La collana di perle

Though uncredited, the Maupassant story `Les bijoux' was the inspiration for this poignant drama. In late 19th century France, the wife of a bookkeeper is is blackmailed by her husband's boos after he discovers she is also the mistress of a famous composer. This beautifully made film has a sensitive delicacy that is unusual for Third Reich cinema. The cast – directed by the brilliant Helmut Käutner – is outstanding. Although Goebbles didn't like this film very much, Käutner went on and made to other brilliant melodramas before the end of the war. He directed Hans Albers in the superb colour feature `Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7' (1944) and helmed the equally brilliant `Unter den Brücken' (1945).

ROMANZE IN MOLLE is an amazing film to have come out of war time Germany, when even gifted film makers were defeated by lack of resources and the attitudes of their time.

This is one of the most elegant and accomplished films ever made and may be considered the German equivalent of GONE WITH THE WIND or ENFANTS DU PARADIS, whose aesthetic it shares marginally. Only noticing the aged male extras in the crowd scenes gives any hint of the circumstances under which the film was produced.

Marian, who was lead in the notorious Nazi JEW SUSS and a couple of preposterous Douglas Sirk thirties German romances, gives his outstanding performance and Hoppe never repeated the delicacy of her playing in any other film I saw. The same may be said for all the recognisable players.

The Maupassant story appears to be the one for the Ophuls' MADAM D. reworked considerably and this film out-classes that.

Kaütner was the great German director of his day, with this anticipating his fifties master works, THE LAST BRIDGE, THE DEVIL'S GENERAL and SKY WITHOUT STARS. Even the first film from his disastrous Hollywood stay is remarkable. Notice MOLLE has the scene he would repeat in later films - the protagonists traveling at the same time but missing one another with fatal results.

The war and the occupation reduced the scale and impact of Helmut Kaütner's efforts but this film shows that he was already well on the way to being the leading European film maker of his day. However, in the wake of WW2, critics where not about to hand that crown to a German.

It is to be regretted that one of Germany's finest directors, Helmut Kautner, is virtually unknown to non-European audiences despite his having worked wonders with the material at his disposal in two films for Universal in the late 1950's.

His post-war work in Germany is variable but he succeeded in giving us some truly excellent films and of the nine he directed between 1939 and 1945 at least two are masterpieces of the genre.

Film historian Georges Sadoul has referred to 'Romance in a Minor Key' as the only film of 'real quality' to have emerged during the Nazi years. This may be a slight exaggeration but it is certainly one of the most polished, elegant and heartfelt. Although on the face of it a romantic melodrama it is in fact rather subversive for the time, being inspired by 'The Necklace' of Maupassant who happened to be on the Nazi 'banned' list. The film's depiction of infidelity was not at all to Goebbel's liking which is ironic considering the Propoganda Minister was such a notoriously unfaithful husband.

The Madeleine of Marianne Hoppe is loved by three men. Her devoted but blinkered husband, a self-obsessed musician and a lecherous banker. All three men and the object of their love are each destined in their way to pay a terrible price........

Herr Lautner's stunning visual sense is evident here as is his legendary skill with actors. He had previously directed Marianne Hoppe in 'Goodbye Francesca' and as Madeleine she is even more luminous. Not a traditional beauty by any means but an exceptional artiste whose acting is 'interior' and who brings her own air of mystery. Despite her perceived chumminess with the Nazi elite her career continued unabated after the war as did that of Gustaf Grundgens with whom she had a fruitful working relationship as well as a 'lavender marriage'.

The musician is played by the excellent Ferdinand Marian whose life and career alas were blighted by his portrayal of Oppenheimer the Jew. As the banker Siegfried Breuer is wonderfully seedy and this actor is probably best known to English and indeed American speaking audiences as Popescu in 'The Third Man'. Paul Dahlke is superb as the cuckolded husband.

Helmut Kautner is an intriguing figure, a cultured, creative artiste and humanist who navigated the perilous waters of the Third Reich and did his best to rise above what he called the 'bourgeois culture industry' of post-war Germany. He belongs to that elite group of directors known as 'auteurs' and epitomises the theory that a work of art reflects its creator.

If one's wife (not the one in the movie but the one of this writer), who normally sternly disapproves of extramarital affairs for ethical as well as practical reasons (such as messing up the household finances) - if said wife admits to finding a measure of compassion with this film's Madelene, although she was by no means treated badly by her husband (for example not even beaten up one single time) - then director Käutner must have pulled that one off really cleverly. However, the husband (not the one in the movie but this writer) can't muster the same sympathy, because he cannot for the world image what the movie husband, or he in place of the movie husband, could have done to avoid his wife going astray, except composing a romanze in moll, which neither one could manage quite that well. So this is a very realistic and important film that raises the big questions of life, marriage and how to keep the latter everlasting happy. Off-hand, a harem-type setup seems to be the best solution.