Quatre filles courageuses

This is not Bergman's worst performance, in fact, she's adding another nuance to her wideranging, diverse portfolio of phantasy charcters. The working language is opposing her though, in Bergman's self evalidation decent enough for a party conversation, here, her timing reveals to be quite off in the dialogues. Some amount of mystification, at least to the accidential viewer, might involve the timing of her Germany outing, this movie however doesn't present any regime friendly note recognizable to me, and while it's not a masterpiece of subtle dissent either, the overall 50/50 result of female career vs romantic interests, the involvement of leading man Hans Söhnker, co-star Ursula Herking, not least the idea of decorationg the household flagpost with (white) underwear, do have to present the Persilschein for this movie.

I didn't watch this movie expecting it to be a cinematic masterpiece. It's just a time capsule from 1939 in Berlin Germany. Nostalgic for me because I did attend graphic design art school in Berlin many decades ago.

It's a period "chick flick" movie to study the fashions, interior designs, graphic design and social mores of that time period. For me the graphic design methods were especially interesting since all the posters and packaging designs were painted and illustrated by hand.

It didn't reveal the political aspects of the dawn of Hitler's Regime at the time. Nothing political or ideological was touched on. Presumably the film was to relieve the economic hardships of the time and provide some light entertainment.

Apparently Hitler saw the movie and disliked it.

Ingrid Bergmann spoke excellent German and showed some of her blossoming acting talents. Needless to say she was the most stunning actress of the four "gesellen".

Prior to her American debut Ingrid Bergman had learnt her craft in her homeland under the guidance of the great director Gustav Molander, notably in 'Intermezzo' and 'A Woman's Face' whilst between 'Intermezzo' and the rather homogenised Hollywood version three years elapsed during which she starred in four films, including this lightweight piece made in Germany for the renowned Carl Froelich, a true pioneer who had made the first German sound film and as president of the Reichsfilmkammer was answerable only to Joseph Goebbels!

Miss Bergman's ability, forceful personality and winning looks very often made her films seem better than they actually were but it is impossible not to be enchanted by the taking performances of the entire cast under Herr Froelich's immaculate direction.

The plot is familiar thanks to Hollywood films of the thirties and forties as a group of females start by trying to make a go of a commercial enterprise and end by landing husbands. It is fascinating to note that the fair-haired Aryan types, Bergman, Carsta Lock and Sabine Peters find romance whilst the dark-haired, distinctly non-Aryan finds fulfilment as a painter and as the latter it is Ursula Herking who proves the most interesting of the quartet.

As a bonus there is another marvellously observed characterisation by inveterate scene-stealer Erich Ponto as a tax inspector. Despite a long and distinguished career in German film he is forever associated with 'Vinkle not Winkle' in 'The Third Man'. Miss Bergman's leading man here is the excellent Hans Sohnker and in their final scene together she is at her most appealing.

One source has stated that this was designed as a star vehicle to launch her film career in Germany after her success in Sweden. She was after all half-German on her mother's side and the Swedes are historically renowned for their 'neutrality' but one cannot help but wonder how her life and films would have turned out had she not reluctantly accepted David O. Selznick's offer. A sobering thought.

The time for exams is finally over! Four young graphic designers have completed their four-year training. Now it's time to prove themselves in the independent advertising industry in the metropolis of Berlin. Since that isn't so easy, the four friends set up a joint advertising company without revealing their identity as female advertising graphic designers. But the four young women have not reckoned with love and the tempting life as a wife and mother.

In 1938, the aspiring Swedish actress Ingrid BERGMAN was to shoot her only film at Europe's leading film company UFA in Berlin, which was already dominated by National Socialism. With her almost accent-free German, Ingrid BERGMAN's role as Marianne is a great asset to the lightly accented film comedy. BERGMAN is relieved of the burden of asserting herself as a woman in a male-dominated industry. Her colleagues Sabine PETERS and Carsta LÖCK escape to the harbor of marriage with obvious relief, while Ursula HERKING's great career as a painter was written into the script.

Of course, even a rising world star like Ingrid BERGMAN, who has won three OSCARs, doesn't stay alone for long in a film like this. Her sweetheart is played by Hans SÖHNKER, who, as a professor of graphic design, naturally chooses the most beautiful student. Leo SLEZAK and Erich PONTO also appear in other roles.

After this film, BERGMAN moved on to Hollywood, and the rest is film history. Nevertheless, the film is worth watching just for the Berlin pictures with the world star. And as a light drama about a working woman, the role played by Ingrid BERGMAN is reminiscent of later comedies that Doris DAY (as an interior designer in PILLOW TALK or an advertising professional in LOVER COME BACK) would shoot in Hollywood.

Not only recommended for nostalgics!

This is a very positive, and a very well made film. It's a down to earth story of four young ladies, who set out to make it a hit in the tough world of advertising. The subject matter is quite realistic, even though the realism is conditional and according to 30s standards - even in poverty and without hot water, the girls wake up in full make up and pretty hair-dos. Things go well, until both men trouble and artistic differences set in. At that point the film turns quite dramatic, and some scenes are handled in quite a modern fashion. The film champions a feminist angle, quite uncommon for a film of that era. It touches several delicate issues, such as premarital pregnancy, without being moralizing or prude. Vier Gesellen is a women's film - the men get a lot less screen time and seem to be nothing more than distracting factors. The camera work and direction are very good, and the way Ingrid Bergman is lit and shot, is excellent. She is very, very beautiful and shows immense amount of talent. No wonder she was snatched to do Intermezzon in USA right after that film. The scenes with her and another very gifted actress, Ursula Herking, are the best in the film. There's also Hans Söhnker who is always solid.

I recommend this film to everyone who is under the impression that films were nothing better than tools for party propaganda in Nazi Germany. Well, one could say that the concept of "strength through friendship" reeks of fascism, but if there's a party that really values friendship, I go for that party any day. This film comes close to the work of Helmut Käutner, who was a great maker of great films about little people, and whose best work came out during the last months of the Third Reich.

The only downside to the otherwise pristine print released in Germany is that there are no subtitles of any kind.

Trivia: During the scene in the movie theatre, the film being screened is 1937's Zu Neuen Ufern, and we hear another Swedish superstar that made it big in Germany, Zarah Leander, singing Tiefe Sehnsucht (Deep Yearning).