Le diable en personne

The fact that this film ever received a prize for best film (Germany 1955) says more about the then situation of the German cinema and the jury than about this film. It is surely not a bad or mediocre film, but also not a prize deserving one. It is a very entertaining and with care made and directed melodrama/crime thriller based on a script with with one major weakness: with its constant flashbacks and dream sequences it is on the verge of mannerism.

The cast is extremely good (and another reason why this melodrama works), but I should have preferred Winnie Markus as best actress over Lili Palmer (an in my view overrated actress): while Markus' acting is still fresh and to the point, Palmer in several scenes overdoes things.

Although this is a very elegant movie, I have to recommend the "original" LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, with Gene Tierney. This one refers to a Novel by another writer, but obviously the story es exactly the same, not only similar. The movies are according to the production countries: Leave Her to Heaven with stunning Technicolor, dramatic, impulsive, bigger than life - the German remake Teufel in Seide more quiet, contemplative, closer to real life (at least a little...). Lilli Palmer is excellent, giving the perfect fragile, jealous, manic vamp - and probably she is the main reason to recommend this movie! Her eruptions are really big drama! And you do not know if you should have mercy with the poor ill-minded woman or if you should hate her for being so selfish.

A earlier reviewer has pointed out the similarity between this and 'Leave her to Heaven', particularly as regards the obsessive jealousy of Gene Tierney's Ellen and Lilli Palmer's Melanie. It might be worth noting that although John F. Stahl's film predates Rolf Hansen's by eleven years, the novel of Ben Ames Williams from which it is taken was written in 1944 whereas Gina Kaus wrote 'The Devil next door' in 1940. So who pinched from whom?

Plagiarism aside, Stahl's film is an indisputed classic of its type and unlikely to be equalled but Hansen's should not lightly be dismissed for despite an obviously smaller budget it is a stylish, eminently watchable piece played to perfection by some of Germany's finest.

Both Curd Juergens and Lilli Palmer are at the top of their game here whilst the balance to their increasingly toxic relationship is supplied by the warm-hearted Sabine as played by the enchanting Winnie Markus, an actress for whom this viewer has always had a soft spot. The courtroom scenes are excellent, if a little melodramatic and based on the principle that a jury is there to decide who has the better lawyer, the impassioned plea on behalf of the accused is played to the hilt by Hans Nielsen. As Melanie's sister the fascinating Adelheid Seeck makes an impression. Cinematographer Franz Weimayr's lighting has effectively contrasted the angelic Sabine and the devilish Melanie.

Post-war German cinema is a mixed bag to say the least with just a handful of directors offering anything of value. Hansen's film in fact shared the prize for Best Film of the Year with Helmut Kautner's 'Himmel ohne Sterne' which is certainly no disgrace.