Variety (Jan 1940)

Wednesday, January 3, 1940 Thirty-fourth VARIETY Anniversary Internatloiial 73 GERMAN SCREEN AND THEATRE By Claire Trask Berlin, Dec. 20. Like the rest of the nation's amuse- ment industry, the picture business 5, Geiniany is eettinc the biggest rakeoff f l om the war boom. There s nothing like restrictions to make a man spend liis money recklessly and the Germany ot today has its ple- thora o£ sour grapes. The aver- aee Teuton is up against it when it comes to spending, except on char- ity likkcr and amusement. And of these even charity has a .prescrip- tion tig lied to It. Food, clothes, travel, almost any- thing money will and Is supposed to buy, is beyond his pale. The cird- rationlng system, rigorously put into effect during the very flrst days of the Polish Invasion has definitely cramped his style. But as yet the iky is wide open when it comes to amusements, cinemas, theatre, vaude- ville. The swing-band Joints, low- priced and high-toned, pull in the Jam trade as do. all the beer and wine-guzzling places. No . more wasting time strolling leisurely along Kurfurstendamm or Friedrichstrasse. Blackout and the long wintry evenings have put a stop to that. Now everyone heads straight lor the spot, his place of amusement. Up to now, booze has escaped stint- ing. No doubt, when the government gets around to It, here too public In- dulgence will be curbed. But for the moment, alcohol and amusement are the two diversions which haven't soured yet- They draw all the sur- plus coin, and what nation ever thought of saving when the clash of arms dins in its ears? Up to the outbreak of hostilities and in spite of an ever-increasing war scare swinging the country, no backward slide was apparent in the production schedule of the German film industry. Quite the opposite; activity had intensified. The national theatre park, consisting of around 350 houses, had shot up suddenly to approximately to 550. For the Fatherland had been doing consid- erable spreading. Starting with the grab of Austria the previous year, it added a well-nurtured screen terri- tory by elbowing into the Sudeten- lano^ followed by the rounding up of an exceedingly film-conscious Czechoslovakia this spring. The thoroughly rehearsed slogan 'Heim Ins Reich' also did Its duty and ■ brought the Memelland as well as Danzig 'back to the fold.' This was the situation, by the end of August, when Germany started out on new conquests ending tip with the lightning bagging of Poland. And although up to the pres- ent little has been done or could be done regarding the enormous screen potentialities of this latest annexa- tion, there is no doubt that the in- dustry has already been given the usual forceful official hint to take it Into earnest consideration. By the the drama, takeii from plays, were the capi'^al on the materia! e.id of • Propaganda Ministry, headed by ; around Goebbels (Volksbuhne. S.nar- the two Tobis pictures, 'Das unster-1 the game. And since everj- play bliche Hcrz' and 'Verwehte Spuren'. produced anywhere in the country They were penned and directed by ; first pa.t^ses through the rigorour tlie former stage mummer Veit r .ar- j thumbing of Goe'bbeis' inin:£'.r>-. Ian with the blonde Kristina Soder-| there is no loophole Jell for pnvtt baum, another Swede, getting star i enterprise. honors. But neither of these supers ! in sheer self-defeme, le?itlT.att hit the high water mark reached ; business had to look Icr ewer, kv.a by the inexpcnsiyp 'Jugend', the I so the stage, down to the sr-.sl'.i:.-: initial film turned out by this team, westcnd house, has managed ir, tbes-c (Miss Soderbaum has become Mrs. six years of state supervision to hjrr: Harlan since). A tastefully done bit of cynical fluff, with period costuming, was Willi Forst's 'Bel Ami' based on a Dc- Maupasiinnt novel. Its sophisticated pyrotechnics sizzled against the Nazi bromides and gave the dialog that special tang dear to the more word- ly-mindcd German souls. An ace director, Forst had succeeded In moulding a somewhat licentious Hlory into an amusing satire on the democrntlc France of the late Eigh- tlos. This Viennese picture marks his comeback to the po.slllon 'Ma.s- kerade' had giiliied fur him. His struKffle for Indcpnndftnnn from po- liticul bosaing la one of the most in- teresting chapters In Nazi sercfinOom. Cart Goeti'i ProcrcM A sizeable ncv/comcr to ."icreftrj rank.