live on his wife's money.
One evening Maria rushes by at home and says that she wants to change quickly because she still has to go to a conference. Paul becomes suspicious, the first marriage row breaks out, and Maria finally confesses to him that she had finally given in to her boss Borden's long wooing and that she would have dinner with him. She's only accepting this invitation, asserts Maria, because she wants to get ahead professionally. The argument drags on, Paul doesn't want to let Maria go, and when she finally disappears into the night, she arrives too late at the meeting point. Bordon has already left. But then the doorbell rings at the door of the Bankys: Outside is Mr Bordon, asking about Maria, who did not come. Paul is perplexed by this audacity, he doesn't know that Maria has kept her marriage from her boss and that the boss now thinks Paul is Maria's brother, who visited her in her apartment. To make matters worse, Bordon raves about Maria in front of his husband Paul and lets his amorous feelings run free. When Maria returns home, Paul is cooking. The director says goodbye as discreet as he is embarrassed, and Paul also leaves the marital home with the announcement that he wants to move out.
Mr Bordon is an old school gentleman and wants to help the still unemployed husband of his best colleague. He instructs Donau-Bank to hire Paul Banky - as Maria's subordinate of all people! This is anything but good for the marital relationship of the unequal couple, and the two married couples quarrel again. However, Paul is doing well in his new position, and one day when he helps the bank with an unauthorized act, he is promptly promoted and, from a career point of view, passes Maria. Paul immediately “abused” his new power and dismissed his wife pro forma when she defied one of his instructions. Paul didn't mean this very seriously, he just wanted to put a healing damper on her. In any case, he likes to come home personally in the evening like the Pasha and ask for supper. When Paul tells Maria that she can of course return to the bank, she doesn't want to do so anymore because Maria is pregnant and the two will soon be parents.
Production notes
Woman at the wheel was filmed in Hungary from January 2, 1939 and premiered in Vienna on May 16, 1939. It was Harvey's last German feature film, directed by her then partner Martin. Harvey stayed in Hungary when the shooting ended in March 1939, as she saw no future for herself as a British woman in Hitler's empire. It was agreed that Martin should return to Hungary after his return to Berlin, where Lilian Harvey had bought the Tetélen estate near Debreczin. However, when Martin decided to stay in Germany, Harvey emigrated alone. Harvey did not live to see the Berlin film premiere on June 20, 1939 in the Gloria Palast . At this point she had already left for Paris.
Frau am Steuer ran in German cinemas until the summer of 1942 and was also released in 1941 in the USA, where Harvey emigrated that year. As a result of her emigration, however, the strip was then banned in the Reich, especially since Lilian Harvey had meanwhile also been expatriated.
The production costs were around 835,000 Reichsmarks.
Erich Kettelhut created the film structures , Manon Hahn created the costumes . Fritz Böttger rehearsed the dances. Richard Busch wrote the lyrics to Harald Böhmelt's music. Fritz Thiery was responsible for the sound .
Music track
The following music tracks were played:
- Why doesn't Adelheid have time for me in the evening?
- Today should be Sunday for my love
Reviews
Paimann's film lists summed up: “The popular actor couple transforms a marriage story under the wrong direction. It's just a shame that the cheerfulness is only drawn from the comedians and witty dialogues around it and thus does not come from within. Budapest provides the location with appealing exterior shots. "
“After the outbreak of war, many women had to take their man's job. Thousands were also retrained from the non-“vital” professions and thousands entered the profession for the first time. At the beginning of the war there were still a number of unemployed women and girls who were “on the side”. The film intervened in this new propaganda campaign with feature films or with short “work assignment” films. He began his “educational work” before the outbreak of war. The cheerful entertainment film "Woman at the wheel", which dealt optimistically with the topic of "women's profession and marriage", had lost the characteristics of an "educational study" soon after its creation (1939). The question: Can a wife have a job at the same time? - received a clearly affirmative answer. "
"Comedy from the day before yesterday in terms of both content and staging."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : In life, more is taken from you than is given ... Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria 1933 to 1945. A general overview. Hamburg 2011, p. 633
- ↑ Lilian fought back tears . Spiegel report from September 15, 1949.
- ↑ Der deutsche Film 1938–1945 , p. 795
- ↑ ibid., P. 572
- ↑ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme, p. 57, Berlin 1999
- ↑ Woman at the wheel in Paimann's film lists ( memento of the original from November 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Woman at the wheel in the Lexicon of International Films
Web links
- Woman at the wheel in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Woman at the wheel at filmportal.de