entertaining!
This early German comedy of the era of sound films has really aged well and remains surprisingly entertaining. It's a light comedy, probably made for the female audience, including some musical numbers (the title song "Der Weg zu dir" is repeated in various versions plus there is the song "Ja, die Polizei.." sung by Peter Lorre and Nora Gregor).
This is the plot:
In this pre-WWII German mystery-comedy, a lovely kleptomaniac with a taste for fine jewelry is unable to resist temptation. Strangely, every time she steals something, a mysterious man pays for it. A clumsy detective begins investigating and finds a crucial clue: a strongly scented woman's glove. The perfume is an expensive scent and the detective's pal realizes that it belongs to a popular nightclub singer. The friend quickly becomes enamored of the girl, but then so does her mystery man, a notorious international criminal. Eventually he gets arrested, leaving the detective's pal to move in on the singer.
The beginning is very promising, everything is put on in a very clever way... but to get to the big happy ending the film then tends to a more conventional romantic comedy plot. The kleptomaniac central character promises that she will end her criminal career for the man she truly loves. It is THAT easy to get rid of your addictions!
Anyway it is a film worth seeing, well done, with a lot of nice funny ideas and characters esp. Peter Lorre's part of Herr Fuessli.
This is the plot:
In this pre-WWII German mystery-comedy, a lovely kleptomaniac with a taste for fine jewelry is unable to resist temptation. Strangely, every time she steals something, a mysterious man pays for it. A clumsy detective begins investigating and finds a crucial clue: a strongly scented woman's glove. The perfume is an expensive scent and the detective's pal realizes that it belongs to a popular nightclub singer. The friend quickly becomes enamored of the girl, but then so does her mystery man, a notorious international criminal. Eventually he gets arrested, leaving the detective's pal to move in on the singer.
The beginning is very promising, everything is put on in a very clever way... but to get to the big happy ending the film then tends to a more conventional romantic comedy plot. The kleptomaniac central character promises that she will end her criminal career for the man she truly loves. It is THAT easy to get rid of your addictions!
Anyway it is a film worth seeing, well done, with a lot of nice funny ideas and characters esp. Peter Lorre's part of Herr Fuessli.
- Homer-Jay
- Nov 8, 2004