<! was the piayv/rl^hl-acV^.'-'^.- rector Curt GDetz, a sia?« «-ewra.-.. His initial TobIs eSor- ^ripclei-.r. .u to Blame for Every^hir.?'. had i-.is ingredients of a real ia^rs .^los.serl over by a crazy r-.Tirr-a.-i-.e. By t.v- the best part oj r: was over ar.il above the CTar.iuir. o-i :;-.e avjiraiiu. Not resorting :o oce' si ii^ aiaiiy stage successes, bu-. raiier pemir.ij an original, showi tha; G-re-z :c the right tract Siziplici:? ajid i.- rectness marked one ;h.<f i^*;-. pictures shadowing last year's icr*e=. 'Du imd ich' ('You and r> was a genuinely told pre-World War love story of two young workaday people, sincerely_^directed by "the youthful Wolfgang Liebcneiner. The one point against it was its forced ending, heralding the glories of impending Naziism. There is nothing new or surpris- ing in the fact that' the straight comedy type of film was almost en- tirely crowded off the screen. The light, humorous touch is rare In Germany. It has either the corrod- ing component of bitter satire or the slapstick crudeness of cheap farce. Nevertheless, three prime comedies hit the screen with a bang, two of them scripted, and not by mere co- incidence, by the same youthful au Goeobels, are the Opera on Unter | land. Nollcndorf, Schiller, as well as den Linden and tlie State Playhouse, \ the Charlottenburg opera hou.<;el arc bath :n Berlin, as well as the Opera 1 down several pegs comp.iied with in Kassel. Formerly all of them were ' the state houses. Here, too, three ;n rcrVLl htnds and subsidized from ; of them underwent immediate major the Expcror's private budget, Dur- ' operations. Also' practiced pl.iyers ir-s its 15 years" rule, democratic ' were put at the head. Eugen Klop- Gf::r:a:.y hsd kept them intact as fer is in charge of the Volkjibuhne, P.-.i:S.an f.i-.e thea:re.<i. The in- sometimes called. ThMlre am Horst i-tL.'.-, the fic-ld T:-,:;r.'hJ tool: them Wesselplatz,' for short. Harald P.nulsen heads the Nollcndorf and Heinrich George convoys the Schiller. The rejuvenation of the latter turned a barn into a festive building but one which is definitely b:th t.^e Btr'.m h,vu.<;cs 'Kasscl ir.ir.or i.^fjc i were ro- h; bee:.: au.;t ar;d surr-rifjous.y refurbished at er.onnouE cnst ar.d their new pro- ductie.rs shewed n:^r.e of the pro- verbial Pru.=:5.;t.n pir.^lir.cr.y. They ."^t.-imped to cater to the sturdier type are aj Extrovtgir.t as is possible with of dr.'.ma with an ampie display of :ne Germ:.r..=;. i lung power. Last spring George experimented succeiKiully w : t h Shakespeare's "Henry IV" first and second part in ■ one conseru;,ve sh.iw. 'FalslafC' is pie ior this obe.'e. good-natured comedian and the test definitely puf-hcd the production into a fair run. in on some kind of state s'jppoit. whether by straight subsidy, ea.^ed taxes or by striking a bargain with such slate-decreed ticket ortaniza- tions as the KdF ("Strength Through Joy'), which in Berlin alone boasts around 600,000 members. That as- siires a minimum but steady intake Mrs. Coerinj's Interests and if, perchance, a house meets up ' Err.n-.i Goeri::j:"s firmer affiliation with that lucky strike, a succeia. the v ;;h the Plir;T;.u.c:e as.'ures th.s the- additionnl coin is usually sunk in the ; aire a pirtirulsriv p:>cia'"brei.t" Pro- venture. It's a strange business, that ductions here jurCfiubH- sot *.he pace of the German legit manager. , I ^ for the rest of the cour.trv. for ir.uch haven't met one of the less depend- of Germany's fne.n drarr.stic taler.; ent ones who could be said to do is associated Wi-,h it. Gustaf Grunc'- morc thiin just tide over. And still gens, who heads- it,, is a vcr.<!ati!e ' Volk.<;buhne and Saarland stuck thry keep on. ! actor-dirertor zzii t'r^e m^ir s;tm of closer to the moderns. Ihoiijh not But the:ie houses make up a small players, directors and scenic design- too close. But they did "not honej-- contln.'icnl nowadays. The bigger lot grs are recruited from the pre->;azi eomb one outstanding succes.