Music at night
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Music at night |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kurt Hoffmann |
| script |
Eberhard Keindorff Johanna Sibelius |
| production |
Fritz Thiery for Helios film production |
| music | Franz Grothe |
| camera | Franz Koch |
| cut | Gertrud Hinz-Nischwitz |
| occupation | |
| |
Music at night is a German comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann back to 1953. It is based on the play The great curve of Curt J. Braun .
action
The successful pop composer Robert Ellin returns early from his tour to New York . His wife Gloria gave a big party in his absence, the apartment is populated by sleeping guests and Gloria herself returns a little later drunk with the ice hockey player Teddy Taylor. Robert overhears, unnoticed, how Gloria confesses her love to Teddy and promises that both of them will only have to interrupt their affair briefly for Robert's stay. Now Robert reveals himself and immediately separates from Gloria. He files for divorce, but it won't take effect for six weeks. Until then, the divorce lawyer advises, Robert shouldn't get into debt and not start an affair in order not to feed Gloria's lawyers. Robert decides to go on vacation to Europe for six weeks.
On the plane to Germany he meets George Webb, who used to play the saxophone for him , but has now become a bartender for the airline after a hand injury. Because George gets drunk with Robert on the plane, he is released without notice and George takes him to his hotel. At the airport, however, George is mistaken for Robert by the waiting journalists, which gives Robert an idea. He exchanges identities with George. George should simply consistently reject all requests for concerts, autographs or interviews over the next few weeks and not start an affair. He should send Robert a telegram every day about the current status. In return, Robert regularly sends him money transfers to finance his lifestyle. George agrees.
Robert flirts in a bar with the young Maria Bruck, who runs a restaurant but has high debts. She is in conversation with moneylender Hans Kersten, who would love to see Maria close her bar. He hopes that she will finally be free for him. Out of calculation, he occasionally lends her money that she cannot repay. However, Maria attributes this to her good negotiating skills. In front of Hans, she pretends that the stranger flirting with her is a bank director and Robert responds to her statement, especially since he has heard her name and can call her "Mariechen" when the seemingly friendly farewell. He follows her with his car and skids on the icy road. Maria sees his accident in the rearview mirror and is appalled. She visits him a little later in the hospital. She knows from "his" identity card that his name is George Webb and that he is a bartender. She offers him a job in her bar. Here Robert is trained by head waiter Joseph and will soon be able to mix delicious cocktails of his own creation. He shows his musical talent on the seized piano and makes the guests dance with his playing. In addition, he secretly provides visitors with money so that they can pay for the food they eat: Maria's restaurant is doing well, but the regular customers are poor artists who too often have to foot the bill . One day Maria has to raise 5,000 marks in a short time to pay off acute debts. She gets Hans to accept the restaurant's furniture as security for the money payment. However, she forgot that the furniture was already mortgaged to the butcher. If both would demand the money back and accept the deposit instead of the money, the fraud would come out and Maria would face a prison sentence. Robert secretly breaks into Hans, steals the pawn ticket and instead leaves 5,000 marks.
George telegraphed Robert one day that he was being followed. Contrary to the agreement, he goes to the place where Robert works, but he is out of the house. Hans finds the telegram from George, which speaks of shading. He now believes that Robert is a criminal who is wanted by the police. Maria, who fell in love with Robert, is disappointed. Her bad impression is reinforced when a debt collector appears at Robert's office asking for alimony, since George has a wife and two children in Australia for whom he has to pay. A short time later, Gloria is in George's hotel room, who wants to make sure that Robert will return to her as usual. She now believes that Robert was murdered by George, but George manages to escape from the hotel. Robert is now wanted as a supposed impostor. The police are waiting for him in Maria's bar and Robert gives up his incognito. Nobody believes him and Gloria also wants to take revenge on him and pretends not to know Robert when confronting them. Robert escapes and awaits Gloria and Teddy in Gloria's car. Here Gloria reveals to him that the divorce is already final - Robert thought it would only be in three days. He now calls Maria every day until she tells him that she is going on vacation with Hans and wants to sell the restaurant. Robert succeeds in having his manager confirm his true identity. Then he drives after Maria, who is traveling slowly with Hans to Austria by car. When Hans realizes that Robert is behind them in the car, Maria hits the brakes and Robert causes another car accident. Hans tows him away. A little later Robert and Maria are a couple. They are back to work in the restaurant and George is enthusiastic about his cocktails, even if, to Joseph's chagrin, he can't manage Roberts' ingenious own creations.
production
Music by Night was filmed from February 16 to March 14, 1953 in the Bavaria Film studio in Geiselgasteig . The outdoor shots were taken in and around Munich. The costumes were created by Anni Graf and Werner Schmidt , the production design by Robert Herlth . The film had its cinema premiere on July 17, 1953 in the Apollo in Düsseldorf . In 2009 the film was released on DVD.
The film title is the name of a composition by Robert Ellin that the latter alludes to in the film.
criticism
“The author couple Johanna Sibelius and Eberhard Keindorff and the highly talented director Kurt Hoffman ignited the little miracle from a popular movie fairy tale […]: a fixed, graceful, consistently pointed German film amusement,” wrote Der Spiegel on the occasion of the film premiere in 1953.
The film-dienst called the film a "mediocre musical comedy with conventional mix-ups and situation comedy and a mendacious worldview."
Web links
- Music at night in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Music at night at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Bauer : German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , p. 356
- ↑ New in Germany: Music at night . In: Der Spiegel , No. 37, 1953, p. 32.
- ↑ Music at night. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .