the main point is happiness
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | the main point is happiness |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1941 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Theo Lingen |
| script |
Jochen Huth , Rudo Ritter |
| production |
Ernst Rechenmacher for Bavaria Filmkunst |
| music | Werner Bochmann |
| camera | Oskar Schnirch |
| cut | Hildegard Grebner |
| occupation | |
| |
The main thing is happy is a German feature film by Theo Lingen from 1941.
action
Axel Roth is a small employee in the expense department of a large company. He's unambitious and happy with the little life he's built. His colleagues see him as a sloppy man who is always unpunctual and doesn't take his job too seriously - while at work he maintains private calls at company expense and is one of the few employees who has not yet received a promotion .
Axel marries his great love Uschi, although her mother is strictly against the wedding, precisely because Axel will never make it very far in his life. Uschi, on the other hand, hopes that Axel's sense of duty will increase with the marriage, especially since according to an internal regulation of his job he would have to be the next in the promotion. The marriage, however, worsened Axel's work ethic. He now comes to work twice as late and occupies the business phone lines with his private calls for so long that it becomes too much for his superior: He refuses to promote Axel. Uschi, who barely gets there with the little money the man brings home and who even earns a little pocket money behind his back in her mother's hairdressing salon, takes the initiative. She thinks that the quality of Axel simply cannot be recognized in the big gears of the company and wants to draw the general manager's attention to him personally in a conversation. However, she is not admitted and then secretly issues an invitation to Axel and herself to a private dinner with the general manager, which will take place shortly.
The invitation is delivered and Axel is surprised, but also happy, especially since he notices that none of his colleagues have received an invitation. He borrows a tailcoat while Uschi borrows a dress and a brooch from a customer in the hairdressing salon . The evening with General Director Arndt, however, turns out differently than planned by Uschi: Discreetly drunk, Axel raves about his ambitious life to the General Director, who has since been initiated into the fraud by Uschi. At home, Uschi notices that she has lost the brooch.
Axel and Uschi received shocking news from the jeweler: The brooch was worth over 3000 Reichsmarks - a fortune for the small family. Since the customer who owns the brooch is on vacation, they both try to get the money together in a hurry to buy a new brooch of the same type. Uschi sells her jewelry, Axel his stamp collection and finally they even rent a room in their two-room apartment to a barmaid. Their relationship, however, suffers from the unspoken accusations of both, the poor relationship between Axel and his mother-in-law and also from Uschi's assumption that Axel could have or begin a relationship with the new lodger. Finally Uschi reveals to her husband that she set up the invitation herself at the time. Axel is disappointed with his wife, who was not satisfied with what they had, but just wanted more money and a bigger reputation. Uschi moves in with her mother.
Axel now throws himself into work. He discovers very high expense reports from the directors, who initially try to prevent him from looking further by promoting him. Axel, however, checks all expense reports from the last few years and calculates that the company could save around 100,000 Reichsmarks annually if the directors were only more economical on business trips. The general manager appoints him as director of the expenses department. When he hears about Axel's financial worries, he advances the missing money for the brooch.
Axel's marriage, however, is about to come to an end: When Uschi and the subtenant catch him in an ambiguous but in reality harmless situation, she files for divorce, supported by her mother. In the end, however, everything comes to a good end: It turns out that the lost brooch was not genuine and was therefore only worth 50 Reichsmarks. Uschi, in turn, sees that Axel has developed ambition and that love cannot be bought with money. They find together again. However, since they did not withdraw the divorce in time, they will be legally divorced. They both decide to get married a second time.
production
The shooting took place from November 6, 1940 to January 1941. Heinz Rühmann played alongside his actual wife Hertha Feiler. The premiere of the film took place on April 3, 1941 in Berlin's Gloria Palast .
criticism
- The lexicon of international films happily described the main thing as "average comedy, unrealistic and frivolous in measure."
- Joseph Goebbels commented on the film on March 21, 1941 in his diary: “A cheerful Rühmann film,“ The main thing is happy ”. Not a brilliant achievement! "
See also
Web links
- Happiness is the main thing in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The main thing is happy at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klaus Brühne (Ed.): Lexicon of International Films . Volume 3. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1990, p. 1512.