<i. At arre c'.at'; <)T municipal theatres, with \ theatre. Such acting names as the Nollcndorf the classical operetta »il Vr.f: 'l':T\r.:\ji conveniently shoul-. Krauss. Kayssler. Dorsch, echo bpck has made a definite nio'ne for ittelt. to the old limes. Directors like Strauss, Millocker. Heuberger were Fehlig. Muthtl. are holdini; long pulled from what turned out to be stase rer.:^ris. So are ia scenic ar- = regular beauty sleep. They still lists'Gliesa. JCeier. Mtiller. In keeT-.ir T.-ih the traditior., of this hctisi. —-J yszr't outilundiuf productictii ■:r-irj rr.z.ir.'ly . t:la.';.';jci•I Shakespeare's •"K.r-.--; n." w;;h Grtmdsecs m tie t-lje roie, wa."-' ii iCEjaiocal s'-vi:ssr:r ::■ "Richard III' —i::?h cane out the sezs.--:; before. B:ti rf these pr.:-<:uct:cr,s were the r^i_rilizi -s-rrk of the brilliant direc- ;:c ~x;e:; Fehling. Shaw.'s 'Man nad 5ur«er3".an' and "Mrs. Warren's P:-af£Si;;?=' were resuscitated for a ii;i'. -■; t. ■ e.tr.tr of these two factions. -I* rj'jrrr^ny boasts around ■.I'.n y^T—Z lesit and opera." r;r.3 r^tgering annual' A sharks 'about ■ :':~>tr.'. rits zi eichiage > -r.i-r-i .-j:^ :: v"'j;i. '' * — '= i>.'vif:ei of a ir.ur.Tiri rjM ry "zn*- £7 I ill ytL^F b£f;i:f :i:'w f :.r. thr T.;iri wi:h a aef.n.te .Tiis ciim? L' {"WE raljni year nDw saj consolidated that even his in- each for -the er;er'.a:rjT;ei. •Kunst" over her<e. Hitler uid Vttrm The big boss, Hiljer. is e3:du.=!ive.' credibly mannered Hamlet cannot His interest is musit but ever: :n that, disrupt it. field, it's'a- special kind. Not the Of the younger authors, poeU m orchestral, operatic or oratorical the German vernacular, Richard works of Bach, Beethoven. Mozart j Billinger has shown the most lastin; His auricle is attuned onlv to the j qualities. His newest play deliver the goods when it comes to melody. Bilperl Virc Belnhardt For tve years now Heinz Hilpert, a more or less independent pro- duper, has manaped to hold on to his f;>rrner Reinhardt theatres, the Dcutsches and the K.immerspiele. The latter was reopened last season having been shuttered for three years and its bright coat of paint : covering up the original sombre woodwork gives it a most cheerful bnef i^^en. Tne aaroit Grundgen.s j appearance. From the very outset ;s sr^] eouiei strong in his fourth. Hilpert collected a standing en- of 'Hamlet.' His position is by j scmble, now current in most Berlin 'Am heroic blasts and turgid alliterations of Richard Wagner's operas. Re- cently he has been known to look for relief from the war din in the melodic strains of the 'Viennese Johann Strauss. But never once did the fuehrer miss turning up at the annual Wagner Festival at Bayreuth thor, Jochen Huth. He"'screen-! "'hich he generously endowsT Years p-hhPrB adaiited his stace success 'Die Vier I before, it had been the eager Amer- pers stent talent. Hanns Rehberg Sun' as- a vehicle for summer vacationer Who had! continues to write his competen oesellen, as a vehicle lor in ria ^^^^^ barn-like sanctuary of Pru.ssian heroics and this fall's first the attractive Bavarian town. Travel offer. Curt Lancenbeck. just passed that their cus-' mtister with his drama; "The Traitor, hohen Meer,' though uneven, had enough consistency and characteriza- tion to brilliantly offset the excep-. tional gifts of two'yoiing star players, Kathe Gold and G^tav Knuth. As a rule two or thre^fof the youngest authors are given a hearing season- ally. But just ns in previous years, this last one did not unearth any Bergmann, the Swedish girl, recently crashed into Hollywood. Its black-and-white interpretation , feenci9S saw to it became a bracing counterpart to'' his legit version plus a pleasant var- nish of that warm human touch. map, Poland is easily 75% the size Huth's second script, 'Ein Hoffnung- of the Germany Hitler took over in sldser Fall,' was an original penned for the star comedienne, Jenny Jugo, who had lost some of her shine. It turned out her best in years and instantly yanked her back into top places