Liselotte von der Pfalz

Heidelinde Weis at the Sun King's court

Anyone who saw actress Heidelinde Weis as a typical television star (Die Schwarzwaldklinik / The Black Forest Clinic) in the 1980s had no idea that this woman had been a real film star two decades earlier. Her films were hardly shown on TV in the eighties. All the better that you can now discover them again. Weis's particularly notable appearances are as "The Dead Woman from Beverly Hills" and in the international spy thriller "The Man Outside". We recommend!

In this film by the two-time Golden Globe winner (1958 for "Confessions of the Imposter Felix Krull", 1960 for "We Wunderkinder") Kurt Hoffmann (1910-2001), Heidelinde Weis plays the famous Liselotte von der Pfalz. This sassy noblewoman is a real tomboy who is not at all enthusiastic about being married to the Duke of Orleans (Harald Leipnitz), the brother of the Sun King Louis XIV (Hans Caninenberg). The whole thing was orchestrated by the scheming Princess Palatine (Karin Hübner), who believes she can better keep her lover Orleans in this way. Arriving at the Palace of Versailles, the lively Liselotte is drawn into a provocative intrigue. The French are certainly not prudish, even a woman from the Palatinate who is well-versed can still learn something...

What fun! Artur Brauner produced this wonderful aristocratic joke with his CCC film. The film was shot at Charlottenburg Palace, Prague and Munich. 1.713 million tickets (source: InsideKino) were sold in the box office. Gunnar Möller (1928-2017), Friedrich von Thun and Herbert Fux can be seen in other roles.

The actress Karin Hübner (1936-2006) was rarely seen in West German cinema. She had her heyday in the 1960s. Until 1965 she was the German Eliza Doolittle in the Berlin performances of the internationally successful musical "My Fair Lady". During this time she was also married to Günther Pfitzmann (Praxis Bülowbogen / Bülowbogen practice). In this film you get the rare opportunity to admire Karin Hübner in a great film role.

A german countess (Heidelinde Weis) and an french aristocrat (Harald Leipnitz) are forced to a marriage. With her charming manners at least she wins the love of her prince. An old-fashioned, but entertaining entry in the long history of german history-comedies.

Be warned: the characters and storyline in this film have no bearing on historical accuracy. For instance her husband, the Duc d'Orleans, is portrayed as being an incorrigible skirt-chaser,whereas his actual proclivities were notoriously otherwise! The costume designer seemed unsure whether the story was set in the seventeenth century or the eighteenth (it is supposed to be the early 1670s), while the hair and make up are firmly of the 1960's. Having said that it must be remembered that this film is in the genre of historical drama/comedies favoured at one time in Europe (which has its roots in pre-WW1 operetta). The good points for me were the light-hearted tone; the gorgeous (sometimes frightening!) Eastman colour; the spectacular settings; and the acting of the main protagonists. (Although physically Louis XIV reminded me of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz!) A good all round family film but very much of its time.

This movie is very old, but it still has some charm. The acting is very fine and it still catches your heart. But the directing is very poor. Perhaps it was the style in the mid-sixties, but today the movie seems to be directed from many directory who could not agree about hoy to show something.