Although the German-language DVD lists its running time as 82 minutes, the movie seems to run longer. Whether this is due to actual fact or simply to a sense of ennui, it's hard to tell. Certainly some scenes tend to run a little longer than good pacing would dictate, but it's hard to tell where to cut. The opening setup with the crazy inventors, for instance, certainly outstays its appeal, but if you take the scissors to it, you'll destroy Heinz Rühmann's wonderful reaction when he sits down at the piano. Similarly, despite his position near the bottom of the cast list, Hans Deppe has an enormous amount of footage. Admittedly, the first or fourth time he strokes his mustache is mildly amusing, but when he repeats this action for the twentieth close-up, the joke is wearing a little thin. On the other hand, Hubert von Meyerinck's habit of jangling his medals is always super-hilarious, no matter how many times he performs this feat. In fact, whenever he comes on screen, we're actually waiting for him to do it with the keenest anticipation.
I wouldn't like to prune any of Miss Harvey's footage, despite the fact that some of Behn-Grund's close-ups are none too flattering. The same warts-and-all approach – although to a much lesser extent – applies to the photographer's work with Mady Christians. On the other hand, Friedel Shuster, admittedly a most attractive personality, but hardly what you would call top-of-the-scale sexy, is always beautifully photographed. In fact, Behn-Grund's split-personality approach to this whole movie, would strike most viewers as rather odd, but maybe it's typical of German films of this period. Anyway, half the movie is lit in film noir style with heavy shadows, even though this is a musical comedy from first to last. And Behn-Grund doesn't spare his cast. One innocuous continuity scene with Conrad Veidt is lit with Veidt almost completely hidden in a well of darkness!
I must admit that I was rather dubious about a musical comedy-farce in which Conrad Veidt was cast as the romantic hero. And I thought to myself that Charles Boyer, who played the role in both the French and English versions, would most certainly be a far better choice. But Boyer received bad reviews, would you believe? The general feeling among the critical fraternity was that he played the role "adequately" at best. To my surprise, Veidt, though certainly cast against type, is rather appealing. True, Conrad has hardly the panache that a Bing Crosby clone would bring to the role, but his more serious demeanor does throw the spotlight on Heinz Rühmann. Herr Rühmann, incidentally, is the reason many people would buy this DVD – not Veidt, Harvey or Christians. And it's good to say that he's treated rather well by both script and director. In fact, Rühmann is such a delight from first to last that he saves the movie, almost single-handedly.
Best of all, the final scene is absolutely wonderful and well worth spending time and money on Ich und die Kaiserin. Hollander, who has directed quite ably throughout (even if has allowed some scenes to run too long), finally hits his stride with this lavishly staged and costumed number which is brilliantly – brilliantly! – undercut by the frowziest prompter ever seen in a movie. What a superb idea! What a simply marvelous climax! It makes A Night at the Opera look absolutely fourth-rate by comparison. So for this reason alone, disregarding all the other entertainment this movie offers, it's a number one must-have DVD for the permanent collection. It's pity it's not sub-titled, but even if you don't understand a word of German, you should be able to follow the plot with reasonable facility.
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