showing that, if fed 1933. Melodrama Bates First So far as film tastes arc concerned, the mellcrs with the heart twist rated No. 1 on the screen in 1939. Tlie j . state-controlled pix concerns grossed | "Snt substance, her comedy is heavily. Along this line, and a good , « bright as ever. Together with league ahead of the rest, coasted the ■ h^r favorite director, Erich Engel, Ufa film' 'Heinmaf ('Home') based ; !bis picture was rolled, off for an on a play by the late Herman Suder- i l"de concern. It shot new energy mann. Directed by the white-haired ; '^jo "^ese down-in- he-dumps out- craftsman, Carl Froelich, who has. ""^crs in their stubborn struggle that unforgettable 'Maedchen in Uni- ■ asa'^^t bein theatres, which he augments by an occasional find from the hinterland. His schedule backbone is the Eng- lish comedy — Shaw. Jerome, Maughum, Galsworthy. Dodie Smith, alternating with the c1asi:ics. You can't get away from them in th« German theatre. With the exception of tlie Theatre des 'Volke's. a popular priced sub- scription house playing in the former Grosses Schauspiclliaus of Reinhardt where it alternates sprcady operetta with cla.<;sic rant- ings, the small fry just hangs on. Occasionally, but very rarely, a house has a long run because of per- sonality draw, as in the case of ■Aimee' at the Kunsllerlhe.ifre. for- merly the Komische Oper. The play is an evident crib from some French opus with a few alterations to jus- tify Heinz Coubier to by-line as au- thor. Star billing is given to the tomers- upheld a tradition which, . LIrbter Staff Germany iUelf had outgro\v-n. But ■ F-f.mg about more lighUy among now Wagner again heads the billing, the dramatic bric-a-brac is the job _ not only at Bayreuth but at all the of «he Kleines Haus, the fashionable , picturesque Olga Tschcchova, of the Teuton opera hoiises. ' W'eitend theatre which Goering i famous Russian acting family. As for legit entertainment. Hitler added to his stock some four years i Personality is also keeping the rarely sees a play. He leaves tliat'back. Here the more frivolous en- boxofTice going in the characters of to Goering whoni he placed at the tertainment takes the floor and the old-timer Agnes Stiaub and the theatre helm. And the field mar- ■ though it, too. hugs closely to tlie • not exactly new-timer Hilde Hilde- shal's friendship with the actress, I repertory scheme, like its big ■ brand. Tlieir vehicles are trimmed Emmi Sonnemann, now Mrs. Goer-1 brother, occasionally it takes a fling to snugly suit their very different in" made this job a cinch. , at a run. But as a rule a successful • proportion.-!, upsettingly alike when Thou"}! Joseph Goebbels, third in ^ Piece is kept on the bill as straight; it comes to stagey mannerisms. But the trio, was awarded complete con trol of the film industry, a thwarted playwright's ambition prompted his not easily placated foot to step in- ing'iirgi'ta'ted "by"°rhc side the stage just before it slammed^ repertory, often overlapping into the ^ neither of them, has become a full following season as is the case now . tled.ijed owner of a theatre like the 'Was Wird Hier Gcspielt?" Lingen is .Germany's vox Today, populi Ralph Arthur form' to his credit, this starrer for the low-piped Zarah Leander filmer ensconced the megger on the apex .of this year's German film constella- tion. Some hands and voices rose In horror at the sacrilege of using the hallowed music of Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' for Leander, the Swedish torch singer, but the suc- cess din of the picture drowned o-jt those feeble, well-meant objections, U was the political developments Which prevented "The Governor' (Ufa) from turning into a close run- ner-up. This heroic tear-jerker, screened by the white-Russian Vik- tor Tourjansky, unfortunately did not foresee events. Its glorification «t a Baltic dictator, unfUrichingly oowning Communistic intrigue, no '""eer dovetails since the German- «>vlet hookup. The picture showed • Skilful blending of love Interest w«n a rather muddled display of ?"