Glückskinder (1936) User Reviews (5)

FIRST CLASS ENTERTAINMENT

[J. Steed · 8/10 · 5 April 1999]

The classic German screwball comedy that is a free remake of It Happened One Night. But Paul Martin himself was the first to admit that he never fully captured the right atmosphere. Be that as it may, Glückskinder is first class entertainment, is very well directed and has brilliant and witty dialogue by Curt Goetz. The cinematography is very good and Paul Martin's use of panning and traveling is outstanding. Furthermore there are a couple of nice and silly songs and dances to finish the film off.

As to the cast: Harvey and Fritsch were the dream couple of German 30's cinema (and a good source of income for the UFA) and choosing them as leads was obvious. However, though both are good and charming (as Lilian Harvey always was), neither do not seem totally equiped for the job; here they lack a certain extra to make the viewer completely involved in their relationship. In this they are outdone by Paul Kemp and Oskar Sima, who both had the time of their lives in their parts.

In all literature on this film I never saw mentioned the small part of the judge played by Paul Bildt. Please note this scene: he is brilliant.

Excellent restoration of a German screwball comedy

[threemendous · 8/10 · 14 October 2013]

The Murnau institute has fully restored this from several sources. The Coca-Cola poster mentioned by another writer here now seems to feature Wallace Beery, unless my eyes deceive me.

This is very loosely based on It Happened One Night, with a reporter rescuing an heiress (maybe), losing his job over it and fighting with the aid of two friends to get it back while his bride decides getting a divorce is the only way to get them both out of trouble. The lead couple's behaviour sometimes seems a little capricious in order to provide themselves with obstacles to keep the narrative going, but the actors look comfortable in each other's company, their two friends are brightly played, the dialogue rattles along as well as in any Hollywood product of the times, and there's one zany song and dance in a tiny apartment.

Classic Lilian Harvey-Willy Fritsch vehicle

[wlkrrch · 10/10 · 12 March 2008]

What better setting for a cynical, quick fire comedy than the world of newspapers? This wonderful screwball comedy holds your attention from the minute the opening credits roll - the New York setting ensures it's great to look at and it has perhaps the snappiest comic dialogue ever written for a German film. Harvey and Fritsch - the 'dream couple' of 1930s German cinema - are at their peak, especially the English-born Lilian Harvey, who is just utterly adorable here. That said, the lead actors face stiff competition from the superb supporting cast members, and Peter Kreuder's music is memorable too - from the mocking yet dreamily romantic, swing-tinged 'Fraulein Niemand' ("Miss Nobody") to the nonsense song Ich Wollt' ich Waer ein Huhn - "I wish I were a chicken" - which Nazi ideologues did NOT approve of. Gluckskinder is often referred to as a remake of It Happened One Night, but while there are close parallels in some areas of the plot, it is worth seeing on its own merits. A really charming, Capra-esquire film, proof of what the German film industry could do - even after the Nazis came to power -when it was allowed to.

New York German Style

[cynthiahost · 2 September 2011]

I had bough this back in March. Reichkino was reordering new master of their old films. I got Remasterting and restoring confused. This print was excellent,but, it cam From a second generation video print, since the original film element was good , that was that. F.W. Marnau institute unfortunately can't restore all their German classic due to their limited funds. They also don't restore for video released, outside of Germany , of German classic films that our still banned. But have preserved the conditions of the print and offer Weak duplicates for other countries or the government won't give them funds for preserving their popular classics.The portrayals of New York are realistic, although many of the exteriors might be in some parts of Berlin. The drug store scene is a dead give away when, after Ann and Frank have fought and are leaving it, you see an advertisement of Coca Cola with Heirich George photo, holding the Cola bottle, They over American flag the movie. The Court scene has the American flag behind the Judge, played by Paul Bilt.The flag is also on the desk of the managing editors office,Manning played By Otto Stoeckel. This is to give the impression that this is the united state.Willy Fritsch portrays Court reporter Gil. His friend,played by Oscar Sima ,as Stoddard. Another actor stalwart is Paul Kemp as Frank Black. They are involved in various jobs of the Newspaper. Another stalwart of film acting is fat and jolly Albert Florath as the oil Magnate Jackson. Well Ann is charged with Vagrancie and is a look a like of Magnates niece. He come to her rescue,as a court reporter.He thinks that she the niece of the oil magnate herself. Wants to do a story for himself. Making up a story that they are engaged,the judge pushes them to get married. He only wants to keep her to do a story and until her probation is up.She goes along with it.His friends ,frank and Stoddard help Gil not to get romantically involved. It gets to the point That he can't stand her longer. So he takes her back to her alleged Uncle,as she tries to explain that she not the niece?. When she confront him , playing with his trains,he tries to call the police . But convinces him to put on in order to get her man back. There is a car chasing sequence where Willy goes after her going to the opera, to get her back. Ends up with a bunch of fire men going to the theater to put out alleged fire. The body guard and boxer,Boxer Brown? played by Thomas Cziruchin?kidnaps her leaving Jackson behind , ending up going with Gil and the others to rescue her.Well it seems that Boxer Brown was taking her to his hide out ,where Jacksons real niece is there too. As Ann finds out, Jacksons niece is in love with his body guard but He opposes it. All well that ends well. As I had discovered Marnau Insitue has a lot of films that haven't been restored yet and many that are not on the list of restoring 09/02/11

Fine early on, but eventually quite messy

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 26 September 2017]

"Glückskinder" or "Lucky Kids" (also the literal translation) is a German 90-minute film from 1936 and the fact that this one is already over 80 years old means it is indeed a black-and-white film that belongs to the sound era already. By the way to put it into perspective, it is from the year when Nazi Germany hosted the Berlin Olympics, just so you understand how old it really is. The cast includes names that are still known today like Harvey and Fritsch, who played together in other projects too and their approach is usually a mix of comedy with romance and that is also true during these 1.5 hours. This is a story about a journalist getting together with a woman who is in court for doing something that is treated way more harshly then it should be. These courtroom scenes early on are definitely way too much over the top, but the charm and wit still keep them from becoming cringeworthy. But the longer it goes, the messier it becomes and at some point I just did not feel any of it credible anymore, also involving several major plot twists. The film is not a failure really, but I personally cannot agree at all with the rating it has here on IMDb. Honestly I also found the romance part fairly underwhelming and not because it was never in doubt that they'd get together, even with all the exaggerated banter. Maybe it also had a bit to do for me with the fact that I did not find Harvey really that physically appealing, but that is very subjective of course. So yeah, the story all in all declined a lot the longer the film went and as the solid quality from early on vanished quickly, there is no way I can give this movie a thumbs-up. It felt so unauthentic, so unrealistic, so baity and not like an actual story, just one that was fictitiously created to entertain the masses and that is definitely a negative deal breaker for me. Unless you are a fan of any of the two leads, I suggest you skip it altogether. For audiences watching it has not much to do with luck or happiness.