Max Brod disowned this sumptuous piece of hokum that retailored his 1927 novel as a vehicle for Marlene Dietrich. The elegant clotheshorse of her Paramount years is here already fully formed and she's already bringing out the worst in an assortment of drooling men. If Uno Henning went to the movies more often he'd have taken one good look at Dietrich's travelling companion Fritz Kortner and mustered sufficient common sense to return to his fresh-faced young bride and get his life back.
But, No. Instead, he and Kortner exchange icy pleasantries and glare at each other for the next hour while Dietrich changes into and out of a variety of stunning dresses and director Kurt Bernhardt ushers them through a succession of super-stylish set pieces (notably a New Year's Eve party) until finally three of the stupidest detectives since the Keystone Kops allow Kortner to produce and use a gun on Dietrich and then swiftly usher him down a back staircase without even checking if she's dead yet (she isn't). Mission accomplished, Henning then returns home, or to what will be left of it.
But, No. Instead, he and Kortner exchange icy pleasantries and glare at each other for the next hour while Dietrich changes into and out of a variety of stunning dresses and director Kurt Bernhardt ushers them through a succession of super-stylish set pieces (notably a New Year's Eve party) until finally three of the stupidest detectives since the Keystone Kops allow Kortner to produce and use a gun on Dietrich and then swiftly usher him down a back staircase without even checking if she's dead yet (she isn't). Mission accomplished, Henning then returns home, or to what will be left of it.