°!fm and sacrifice. Nevertheless, we German auditor voraciously gob- oied this up since It was dished out w him by two "of Germany's screen Sn?r"® lovers, Bilgltte Horney«fenJ Willi BirgeL Much more on the legit side of state. Rounding out the comedy trio was 'Lauter Lugen,' the directing de- but of Heinz Ruhmann, Germany's ace screen comedian. His charac- teristic touch trademarked the film and rib-tickled his fans, giving Ruh- mann the boost into the directorial chair he has coveted for so long. The customary annual 'production of Emil Jannings, starring himself, turned out a superior money-maker. In 'Robert Koch* he chose an apt story but the restrained power of Werner Krauss playing opposite, knocked the star's position off the center spot. No potential lumin- aries were unrolled on the screen. Such femme leads as Viktoria von Ballasko, Irene von MeyendorfT and Herlha Feiler did push up further front, the latter two gradually show- ing international outlines. The German stage can hardly be looked upon as a business any longer. With the dictum of the Propaganda Ministry hanging over it like the sword ot Damocles, i. s., that the public be educated rather than entertained, each and every theatre professed to art with a capi- tal A, with only a furUve squint at only to discover that Goering had , comedian on sta,?e and screen In already skimmed the theatrical 'What Is Bcin.g Played '»,.= cream. He firmly held the reins of; hpked up. mmble bliift, he made his the three key houses of the whole initial three-way haul as playwright, country. The only ones that bowed 1 d'j;_cc""' ""^^ ^".'",,'""'a['^'^'" to no selection of its plays by the """" The five theatres DELIBERATELY UNDERMINING U. S. PIX Beilin, Dec. 20. The American picture has become a negligible quantity in Germany. With the exception of an occasional Gable, or Shirley Temple opus, very few starrers are shown. The usual American product passed by the German censor is the dualler of the adventure or mystery species. From the outset it has been evident that the propaganda ministry was determined to kill foreign film, in all those ca.scs where no recip- rocal exchange could be effected. America is one of the lands that turned a cold shoulder on Germany. It manifested no interest in Ger- man product. So Germany hit back and gave deliberate preference to second-rate U. S. film ware. By so doing it gradually choked the American market in Germany. . , , v ji The public judges by what it sees and it certainly isn t handing any laurels to the majority of the HoUywood product set before it today. Goebbels would have long ago liked to shut out American competition altogether. But there always remained a generous margin for. foreign films because German supply fell short of demand.. With 'protective' areas continuaUy being added, .instead of easing up the situation it becomes intensified. Meaning that, in time, neutral America should be getting a break again in those countries where it formerly held control, such as- the late Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Roberts. Nazis come and Nazis go (maybe) but Roberts carries on. Ho h.-!s just -■started on his ninth sea.'soii at the Behrenstrasse and all he ever needs to do is to ch.-mge locale and name of his. play. His audience is con- tent to laugh at what it has laughed assembled • before. Heinz Hentschke's fall opening, 'Die Oder Keine,' is a misnomer. It should have been called, 'Die Revue Oder. Keine,' and you would have had the whole businei^s in a nutshell, ! For Hentschke has completely rrio- . nopolized the revue business and squeezed it into one theatre, the ' Metropol. Once the head of the big- 1 gest ticket agency, in the good old : Rotter days, he pushed himself first into line when the brothers found their Ignominious, but tragic, end. Whatever else they were not, the two Rotters were great showmen. Those days when they starred Gitta Alpar and Richard Tauber, Ger- many's music stage rocketed sky- high. But Hentschke is content to get th« transient and yokel trade which en- ables him to maintain a show a sea- son. He is said to dicker also for the nearby Admiralspalast but up to' now its shutters are still down.