Kir Royal (TV series)

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Television series
Original title Kir Royal
Country of production Federal Republic of Germany
original language German
year 1985
Production
company		 Balance Film, Munich
length 60 minutes
Episodes 6 in 1 season
genre satire
Theme music Variation on Franz von Suppè - Overture from The beautiful Galathée
idea Helmut Dietl
production Jürgen Dohme
music Konstantin Wecker
First broadcast September 22, 1986 on ARD
occupation

Kir Royal (From the Life of a Gossip Reporter) is a six-part television series by Helmut Dietl from 1986. It is a parody of the Münchner Abendzeitung , its gossip reporter Michael Graeter and the publisher Anneliese Friedmann . The series on the Boulevard - Reporter Baby Schimmerlos plays in the Munich -crowd of the 1980s. The series is named after the Kir Royal aperitif, which was popular at the time .

Episodes

1. Whoever comes in is in

Baby Schimmerlos, gossip reporter and columnist for the Münchner Allgemeine Tageszeitung , is currently writing a series about the Munich restaurants that are popular with the chic . His girlfriend Mona urges him to finally submit an expense report. Babies' lavish lifestyle and the many visits to expensive restaurants cost money. In addition, the floor of your own apartment is to be renewed. The master craftsman would get a good price if he was in the Shimmerless column, says Mona. Baby refuses indignantly. Once in the editorial office, the attempted taking advantage of things just continues. Photographer Herbie wants to bring a young friend, secretary Edda, her dentist, into the column. Baby speaks a word of power - he wants to keep his independence.

In the evening, the very wealthy, but exhausted glue manufacturer Heinrich Haffenloher tries in vain to find Baby Schimmerlos. Haffenloher is out for publicity and wants to achieve by all means that a story about him is placed in the newspaper. On the recommendation of the hotel porter, Haffenloher ends up in the luxury Villa Medici restaurant , where baby occasionally visits. But he is currently visiting the Champs Elysées restaurant . The operator is worried about getting off badly because nothing is going on in his shop. When the baby appeared, he had "the usual scroungers " call together to get some mood in the booth. Which then succeeds. Only Mona is annoyed by the staged cheerfulness, the general ingratiation to Baby and the lack of culinary ideas - they had already been served the same nouvelle cuisine menu the day before in the Villa Medici restaurant . Haffenloher still finds the Champs Elysées by chance - sees that there is dancing on the tables and wants to join in; but you don't let him in. Frustrated, he phoned the boss of Schimmerlos, the publisher of Unruh, and offered to place expensive advertisements if he got into the gossip column. Von Unruh only wants to reimburse Schimmerlos for the expenses if he writes about Haffenloher. The journalist then reluctantly meets Haffenloher in his hotel. Worn down by flattery, threats and attempts at bribery (“I shit you with my money”), Schimmerlos finally gives in. In the Champs Elysées , the previous evening will be re-enacted for Herbie's camera; The master craftsman, the dentist and Haffenloher join those present the day before. In the end, everyone gets what they want. Mona her floor, Frau von Unruh her advertisements, the wannabes and the restaurant owner publicity. Only Schimmerlos, who acted against his convictions, sits resignedly in front of the restaurant, smoking and drinking, while the music of the cancan from the operetta Orpheus in the Underworld penetrates the restaurant.

2. Mother's Day

Baby's widowed mother has a heart condition and lives in a modest house on the approach path to Riem Airport. One morning she drives to him in town again to clean his sophisticated apartment and finally to serve the boy a decent meal - especially since Mona is just away. But what she finds is a strange young blonde in baby's bed. There is an argument between the mother and the baby's playmate. As always, Baby is on the go looking for a story. Fanny Kessler, the leading actress in a new TV soap opera, is said to be pregnant. Baby drives to the film studio and is not deterred by intrigues on the set and even threats from producer Georg Kanter to get to the bottom of the matter. When trying to get a urine sample from Fanny for a secret pregnancy test, a false sample is slipped on him. As the editorial deadline is approaching, however, he cannot wait for the result of the test anyway. When an anonymous caller threatens him, he decides to put the news about the pregnancy in the newspaper without any real evidence ( Fanny pregnant, Kanter angry, million-dollar film burst ). At a summer evening reception under the patronage of the Prime Minister at Bavaria on the same evening, there is a showdown between Baby, the angry producer and Mona, who has meanwhile found out about his affair. Both Kanter, who sees himself ruined by Baby's headline, and the jealous Mona are planning to kill Baby on the spot and have smuggled weapons. The attack on the producer is prevented by the Prime Minister who happened to be there. Shortly afterwards, baby receives news of his mother's death. She had discovered her son during the live broadcast of the reception and had a heart attack from the excitement while desperately trying to get her video recorder going. Mona now no longer has the heart to carry out her plan and comforts the crying baby.

3. The people don't see anything

Baby thinks he hit the big hit. His old friend Hubert Dürkheimer, honorary consul of a banana republic , wants to build a classy country club on Lake Starnberg . The right lake property with the dilapidated villa of the famous "painter and representative of the pre-alpine school" Wilfried Schildkraut belongs to the local community of St. Peter am See , whose mayor does not want to sell to a speculator like Dürkheimer. Baby is supposed to help out as a straw man and, given the consul's money, act as a buyer. Dürkheimer, who is heavily indebted with around 39 million DM, tries to thread a loan from his bank for 3.5 million. But baby has its own plans. He wants to cheat the consul and keep the villa himself after buying it. At the same time, the ambitious member of the state parliament, Joseph Gaishofer, thwarted Baby and Dürkheimer's plans on behalf of the non-profit society for people's welfare and public interest . He ensures that the credit fails and thus drives Dürkheimer to ruin and suicide. Baby, who has already signed the purchase contract for the villa, now has to sell again as soon as possible in order not to be crushed by interest without Dürkheimer and his money. The villa is finally acquired by Gaishofer's non-profit company and expanded into its headquarters.

4. Goodbye Claire

There is nothing going on in Munich for a change. Only Edda and Mona have had their hair cut and dressed according to a bizarre new fashion folly, the so-called Marines look . But for baby there is no story to be found anywhere. He's almost desperate to fill his three-quarters page with gossip when a police officer catches him stealing newspapers for research purposes.

Fortunately, when everything seems to turn against Baby, a promising story emerges. The penniless Jewish composer Friedrich Danziger does not have much longer to live, as his friend and doctor, Dr. Krakauer, opened. The famous chanson singer Claire Maetzig, the woman he has loved for 50 years and who has vowed never to set foot on German soil again, has lived in France since the time of National Socialism . Finally, Baby and Herbie find out that old Danziger has been placed in the kitchenette of Krakauer's private clinic. Herbie takes some gruesome photos of the terminally ill. Frau von Unruh is against bringing this out as a scandalous story. Finally she has the idea for a story: Baby should travel to Paris in order to persuade “the old quirk” with the photo of her deathbed to visit her old friend in Germany one last time. So he sets off for Paris with Herbie and Mona. With three wrong addresses, however, they cannot find Maetzig. Dr. Krakauer and Claire manage to outsmart their pursuers. She takes the night train to Munich with her housekeeper and is picked up by Krakauer in Pasing . While the housekeeper, disguised as Claire Maetzig's double in sunglasses and a headscarf, misleads the journalistic snoopers, Friedrich Danziger secretly visits the hospital, organizes his transfer to a clinic in Switzerland and leaves the same night with him City. For Baby and Herbie, the hoped-for scoop therefore only ends with a drink with the police chief.

5. Your Royal Highness

The queen of the distant island state Mandalia is expected to visit Munich. The whole city is looking forward to her arrival, especially since Queen Kathi was born in Munich and spent her childhood and youth in small circumstances in the Hasenbergl district . Herbie and Baby smell the perfect story and research the amorous past of the prominent visitor even before they arrive. The former hairdresser seems to have left nothing out at a young age. During a preview of the royal suite at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof , Herbie and Baby succeeded in bribing the staff to settle in an adjoining room. They hope to be able to take spectacular photos through the keyhole of the connecting door. Contrary to expectations, however, they experience how the Queen receives the notorious Swiss arms dealer Hugo Raeber in her suite. The real reason for their visit to Munich is obviously the procurement of military equipment for the suppression of the Mandalischen freedom movement. At Mona's persuasion, Baby becomes moral and brings this incident to the newspaper without the knowledge of the editors and Ms. von Unruh. The headline Queen Kathi plans genocide bursts like a bomb in the festive city and causes a scandal. The Prime Minister is appalled. Angry fans of the Queen threaten Baby and demolish his car. The reception for the queen is cut short; the high society turns indignantly from Frau von Unruh. Queen Kathi leaves in a hurry. Baby and Mona flee from the hustle and bustle and the anger of Frau von Unruh to a lonely alpine hut. Because Baby's disclosure report brought unexpectedly high sales for the newspaper, the publisher was in the end mildly tempered and forgave Baby's escapade.

