NinadeL

Compared to the drama of Schicksal am Strom, the story of Glück unterwegs caresses the soul. This exuberant old Prague comedy is without exaggeration one of Miroslav Cikán's best films. The four Czech actors give it the right comedic dimension. Zita Kabátová plays the cutest maid in the world, Bedřich Veverka babbles in equally spicy German as in Czech, František Černý keeps up and Vladimír Majer has lost none of his usual serious tone. The magical Karin Hardt is not overshadowed by anyone in the lead role, and as noted, it's all just so sweet! :)

A likable, civil conversational musical comedy with Hans Söhnker and Hertha Feiler from a circus setting. But where did the information that Lída Baarová and possibly also Anny Ondra are in the film come from? It’s not true for either of them, who both took a big break in 1939 after the previous years when they were going from film to film.

After Ita Rina and Hedy Kiesler, Machatý's most significant discovery was Maria Ray, the star of Nocturne, who also became his first wife. Machatý made no secret of his fondness for Marlene Dietrich and liked to style his wife in her role. From the photographs, this is likely, from the documentaries it is noticeable, and from Nocturne we get the impression of a clear mirror of the work of the Dietrich-von Sternberg duo. However, the result is not just a mechanical imitation of Blonde Venusbecause in Nocturne we find equal reference to both Ecstasy and Eroticon, and the whole mixture creates a new work of its own. It’s formally perfect and aesthetically arresting.

The Countess of Monte-Christo is the story of two extras, Jeanette and Mimi, played by Brigitte Helm and Lucie English. Through their desire to become real actresses, a nice civilian plot from the filmmaking environment take place but with only a very light touch of the adventures of the real Edmond Dantès. The substitutions culminate and the obligatory love couple (Helm and Wieman) fall into each other's arms at the end. However, the scenes from the bathrooms (with lesbian overtones, of course) and nightlife are surreal, as was a great custom of Weimar cinema.

This is a great historical affair starring Lilian Harvey, who at the time was reunited with German cinema after her trip to Hollywood. After that, she only had an active career for a few more years and she changed a lot from her first sound films. Fanny Elssler offered Lilian more romantic exterior scenes, delightful costumes in a post-imperial vein, and above all, horseback riding and a gorgeous ballet as a magnificent solo at the end.

A delightful blockbuster of ultimate Weimar cinema with the popular trio of Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, and Willi Forst. As the name suggests, the blonde dream is absolutely fulfilled. Jou-Jou and her dream of traveling to America, where she is greeted by the waving Statue of Liberty, culminates in a perfect spicy artistic number. It's just a shame that, like every dream, we always have to wake up...

Magical. Under Georg Jacoby, the trio of Gustav Fröhlich, Lída Baarová and Adele Sandrock is simply unbeatable. Following the success of Barcarole, the Baarová/Fröhlich duo, a veritable new dream couple of German cinema, was introduced in an Austrian romantic comedy. The material more resembles Czech films in which Baarová had previously acted, and perhaps that's why it feels more natural here. She isn't a fatal woman, she's "only" a very beautiful (and modern) young widow, Lady Milton. Fröhlich plays the classic game of "I am someone else," and for most of the story, Baarová's character sees him as a coachman who isn't socially worthy of her. The story takes place in London, with scenes alternating between a period masquerade ball, the English countryside, and splendid interiors. Baarová wears a range of splendid outfits, including an aviation jumpsuit. There are many attractions here; the humor is provided by the eloquent Sandrock (Baarová gets along with her as well as with Antonie Nedošinská) as Countess von Norfolk, and the duo of footman and maid played by Rudolf Carl and Grit von Elben.

Just like in Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, which was the first musical in the series and an adaptation of the classic boy's substance based on Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, this time we get a girl's retelling of a boy's classic. Alexandre Dumas Sr. wrote his The Three Musketeers in 1844 and it has inspired many adaptations since. The girl version is not exactly a novelty, though it may seem so, but Barbie definitely did serve as a very good springboard for one of their best films. This is nothing inflammatory with regard to the classics, but rather just an artful way of bringing a traditional story to the younger generation.

Untouched by Pollyworld after the year 2000, I see this film as a bit of a revelation, given that the last time I saw this phenomenon was in the 1990s when I spent time with the 1993’s Polly Pocket Pretty Pandas compact. But let's face it, today's youth has a slightly different idea regarding their ideals and therefore any toy that wants to stay on the market must necessarily adapt. However, I'm not sure that at a time when Mattel had already had great success with its computer-animated Barbies franchise, it was necessary to also launch this project, and in classic 2D animation... It certainly won't hurt the kids as a one-off backdrop, just like anything that resembles a mix of Daria, Winx Club and H2O: Just Add Water; however, time proved to us that a new wonderful series was not in the cards.

The Austrian film Der Wildfang is enjoyable and a wonderful complement to the Czech version. I was completely absorbed by the major and minor differences in the two films, both of which were staged by Jan Sviták. The main couple, Rolf Wanka and Roszi Csikós, impressed everyone so much in their time that they were reunited by Irenes Roman. Unlike Nancy Rubens, Roszi is a slightly more serious, subtle, and less spectacular protagonist. In fact, she is Nancy and Jiřina Steimarová from the Czech film Irca's Romance in one person. Her Thessa is not a wild girl, but a sporty girl who experiences real-life difficulties only when she falls in love. She's not as explosive and doesn't destroy everything around her when she’s in the mood. Her father, played by Fritz Imhoff, is somewhere else in the context of Theodor Pištěk in that he is not so spectacularly helpless and he is rather effeminate. Tibor von Halmay is also the bearer of a completely different comic style, his fearfulness is not brimming with double entendres and his mask is devoid of ideas. The pair Else Lord and Rudolf Carl, on the other hand, is more sympathetic than Antonia Nedošinská and Břetislav Hrstka, and their love is more believable. The others, including Lizzi Holzschuh, are very down to earth. Rolf Wanka as Peter Danner, Juniorchef der vereinigten Automobilfabriken, is a prime example of a multi-lingual actor who, like Anny Ondra, was perfectly able to adapt to partial nuances. While the Czech version richly supports Rubens' happy game, here it is more restrained and sophisticated.