Wenn Ludwig ins Manöver zieht

Film wavers between ridiculing the dull German militarism of around 1900 and glorifying the old-time antagonism between Bavarians and Prussians. Moreover, it has elements of the German/Austrian "Heimatfilm" of the 50's and the basically unfunny "Lümmel" comedies of the late 60's.

Hansi Kraus had already starred in three "Lausbubengeschichten" comedies based on Ludwig Thomas's well-known local colour stories about a renitent young boy who uncovers his contemporaries' bigotry and blind dependence on authorities in an "Eulenspiegel" tradition. This one being the last entry to that movie series (1964-7, with one reprise in 1969), only loosely based on Thoma, Kraus was soon to become the star of the even more successful 7-part "Lümmel" school series (1968-72).

The little that can be called really humorous here is rather coarse and bulky, and in addition to that there are a couple of plots (screenplay by producer Franz Seitz), which are not connected tightly enough. Basic idea has Prussian troops manoeuvering near a Bavarian village in connection with the otherwise seldom-regarded necessity of billeting which serves to generate some funny situations.

While the scripting is rather poor, technical achievements are completely reliable, and so is the acting, thanks to the usual assembly of first-rate comedians such as Georg Thomalla. Funniest scenes are yielded by inimitable Hubert von Meyerinck and the late Hans Quest as two helplessly stiff Prussian officers, the latter also being the director of thirteen post-war comedies and two "Heimatfilms" of the 50's.