6. Career

Baby is bored with the daily grind, his columns are uninspired and keep getting thinner. Much to Frau von Unruh's displeasure, he neglects his duties in the search for the big story. He meets the old media agent Gregory Wiener, who advises him to reorient himself and to leave his paper. Together with Herbie, Baby then spies on the billionaire tycoon Banz. The goal: to uncover the "secret perversions of the richest man in the republic". It is rumored that the media-shy department store magnate, in the seclusion of the mountains, maintains a lifestyle like King Ludwig II once did . Baby and Herbie lie in wait to watch Banz on one of his sleigh rides at night. Because of the darkness, no usable recordings are initially possible. Mona is having fun at a reception and enchants the guests with her singing. As a child, she dreamed of a career as a singer. Animated by her friend Peggy, a music producer, Mona records a demo tape , but first has to find her own style. Baby is not enthusiastic because she neglects her domestic chores. Meanwhile, Frau von Unruh is looking for a successor for Baby. Undeterred, he chases after his story with Herbie. The patience of the two is finally rewarded: An illuminated horse-drawn sleigh with Banz, disguised as King Ludwig, and another, as it turns out, male person snuggled up against him, drives past them. Baby senses a sensation (dialogue between him and Herbie: "Der Banz bi ... Bi der Banz" - "or gay" - "or both"). During the night Mona and Baby have an argument in which she complains about his lack of interest in her and announces that she now wants to make a career. The next morning, Baby is faced with the decision to follow up on his story or to chase Mona, who sets out to perform as a singer. He opts for the latter and finds Mona in a provocative way singing chansons in a bar in Schwabing. He expresses his skepticism and even wants to forbid Mona to sing. The two then separate. Meanwhile, Frau von Unruh's patience is running out, so she quits Baby in absentia. When trying to sneak in to a costume party at Banz's castle, Baby and Herbie are caught. The private secretary of Banz made them a tempting offer: half a million DM in cash for their silence and the end of their research. After a brief dispute between Baby, who refuses to be bought, and Herbie, who finally acknowledges receipt of the money and takes it with him, the two leave the castle. Baby is no more enthusiastic about the outcome of this story than the fact that Mona's likeness graces the city's billboards. During the night he watches Mona make her first appearance, which is acclaimed by the audience. He has to realize that he has lost Mona.

background

production

Filming location for Baby Schimmerlos' apartment: the so-called Wappenhaus on Nymphenburger Strasse in Munich
The Hotel Bayerischer Hof appears in three episodes of the series
The funeral hall of the Ostfriedhof became the Villa Medici luxury restaurant (1st episode)
The Bavaria was the scene of the evening reception in the second episode
The Villa Bellemaison in Pullach was the focus of the 3rd episode

The series is written by the director Dietl in cooperation with Patrick Süskind (episodes 1, 2, 5, 6) and Kurt Raab (episode Adieu Claire ). The series was produced by Balance Film, Munich, on behalf of WDR .

Originally, Mother's Day was planned as the first episode, but then the series was started with Who comes in, is in , because the meaning of the column and the importance of Schimmerlos in Munich society becomes clearer there. The drink ( Kir Royal ) also runs through the sequence.

Locations

The series was shot mainly in Munich. Baby Schimmerlos' apartment was located in the so-called Wappenhaus on Nymphenburger / Maillingerstraße . Several scenes take place in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof . The funeral hall of the east cemetery became the noble restaurant Villa Medici , a restaurant in the Schulstrasse / corner Wilderich-Lang-Strasse in Neuhausen to the Champs Elysées . In the former Aubergine restaurant on Maximiliansplatz, Schimmerlos dined with the police chief. The Glyptothek was the scene of the (broken) reception for the Queen of Mandalia. The Prime Minister resided in the Prinz-Carl-Palais and was the patron of the summer evening reception under the feet of Bavaria . The villa of the fictional painter Schildkraut from the third episode is actually not on the shores of Lake Starnberg, it was the Villa Bellemaison on the high bank of the Isar in Pullach, which was then in need of renovation . The Queen of Mandalia landed at Neubiberg Air Base . Mona's appearance as a singer took place in the Munich Lach- und Schießgesellschaft .

actor

Nikolaus Paryla , originally cast for the role of Baby Schimmerlos, was replaced by Kroetz shortly after filming began.

