Regine

Before his name became distinctly unfashionable, Adolf Walbrook took the lead in this unremarkable melodrama about an engineer "Reynold" who comes home and falls passionately in love with the charming but naive "Regine" (Luise Ullrich). They are quickly married but that doesn't suit one his old flames "Floris" (Olga Tschechowa) who is up for some meddling in their relationship - especially when she is able to suggest that perhaps "Regine" is seeing another man during his frequent absences on business. Desperate to convince her husband that she is honest whilst trying to keep a family secret from him, she contemplates wild solutions. Might her husband appreciate that he is being manipulated? Might he learn to trust her again? It's quite a decent production but the story is just too light and the characterisations too thin to stretch for ninety minutes. Ullrich delivers quite sensitively but there's little chemistry between her and Walbrook - even when they are in the throes of their early ardour, and he seems to be largely going thorough the motions without imbuing his persona with much charm. It's nicely scored and I'm sure I heard a little Marlene Dietrich grace the soundtrack, but otherwise it's a pretty standard romantic drama that I don't reckon I'll recall for long.

This film, although it does not tread any new ground, even for 1935, has a lot going for it. There is the talented Wahlbrook, then still billed as Adolf Wahlbrück, who has good opportunities and makes the most of them. There is Olga Tschechowa, the archetypal nasty bitch, who even gets to recite her philosophy of dirty tricks to a charmed party of her invited guests. And there is the very young Luise Ulrich, who could be Judy Holiday's twin sister, just as charming, dizzy, and delightful. On top of that, we get quite a bit of scenery along the Rhine of 1935 and in the villages and towns, all historic stuff. Also the ship "Bremen" and a vintage Lufthansa airplane being boarded (complete with a swastika on the tail, in case you're squeamish about such things). Social manners of the day are also highlighted. In short, there's plenty to see. And hear, too -- the composer has done quite a bit of inventive scoring. Schubert's Unfinished also makes a brief but welcome appearance. Certainly worth a watch.