Royal Children (1950)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Royal children |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1950 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Helmut Käutner |
| script |
Emil Burri , Herbert Witt , Helmut Käutner |
| production | Eberhard Klagemann |
| music | Bernhard Eichhorn |
| camera | Reimar Kuntze |
| cut | Wolfgang Wehrum |
| occupation | |
| |
Königskinder is a German feature film directed by Helmut Käutner . It was created in 1949 and released in cinemas in early 1950.
action
It is 1945, the impoverished Princess Ulrike von Brandenburg is on the run with an uncle and two ladies-in-waiting to the west, more precisely to Bavaria, where there is probably still a Brandenburg castle. On the way they are shot at by low-flying planes, you lose luggage, it ends up in the river ... the suitcase with the crown jewels, of all things.
Once in Bavaria, the people of Brandenburg have to find out that their new home is a castle ruin. Make a makeshift set up and try to make the best of the situation. There is something tragically comical about the efforts when the ladies-in-waiting argue about what a correct welcoming ceremony should look like, or when they apply to the local employment office for suitable servants for the hunt while one hardly has a frying pan, let alone potatoes to use roast meat.
The uncle is confused and sulking, the ladies-in-waiting are still embarrassed in a bygone era, only the princess has sufficient sense of reality and humor for the changed situation. And she has to be smart to get permission to move in and to find a job, so that something edible gets on the rotten castle board.
During her excursions into the city, she gets caught in a raid and meets a young man named Paul, who is amused by her ignorance and who, for lack of other opportunity to get to know the lady, simply allows the occupation soldiers to arrest her with her. In the converted air raid shelter, you share bread and a bench and, later in the day, a bottle of schnapps. But the princess does not want to become too familiar with her admirer.
While she has to cope with this unusual situation, her ladies-in-waiting and uncle have to contend with a completely different problem. A delegation of relatives of Ulrike's groom has arrived at the castle ruins to prepare a reunion for the bride and groom and also to see what has become of the crown jewels, which are so urgently needed as a financial basis for a befitting life in the new era become. When Ulrike arrives at the castle, she is extremely embarrassed to provide a reasonable reason for her nocturnal absence, but somehow the relatives are appeased without admitting the loss of the jewels.
In the days that followed, strangers kept appearing at the castle, mostly locally stationed soldiers with their German friends, as well as the very first tourists. The young gentleman from the city also shows up and quickly understands that the castle ruins are actually a perfect way to generate a small income by letting visitors pay for their curiosity. He takes care of the repair of knight armor and the like, the ladies-in-waiting are allowed to design pretty souvenirs and Ulrike works as a castle guide. Incognito, of course. But then Ulrike's groom turns up surprisingly and shortly afterwards the rest of the relatives, u. a. a courtyard curtain whose primary interest is to secure the crown jewels and to preserve the beautiful appearance. An impoverished bride who works as a tour guide really doesn't fit into the concept.
Ulrike's shrewd beau manages to bring a bit of pomp to a festival in honor of the bride and groom by loaning them from the local theater, but these props are just as hollow and fragile as the whole mendacious facade that one is trying to erect here. Ulrike realizes that not only the glitz and glory of the previous life are a thing of the past, but also that the connection with her prince has become wrong, because she discovers that she loves Paul. The latter, disappointed, sneaked out of the castle when the engagement of the high-ranking couple was to be announced. Ulrike breaks her engagement and looks for her Paul. When she finds him, she asks him what his name is anyway, by surname ... whereupon he takes her in his arms and tells her his name is "King".
Production notes
The film was shot in black and white from May to the end of June 1949 in the Bavaria Film studios in Geiselgasteig and Bad Wimpfen . Hornberg Castle near Neckarzimmern also served as an external backdrop . The world premiere took place on January 20, 1950 in Krefeld (Capitol). Although Königskinder received mostly positive reviews, the film turned out to be the biggest commercial failure in Helmut Käutner's career. Jenny Jugo was last seen on screen here. Although she shot the German-Italian co-production Land der Sehnsucht the following year , it could not be completed due to financial difficulties. Then she withdrew into private life.
Reviews
"Comedy with a little bit of time coloring and sparse satirical highlights."
Web links
- Königskinder in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Königskinder at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The town hall, the Evangelical town church and the Feyerabend wine tavern in Salzgasse can be clearly seen in the film. The statements made by Jacobsen and Prinzler that the outdoor photos were taken “on the Moselle or the Rhine” do not apply. See Wolfgang Jacobsen and Hans Helmut Prinzler: Käutner. Edition Films, Volume 8. Berlin 1992, page 281
- ^ CineGraph - Lexicon for German-language film - Helmut Käutner
- ^ Rene Ruppert: Helmut Käutner. Dreams of freedom and criticism of time Berlin 2018, page 149
- ↑ Royal Children. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 5, 2016 .