In guest roles occur several German and Austrian drama and scene - Stars on.

actor role Consequences
Mario Adorf General director Heinrich Haffenloher 1
Rudolf Wessely Sedlacek, porter at the Bayerischer Hof 1; 4; 5
Harald Leipnitz Puppi, operator of the Champs Elysées 1
Peter Kern Paula, chef at the Champs Elysées 1
Corinna Drews Lisa 1
Martin Wimbush Dr. Carl Friedmann, celebrity dentist 1
Edgar Selge Head waiter at the Villa Medici 1
Heinz Werner Kraehkamp Wolfi, bartender in the Bayerischer Hof 1
Peter Berling Guest at Villa Medici 1
Elma Karlowa cleaning woman 1
Erni Singerl Mrs. Shimmerlos, baby's mother 2
Georg Marischka Bavarian Prime Minister 2; 3; 5
Fritz Muliar Media mogul Gregori Wiener 2; 6th
Christine Schuberth Fanny Kessler, leading actress in the series Düsseldorf 2
Rolf Olsen Director of the series Düsseldorf 2
Hanno Pöschl Producer Georg Kanter 2
Fritz Müller-Scherz Assistant director 2
Carola Regnier TV reporter 2
Renate Langer Bea, baby's affair 2
Burkhard Driest bat 2
Boy Gobert Consul Hubert Dürckheimer 3
Kurt Raab Michel, butler to Consul Dürckheimer 3
Hanns Zischler Member of the State Parliament Dr. Josef Gaishofer 3
Karl Obermayr Pastor Pfeiffer from St. Peter am See 3
Willy Harlander Wimmer, Mayor of St. Peter am See 3
Toni Berger notary 3
Horst Sachtleben banker 3
Werner Asam Bodyguard 3
Marianne Hoppe Claire Maetzig, chanson singer 4th
Curt Bois Friedrich Danziger, composer 4th
Hans Korte Police President Dr. Adolph 4th
Eckart Witzigmann Eckart Witzigmann ( cameo ) 4th
Charles Regnier Couturier Butzi 4th
Dirk Bach Waiter in the aubergine restaurant 4th
Richard Münch Prof. Dr. Theo Krakauer 4th
Kate Jaenicke Religious sister 4th
Udo Kier Holger 4th
Peter Kuhnert Criminal investigator 4th
Michaela May Kathi Maibock Queen Katherina Patricia of Mandalia 5
Paul Hubschmid Arms dealer Hugo Raeber 5
Walter Schmidinger State Secretary Clausthaler 5
Diether cancer Barber Hubsi 5
Thomas Tipton Colonel Montgomery from Mandalia 5
Ortrud begin Liana from Alversleben 5; 6th
Klaus Guth from Alversleben 5; 6th
Angelica Domröse Peggy Kaufmann, music producer and friend of Mona 6th
Karl Lieffen Toni Schultze 6th
Wolfgang Fierek Motorcycle rocker 6th
Paul Baur Vogel, private secretary of Karl-Gustav Banz 6th
Elia carpenter Physiotherapist 6th
Charles Kálmán Nick Teubner 6th
Konstantin Wecker Studio musician ( cameo ) 6th
Sepp Schauer taxi driver 6th
Sammy Drechsel Sammy Drechsel ( cameo ) 6th

reception

  • The series was critically acclaimed, but the ratings at the time were only mediocre (average market share approx. 18%). The production costs were about twice as high as those of a normal television series.
  • A scene from the third episode, The People Sees Nothing , caused criticism : On the fringes of a Corpus Christi procession, Baby Schimmerlos seeks a confidential conversation with the pastor (Karl Obermayr) of a small community on Lake Starnberg and slips him an envelope with bribes in the confessional. After it was first broadcast in October 1986, there were protests from the Catholic Church, which did not want its clergy exposed to the appearance of corruption. Helmut Dietl and the WDR responsible for Kir Royal reacted, the scene was cut out. Since then, the third episode has been shown in a cut version on television reruns.
  • For the 4th episode Adieu Claire , Helmut Dietl received the Adolf Grimme Prize with gold in 1987 .
  • In 1988 Helmut Dietl and Jörn Klamroth received the Adolf Grimme Prize with gold for the entire series.
  • Billie Zöckler received the advancement award for the performing arts of the city of Munich for her portrayal of Edda Pfaff.
  • The six-part series was released on December 6, 2004 as a box set with three DVDs by BMG Ariola Munich.
  • On November 25, 2005, the series was released as a special box set, 20 Years of Kir Royal, with three DVDs and an audio CD by Sony Music Entertainment .
  • Between March 21 and 24, 2008, all episodes of the ARD digital program EinsFestival were extensively restored and broadcast for the first time in HDTV .
  • On March 26, 2015, the Kir Royal - 30 Years Anniversary Edition was released on Blu-Ray in the HD remastered version, which was shown at EinsFestival in 2008 .

