This film was shown around 1 AM on television, which tells us something about the content of this "comedy". So, is it funny?
Well, define funny. To me, it was funny because it was so comical and stupid. Let me summarize the plot for you:
SPOILERS START HERE. There is a playboy, who is also a duke. He has some debts, so he flees to the countryside to his grandmother's castle, companied by his servant. On the way he meets a girl called Amélie and the girl's chaperone, a foxy marquise. The same girl is engaged to him by the order of his father. He doesn't know this and the girl doesn't know he's her future husband. They fall in love during their stay at an inn. Then the police turns up to capture the duke (henceforth called Armand) and his servant. They both escape the police along with the girl and the marquise. Amélie doesn't trust Armand yet and she runs away with the marquise.
Then a whole load of things happen, the police are always running around chasing Armand & his servant, for some reason lots of women get naked, there's some dressing up as nuns and Indian people and Amelie sees Armand in bed with other women (but these times are always set-ups) and doesn't want to marry him anymore, but then he manages to change her mind... But there's a happy, romantic ending. SPOILERS END HERE.
My friend said that this is not a movie, it's just some script written so that the film-makers could film loads of girls showing their breasts. As much as the rating allows, that is. There's never any actual sex shown, but there's a lot of suggestions that there's sex going on and there are peeping Toms and these kinds of things. So it's a bit pervy. I laughed, because it was all just so silly and nuts and a bit unoriginal as well.
It's a clichéd movie and therefore my friend's theory could be right. It's a bit slapstick and it has comedic value, but it's definitely not for the things that were supposed to be funny. The male lead is pretty ugly and the romance isn't really touching, but it doesn't seem too forced, either. I think all actors understood that it's not the most intelligent or best comedy they were going to film. Then again I could be wrong. Maybe they thought this comedy wasn't silly or crap at all. I haven't seen any other German comedies from the 1970's.
The movie is set in the 19th century or so. The sceneries and the costumes are pretty cool, but not the most spectacular.
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