A Mad Idea | |
---|---|
Directed by | Kurt Gerron |
Written by | |
Based on | A Mad Idea by Carl Laufs |
Produced by | Bruno Duday |
Starring | |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Constantin Mick |
Music by | |
Production company | |
Distributed by | UFA |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
A Mad Idea or A Crazy Idea (German : Ein toller Einfall) is a 1932 German comedy film directed by Kurt Gerron and starring Willy Fritsch, Dorothea Wieck and Rosy Barsony. [1] It was made by UFA, Germany's biggest studio. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's art direction was by Julius von Borsody. Location shooting took place around St. Moritz in Switzerland. It is based on the 1887 play A Mad Idea by Carl Laufs.
Penniless Munich-based painter Paul Lüders goes to stay at his uncle's castle in the Swiss Alps. His equally impoverished uncle has gone to England in order to try and sell the property to a wealthy English acquaintance Miller. A series of misunderstandings lead to Paul renting out the various rooms as if it were a hotel, including a large booking by the Miller Girls, a dance troupe led by the impresario Theo Müller. Further confusion arises when Paul mistakes Müller's daughter Evelyn for the daughter of the wealthy Englishman. The real daughter Mabel also turns up, as does Paul's ex-girlfriend Anita. Despite the mix-ups, the hotel is now so successful his uncle abandons the idea of selling it.
Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a German film legend. Rühmann is best known for playing the part of a comic ordinary citizen in film comedies such as Three from the Filling Station and The Punch Bowl. During his later years, he was also a respected character actor in films such as The Captain from Köpenick and It Happened in Broad Daylight. His only English-speaking movie was the 1965 Ship of Fools.
Willy Fritsch was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s.
Dorothea Wieck, born Dora Bertha Olavia Wieck, was a German theatre and film actress.
Waltz War is a 1933 German musical comedy film directed by Ludwig Berger and starring Renate Müller, Willy Fritsch and Paul Hörbiger. It is loosely based on the rivalry between waltz composers Joseph Lanner and Johann Strauss I, as well as the life of the Austrian ballet dancer Katti Lanner who eventually settled in Victorian Britain. It is also known by the alternative title of The Battle of the Walzes.
Season in Cairo is a 1933 German musical comedy film directed by Reinhold Schünzel and starring Renate Müller, Willy Fritsch and Gustav Waldau. A French-language version Idylle au Caire was released, also featuring Müller. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig. It was shot on location in Egypt at Giza and Cairo, with interior filming taking place at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin.
Sweetheart of the Gods is a 1960 West German biographical film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt and starring Ruth Leuwerik, Peter van Eyck, and Harry Meyen. The film portrays the life of Renate Müller, a German film actress who died in 1937 in mysterious circumstances. A variety of rumours about Müller's death had developed, but the filmmakers chose to portray it as suicide following Nazi pressure over her relationship with a Jewish diplomat. Following legal objections from Müller's family, the ending was toned down to make her final fate more vague.
The Yellow Flag is a 1937 German drama film directed by Gerhard Lamprecht and starring Hans Albers, Olga Chekhova and Dorothea Wieck. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ludwig Reiber. Location filming took place in Yugoslavia.
The Green Salon is a 1944 German drama film directed by Boleslaw Barlog and starring Paul Klinger, Margarete Haagen and Dorothea Wieck.
Rosy Barsony (1909–1977) was a Hungarian-born dancer, singer and film actress.
The Two Seals is a 1934 German comedy film directed by Fred Sauer and starring Weiß Ferdl, Harry Gondi, and Walter Steinbeck. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Kurt Dürnhöfer and Otto Moldenhauer.
The Girl of Last Night is a 1938 German comedy film directed by Peter Paul Brauer and starring Willy Fritsch, Georg Alexander and Hans Leibelt. It is set in England.
Klettermaxe is a 1927 German silent crime film directed by Willy Reiber and starring Dorothea Wieck, Corry Bell and Paul Heidemann. The story was remade as a sound film in 1952.
Men Are That Way is a 1939 German drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Hertha Feiler, Hans Söhnker and Hans Olden. The film's sets were designed by the art director Willi Herrmann. It was remade by Rabenalt in Austria as Arena of Fear (1959).
Dangerous Game is a 1937 German comedy film directed by Erich Engel and starring Jenny Jugo, Harry Liedtke and Karl Martell.
Love Must Be Understood is a 1933 German musical comedy film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Rosy Barsony, Georg Alexander, and Wolf Albach-Retty. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Benno von Arent.
Ball at the Savoy is a 1935 Austrian-Hungarian musical film directed by Steve Sekely and starring Gitta Alpar, Hans Jaray and Rosy Barsony. Part of the tradition of operetta films, it is based on the 1932 work of the same title by Paul Abraham. It was remade the following year in Britain.
The Merciful Lie is a 1939 German drama film directed by Werner Klingler and starring Hilde Krahl, Elisabeth Flickenschildt and Ernst von Klipstein. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin and on location in Bremen. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Karl Böhm and Erich Czerwonski.
Operation Sleeping Bag is a 1955 West German comedy war film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Eva Ingeborg Scholz, Paul Klinger and Karlheinz Böhm.
The Call of the Jungle is a 1936 German adventure film directed by and starring Harry Piel and also featuring Paul Henckels, Ursula Grabley and Gerda Maurus. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin with sets designed by the art directors Karl Vollbrecht, Erich Grave and Artur Günther. Location shooting took place on Rügen in the Baltic Sea. It was based on a 1930 novel by Georg Mühlen-Schulte and features a hero in the style of Tarzan. The film premiered at the UFA-Palast am Zoo.