Echoes of real personalities and places

In addition to the Münchner Abendzeitung, its gossip reporter Michael Graeter, its society photographer Franz Hug (Herbie Fried) and the publisher Anneliese Friedmann, the series has numerous other echoes of real people of the time. With his majestic demeanor and rhetoric, the Prime Minister is closely related to the then incumbent Franz Josef Strauss . The media mogul Gregori Wiener is reminiscent of the media manager Josef von Ferenczy . Dr. Gaishofer and his non-profit society for people's welfare and public interest can be understood as an allusion to the Hanns Seidel Foundation , its then chairman Pirkl and the representative properties of the foundation in Wildbad Kreuth and Kloster Banz . The name Gaishofer is also a tribute to Gaishoferstraße 47 in Munich-Laim , where Helmut Dietl grew up. The model for General Director Haffenloher was a paint manufacturer from Klingenberg . The fairytale story of Katharina's rise from a simple bourgeois daughter to Queen of Mandalien is reminiscent of Silvia Sommerlath , who met and married Carl Gustav of Sweden at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich . The inspiration for the figure of the department store magnate Carl Gustav Banz from episode 6 was very likely Karl and Theo Albrecht , who, as by far the richest Germans, have always successfully evaded the curiosity of the public and the tabloid media.

The character of Claire Maetzig in the episode Adieu Claire pays homage to Marlene Dietrich , who spent her retirement in Paris without returning to Germany. A scene playing in Maetzig's Paris apartment quotes a tracking shot from the Oscar-nominated documentary Marlene by Maximilian Schell , which was shot two years earlier in a studio setting based on Marlene Dietrich's apartment.

The Champs Elysées restaurant with the protagonists Puppi and Paula is an allusion to the in-bar Kay's Bistro with Kay Wörsching and his friend Achim Neumann on the Viktualienmarkt ; the Villa Medici parodies the noble restaurant Tantris . Eckart Witzigmann plays himself in a cameo in his own restaurant, Aubergine .

Others

The plot of the fourth episode Adieu Claire touches on the Nazi past. A few sarcastic associations are interspersed, which one could understand as a paraphrase of the womb is still ... fertile . In the shop of couturier Butzi , jagged marching music can be heard, everyone is dressed in the so-called marines look , which is more like a slightly Americanized SS uniform; In a sequence that wafts between reality and nightmare, the old man from Danzig sits on a bench in the Munich Hofgarten , while a group of emphatically Nordic -looking young Germans (1980s panties model type) trots in sports clothes and shortly afterwards swings clubs in formation. When he is picked up from his apartment to go to Dr. At Krakauer's clinic, he sees a Bundeswehr truck next to the ambulance, to which a military command shout can be heard in the background. Claire Maetzig visits the Prinzregententheater in Munich and spat contemptuously when she sees the house next door with Hitler's former private apartment.

The movie Zettl as an offshoot (2012)

In 2012, Helmut Dietl tried to build on the success of Kir Royal with the movie Zettl and to stage a satire about a gossip reporter in Berlin's contemporary politics and media scene. Zettl creates a direct link to Kir Royal ; Dieter Hildebrandt plays the photographer Herbie Fried again and Senta Berger appears as Mona Mödlinger. In a supporting role, Hanns Zischler is back as the unscrupulous politician Dr. To see Gaishofer. Franz Xaver Kroetz, however, had refused to slip into his old role again, which is why Michael Herbig was cast for the main role of Max Zettl. The film received mostly negative reviews and was a commercial failure.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Wenk: Social Truffle Pig - Helmut Dietl's caricature of the Munich Busserlgesellschaft. filmreporter.de, January 25, 2005, accessed on July 7, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Hellmuth Karasek: Ein Stenz from Gaishoferstraße 47. Der Spiegel, August 10, 1987, p. 142 , accessed on March 15, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b Kir Royal: The Last Baby Secrets. Münchener Abendzeitung, September 22, 2011, accessed on February 27, 2015 .

Web links