Land of love
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Land of love |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1937 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Reinhold Schünzel |
| script | Reinhold Schünzel Eva Leidmann |
| production | Georg Witt |
| music | Alois Melichar |
| camera | Werner Bohne |
| cut | Arnfried Heyne |
| occupation | |
| |
Land der Liebe is a German feature film from 1937 by Reinhold Schünzel , the last Reich German production of which was this.
action
In a small fantasy land there is a king who, despite his 45 years of age, is still unmarried. The young monarch prefers to devote himself to sports and also indulges in other amusements. The Prime Minister of the country does not like that at all, and he then looks for a presentable young lady for those unwilling to marry, whom he finds in Princess Julia. Julia grew up in a monastery and is instructed by her mother, Princess Ilonka, to return home immediately. But since her mother doesn't show up at the train station as agreed, Julia sets off on her own way home. On the way, she meets a likeable young man who introduces himself as Franz Schniepex. A taxi is nowhere in sight, Julia likes the young man, and so both of them head to the next hype to have fun together. Neither of them know who the other really is. Then it is announced that Princess Julia is now to become the bride of the previously homeless king. Julia is horrified, she didn't know anything about this arrangement and just runs away.
Franz goes home disappointed and, out of sheer disappointment that the nice young woman has run away from him, throws the firecrackers bought at the fair out the window, which promptly fall in front of the wheels of the royal car. An assassination attempt is suspected and Franz is arrested by the authorities. The king is perfectly fine with this attack, he uses it as an excuse to go underground for a while and thus avoid the marriage that has been arranged for him. The police prefect does not miss the fact that Franz Schniepex bears a striking resemblance to his monarch. Franz is offered a deal by the police prefect and the prime minister: he will not only be released from custody, but will even receive a decent reward if he takes the king's position for the next few days. Julia has meanwhile bowed to her mother's will and traveled to the king's court to be married. She is delighted when she sees her Franz again. Should he really be the king?
Things soon get very complicated. Julia learns that Franz is only Franz and also a writer, as Ilonka tells her. Soon the real king will also return to court. There he saw Princess Ilonka as the first unknown woman. Suddenly he is no longer averse to marriage because he likes Ilonka a lot, despite her advanced age. Julia no longer wants to let her Franz go and goes to the king. Both quickly come to an agreement: each of them should marry the one he or she likes. And so Ilonka becomes the new queen in the land of love, while Franz can make his princess Julia his very own queen.
Production notes
The film had been in planning since 1936 under the title Die Hofloge (based on the musical stage comedy of the same name by Karl Farkas ). Shooting of Land der Liebe began on January 4, 1937 in Munich and Berlin film studios and ended in April of the same year. The premiere took place on June 10, 1937 in two Berlin cinemas. The 27-year-old screen debutante Albert Matterstock, who received a fee of 1200 Reichsmarks for his film debut, was predicted by the press as having a great future as a film lover.
Rudi Schuricke sings in a pub at the beginning of the film, but cannot be seen in the picture.
Producer Georg Witt also took over the production management. For the buildings recorded Ludwig Reiber , Willi Depenau and Kurt Dürnhöfer responsible. Willi Eplinius and Fritz Lück were responsible for the art painting. Kurt Hoffmann assisted director Schünzel, Kurt Schulz assisted chief cameraman Werner Bohne . Eleanor Behm-Techow designed the costumes, Hermann Storr provided the sound, and Heinz Ritter was a still photographer. Sabine Ress was responsible for the choreography. The texts for Alois Melichar's compositions were written by Hans Fritz Beckmann and Kurd E. Heyne .
Political Implications
The filming of Land der Liebe was not a lucky star and was accompanied by massive political difficulties from the start. Schünzel planned a covertly parodic settlement with the Nazi regime and therefore asked the celebrated entertainment writer Curt Goetz , who had also had film experience since the early silent film era, to help him with the script and the dialogues. The author of polished society comedies was originally supposed to take on the Matterstock role, but his contract with Georg-Witt-Film was terminated. Shortly before, Goetz had written the script and dialogues for the film comedy Glückskinder (1936) and received a lot of praise for it. Goetzens wife Valerie von Martens made her sound film debut in Land der Liebe .
In the spring of 1937 it became known in the Propaganda Ministry that the film was going to be a coded parody of the National Socialist rule with swipes at its most important representatives. "On the surface: an operetta-like confusion", as it is called in a radio report from Bayern 2 on April 29, 2015. “Under the surface, Schünzel makes fun of the government populace and the complacency of the elites. A Reichsführer who has no desire for women, a beautiful blonde who has no desire to be hooked up with the Führer, plus a limping police minister and a bomb attack, quite accidentally: clear clues as to who is being teased in this film. " Since the premiere was scheduled for April 29, 1937, Film Minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels himself took a picture on April 27th of the strip that was just filmed that month. He seems to have been appalled by the result. The following can be read in his diary: “ The film brings us tremendous damage. He's not allowed out like that. This half-Jew Schünzel did that on purpose. But I'll clean up this rubbish . ”The premiere was postponed and the film was massively re-edited.
Schünzel, Goetz and Tobis sales manager Friedrich A. Mainz were summoned for interrogation by the Gestapo in early May 1937 . Schünzel, who feared his arrest, immediately left for Austria together with his wife. On April 30, 1937, he arrived in Vienna and was not to step on German soil again until 1949. While Goetz, who has lived in Switzerland since 1933, got out of the affair with some minor lightness and was even allowed to direct a film again in the Reich in 1938 ( Napoleon is to blame for everything ), Mainz was hit by Goebbels' bans, with whom he talked about " Land of Love " had had a heated argument, especially hard. In May 1937 he was relieved of his post and temporarily emigrated to Switzerland.
Since the film was not simply banned due to its cost of just under one and a half million Reichsmarks, Land der Liebe was shown slightly mutilated six weeks after the planned premiere. Since Schünzel had been in western countries for a long time at that time, had a film contract with MGM in his pocket and wanted to be celebrated for his “perseverance” in the Third Reich - “ I was a hero for four years! “- ordered Goebbels not to mention Schünzel's name in the opening credits.
Reviews
In the Österreichische Film-Zeitung of August 20, 1937, it says: “The picture is represented as a lovable, pompous comedy that, with the best will in the world, nowhere shows anything of the parody which, according to certain sensational reports, led to the curse on director and author should have. (...) Albert Matterstock plays the lover and hero with a rare sensitivity for the various modulations that the manuscript prescribes for the hero "
Paimann's film lists summed up: “A not entirely new plot idea with a lot of wit, irony and dry, often exaggerated humor is quick, but staged a bit like a stage. In the sympathetic ensemble, Valerie Martens (The Bride Mother) plays herself in the foreground. Supported by punchy and funny dialogues ... at least above average. "
"Allusive operetta film, which was cut several times by the National Socialists, whereupon director Reinhold Schünzel, who was half-Jewish, left Germany before the premiere in 1937."
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Farkas in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 5: L - N. Rudolf Lettinger - Lloyd Nolan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 330.
- ^ Boguslaw Drewniak: The German Film 1938–1945 . A complete overview. Düsseldorf 1987, p. 115
- ↑ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme, 8th year 1937. P. 98 (47.37), Berlin 1997
- ↑ ibid.
- ↑ "Land of Love" canceled. Report on Bayern2
- ↑ ibid.
- ↑ a b Kay Less : "In life, more is taken from you than given ...". Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 452.
- ↑ Kay Less : Between the stage and the barracks. Lexicon of persecuted theater, film and music artists from 1933 to 1945 . With a foreword by Paul Spiegel . Metropol, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9 , p. 235.
- ↑ Pem's Privat Reports of June 30, 1937
- ↑ Hans-Christoph Blumenberg on November 7, 1994 on focus.de
- ↑ "Land of Love". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , August 20, 1937, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Land of Love in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Land of Love in the Lexicon of International Films
Web links
- Land of love in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Land of love at filmportal.de