Ce diable de garçon

Germany was losing the war, its cities were being bombed to smithereens, so it's easy to see why Goebbels felt the need for quality escapist entertainment like this gentle, funny school comedy.

Heinz Ruhmann plays a successful writer who was educated by tutors and never attended school, and who decides to return to his hometown disguised as a pupil to find out what he missed. What ensues is a lot of sweet-natured tomfoolery, with lots of tricks played on the teachers - something which nearly got the film banned because of its supposedly 'anti-authoritarian' tendencies.

There's no real message except that 'schooldays are the best days of your lives', and perhaps that's its secret - for it remains among the most popular of all film comedies in Germany and is cult viewing around Christmas time. Ruhmann is in his element in this film, but particular mention should go to the wonderful Erich Ponto as the eccentric chemistry teacher, who is quite best thing in the film.

I've just seen this movie with several german friends and, although my German is really poor and there were no subtitles (only a good friend helping me to understand it), I found it quite a sweet classic film which I feel really happy to have discovered. The simple and yet funny story about a man that "returns" to childhood in order to make all sorts of jokes to the grownups is just so well carried out that, despite not even being german-speaker, can be easily watched with a smile on the face. Sure enough, most of the jokes can't be understood for non-german speakers (and sometimes not even for german themselves!) but the performers play sincerely great roles and at many times a face is worth a thousand words. To sum up, a film I would like to see once again (I hope next time with subtitles, at least ;) and quite a cult-movie in its home country, where many people watch it as a tradition once a year... It's tender, it's sweet, somehow naïve... Eine wuenderschoene Filme, wuerde ich sagen!

That a over 50 year old movie would make students of all faculties pour into the campus theatre year after year is a phenomenon. The secret of this films huge success is the message which hardly anybody is able to miss - that school in spite of all the hard work was fun! Remembering one's own school time will cause an emotional state of well-being, and there you have it!

Aside from these factors, the movie's humor is timeless, the actors were very talented and their characters just wonderfully weird. Many people have seen this movie so often they can speak every line - and with larger audiences, the film is starting to evolve into an interactive experience à la Rocky Horror Picture Show, with the audience shouting at the characters and carrying alarm clocks, candles and flashlights into the theatre to switch on in the exact right moment.

If there is one true German cult movie - this is it!

This delightful film adapted from his own novel by Heinrich Spoerl and directed by the very capable Helmut Weiss ran into all sorts of trouble with the education authorities who strongly objected to its depiction of bumbling old schoolmasters and disrespectful, disruptive pupils who brought classes to the brink of near anarchy.

Its star Heinz Ruemann was chummy with Hitler, whether from choice or expediency we will never know and Hitler certainly admired Ruemann's acting. It was apparently only by his appealing personally to Adolf during a visit to the Wolf's Lair that the film was permitted to be shown. Probably as a sop to the powers that be the makers were obliged to introduce a character not in the original book named Brett, played by Lutz Goetz, a young history teacher who expounds upon the virtues of discipline and says that he gives his pupils a clear choice between peace or war. All this is said while maintaining a smile!

What of the cast? Ruemann is an impeccable, immaculate artiste and excels as Pfeiffer. Erich Ponto as Professor Crey again manages to steal most of his scenes although Ruemann gives him a run for his money. There are also fine performances by Hans Liebelt as the harassed headmaster and by Hilde Sessak and Karen Himboldt as the women in Pfeiffer's life. Himboldt refused to give the Nazi salute at the premiere and this courageous act of defiance effectively scuppered her career.

This is a heartwarming, uplifting and beautifully realised piece and one is not at all surprised to learn that it remains to this day a cult film in Germany.

Ok, so I know this film was designed to distract German audiences from the impending defeat in WWII - escapist propaganda kitsch, no less, as Göring realised at an early screening in Hitler's headquarters. And I know that Heinz Rühmann (who plays the lead role) was a slimy opportunist who led a cushy life under the Nazis. Decent German actors left the country once Hitler took over in 1933 (Marlene Dietrich did, for example, which is why people spat at her in the streets when she returned to post-war Germany). But what the hell, this film works. It works at all levels. The comic timing - Rühmann's as well as that of the other actors - is impeccable; the acting in general is very good, the plot moves quickly, and the gags follow each other nicely. Moreover, there is a sentimental undercurrent, which I can't remember having noticed in contemporary British or American comedies but which goes down very well in Germany. It does so to this day: 'Die Feuerzangenbowle' is a cult movie, especially among students. In short, it is a very good film, up there with the three or four best German comedies ever. Recommended viewing!