Napoleon is to blame for everything
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Napoleon is to blame for everything |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1938 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Curt Goetz |
| script | Curt Goetz, Karl Peter Gillmann |
| production | Tobis-Filmkunst GmbH Berlin, Gerhard Staab |
| music | Franz Grothe |
| camera | Friedl Behn-Grund |
| cut | René Métain |
| occupation | |
| |
Napoleon is to blame for everything was the first sound film by the playwright, actor and director Curt Goetz . He wrote the script together with Karl Peter Gillmann and staged the socially critical satire with himself and his wife Valérie von Martens in the lead roles. It was shot from June 1 to July 1938. The premiere took place on November 29, 1938 in the Gloria Palast in Berlin .
action
Lord Arthur Cavershoot devoted his life to his studies on Napoléon Bonaparte . Last but not least, he neglects his wife, who bears the appropriate name Josephine. When Cavershoot goes to Paris for a congress of Napoleon researchers, he meets the young dancer Madeleine. Through a chain of unfortunate circumstances, a photo of both of them appears in the Daily Mail with the caption "Lord Cavershoot shows his lovely daughter the Parisian nightlife". In order to escape the anger of his wife and to avoid suspicion of an affair, Cavershoot introduces the young woman in England as an illegitimate daughter. But contrary to what was expected, Lady Cavershoot welcomes Madeleine warmly, which Cavershoot does not like at all. In the end, however, the great Napoleon researcher experiences his personal Waterloo and travels to Paris with Josephine to actually adopt Madeleine as a daughter.
additional
Napoleon is to blame for everything is a comedy that is primarily based on dialogue wit. When Cavershoot is woken up by a servant with pistol shots on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo in order to experience the day authentically, he is more like a Napoleon fanatic than a researcher. He is also devoted to conversations with like-minded people about Napoleon's words Voilà, un homme! which he is said to have said to Goethe, with the emphasis Voilà, a man! or Voilà, a man! to be translated until Napoleon appears in his dream and only Voilà, a pig! judges.
The National Socialist leadership saw Goetz 'satire less positively. Joseph Goebbels was bothered by the punch lines at the expense of the Germans and the socially critical portrayal of militarism. When Goetz and his wife emigrated to Switzerland and finally to California in 1939 , the film was banned at Goebbels' orders.
The outdoor shots for the film were shot at Boitzenburg Castle .
Reviews
- Lexicon of international film : "Curt Goetz's social comedy, which glosses over human weaknesses with good-natured mockery, speed and temperament."
- Thomas Kramer in Reclam's Lexikon des Deutschen Films (1995): “Ironic broadsides against the British› way of life ‹were combined with a clear demonstration of sympathy for English fairness and individualism. Openly anti-militarist accents were the reason for Nazi agencies to give the film a negative reception, whereupon Goetz and his wife Valérie von Martens accepted an offer from Hollywood and emigrated to the USA. "
Awards
- The film testing agency awarded the production the title artistically valuable .
See also
literature
- Curt Goetz : Napoleon is to blame for everything. A film comedy . (Unabridged edition in the text.) Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (dtv), Munich 1970, 110 pp.
Web links
- Napoleon is to blame for everything in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Napoleon is to blame for everything at filmportal.de