Based on the well-known novella by the Swiss writer Conrad Ferdinand MEYER (1825 - 1898), director Rolf HANSEN tells an unheard of incident from the time of the Thirty Years' War. The young Gustl (Liselotte PULVER) lives as an orphan with her uncle (Hans NIELSEN), who is the mayor of Nuremberg. As an ardent admirer of the Swedish King Gustav Adolf (Curd JÜRGENS), she seizes the opportunity and becomes the successful warlord's page instead of the overly anxious mayor's son (Eddi ARENT). To do this, of course, she has to pretend to be a man. After THE WIRTSHAUS IM SPESSART (1958), another "trouser roll" for the tomboyish Liselotte PULVER. But it's not just Gustl's mistress Korinna (Ellen SCHWIERS) who soon discovers the young page's secret. The Swedish king's numerous enemies soon sense their chance...
Beautiful pictures from picturesque Rothenburg ob der Tauber and a tried and tested literary adaptation! This really can't go wrong! The chemistry between Lilo PULVER and BAFTA AWARD nominee Curd JÜRGENS (in 1959 he was nominated for THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS with Ingrid BERGMAN) simply doesn't work. The film wasn't well received at the West German box office either. Only 1,218,000 visitors wanted to see the film, which was now considered too old-fashioned. With an average entry fee at the time of EUR 0.74 (source: InsideKino), that makes a BOX OFFICE the equivalent of only EUR 901,320.
For Liselotte PULVER, one of the superstars of the West German film industry, it was also annoying that she had to turn down two lucrative offers because of her commitments to GUSTAV ADOLFS PAGE: She would have been cast as Esther (who was then played by the Israeli actress Haya HARAREET) in the MGM Production BEN-HUR and as the female lead (Sophia LOREN) in EL CID! PULVER may have reconciled that she met her long-time husband Helmut SCHMID on GUSTAV ADOLFS PAGE, who was part of the cast alongside Walter REYER and Gabriele REISMÜLLER.
