Poor as a Church Mouse

Poor as a Church Mouse
Poor as a Church Mouse
Directed by	Richard Oswald
Written by	Ladislas Fodor (play); Heinz Goldberg ; Felix Salten ;
Produced by	Emil Justitz
Starring	Grete Mosheim ; Anton Edthofer ; Hans Thimig ; Paul Hörbiger ;
Cinematography	Robert Lach
Music by	Ralph Benatzky
Production; company	Richard-Oswald-Produktion
Distributed by	Deutsche Lichtspiel-Syndikat
Release date	5 November 1931;
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Last updated March 09, 2025

Poor as a Church Mouse (German : Arm wie eine Kirchenmaus) is a 1931 German musical comedy film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Grete Mosheim, Anton Edthofer and Hans Thimig.^[1] It was based on the 1928 play A templom egere by Ladislas Fodor, which has been turned into several films including the 1934 British comedy The Church Mouse . The film's art direction was overseen by Franz Schroedter. It premiered at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin.

Cast

Grete Mosheim as Susi Sachs
Anton Edthofer as Baron Thomas von Ullrich
Hans Thimig as Frany, der Barons Sohn
Paul Hörbiger as Count Friedrich Thalheim
Fritz Grünbaum as Schünzl
Paul Morgan as Quapil
Charlotte Ander as Olly Frey, Sekretärin
Trude Hesterberg
Senta Söneland
Rina Marsa
Ernst Wurmser
Arthur Mainzer
Monsieur Thonny
Gerd Oswald

Production and reception

In that production, "Oswald emphasized the importance of sustaining the source text while applying the laws of films" according to Christiane Schönfield. ^[2]

The film was noted for the scene in "which includes performances of the film's title song in which lengthy moving camera shots show multiple actors who sing in traversing large sets."^[3]

References

↑ Kasten & Loacker p. 336
↑ Schönfeld, Christiane (15 June 2023). The History of German Literature on Film. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-62892-374-2.
↑ O’Brien, Charles (8 February 2019). Movies, Songs, and Electric Sound: Transatlantic Trends. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-04042-8.

Bibliography

Kasten, Jürgen; Loacker, Armin, eds. (2005). Richard Oswald: Kino zwischen Spektakel, Aufklärung und Unterhaltung. Vienna: Verlag Filmarchiv Austria. ISBN 978-3-901932-68-7.

External links

Poor as a Church Mouse at IMDb

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[1] Kasten & Loacker p. 336

[2] Schönfeld, Christiane (15 June 2023). The History of German Literature on Film. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-62892-374-2.

[3] O’Brien, Charles (8 February 2019). Movies, Songs, and Electric Sound: Transatlantic Trends. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-04042-8.

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