This film, although it does not tread any new ground, even for 1935, has a lot going for it. There is the talented Wahlbrook, then still billed as Adolf Wahlbrück, who has good opportunities and makes the most of them. There is Olga Tschechowa, the archetypal nasty bitch, who even gets to recite her philosophy of dirty tricks to a charmed party of her invited guests. And there is the very young Luise Ulrich, who could be Judy Holiday's twin sister, just as charming, dizzy, and delightful. On top of that, we get quite a bit of scenery along the Rhine of 1935 and in the villages and towns, all historic stuff. Also the ship "Bremen" and a vintage Lufthansa airplane being boarded (complete with a swastika on the tail, in case you're squeamish about such things). Social manners of the day are also highlighted. In short, there's plenty to see. And hear, too -- the composer has done quite a bit of inventive scoring. Schubert's Unfinished also makes a brief but welcome appearance. Certainly worth a watch.
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richard-camhi4 February 2019
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kidboots30 April 2020Luise Ulrich bought to life a gallery of uncomplaining, subservient women, exactly the type of film heroine embraced by Germany in the mid 1930s - although sparkling Olga Tschehowa threatened to eclipse Luise before she had even entered the movie. The very dependable Anton Walbrook plays Frank Reynolds, an industrial magnate, who is returning to Germany for the first time in 10 years. On the boat home he captures the heart of sizzling Floris but after ten years of work he finds her too capricious, she is a "charming adventure" - he is looking for a "blue diamond".
Staying in Bavaria, Frank is taken with the guileless Regine and after a whirlwind romance they marry but she also has family secrets - a father and brother who are layabouts and see her marriage as a chance to bleed her dry of money!! Blissfully happy at first, Frank engages an old family friend to polish off her gaucheness and she enchants everyone with her freshness and honesty. Suddenly Floris reappears and under a guise of "friendship" offers to take Regine under her wing when Frank is called away on business but in reality she is a trouble maker and wants to entangle the young girl in a romantic predicament in which she almost succeeds with tragic results.
The critics of the day praised the movie but felt Ullrich was the principal reason for the movie's success. True to the feeling in Germany in the 1930s, one reviewer carped that once Regine entered high society she forgot her wholesome values (she didn't). There was some breath taking location scenes along the Rhine and through the Bavarian alps. Director Erich Waschneck had already directed an earlier version of "Regine" in 1927 (from a popular German novella) with 1920s star Lee Parry in the title role.
Very Recommended.