When I had saw the name Curt Goetz the name seemed to be familiar . It's when I viewed,Napoleon Ist Am Allem Schuld, that the name had a Familiar ring to it.Well .He had fled Germany to Hollywood.Where he was hired to work on various scripts at M.G.M Even though Greta Garbo last film
He was given a 5 year contract.But he and his actress wife , Valerie Von Martens ,chose to momentarily retire and become chicken farmers. He had worked on his plays in the United states during the war, The house on Montevideo, which had opened off Broadway.One of his plays would become a Movie, Frauenarzt D.R. Praetorius and the American remake ,People will talk. Even though this is a comedy it had to a have a little propaganda in it to pass the Nazi censors. This movie makes fun of British royalty, this is part of the propaganda. Curt Goetz plays Lord Arthur Cavershott, . The characters wife , played by real actress wife, Valeri Von Martens, is Lady Cavershott. His next door neighbor, who also of royalty, Lord Cunningham, played by Paul Henckels. Lord Cavershott is a Napoleon Historian, His wife , who' first name is Josephine, is a fishing enthusiast.He's going to the annual Napoleon convention in Paris. The problem starts when a chorus girl gets fired because she did not play the part of the napoleon revue right, that she ends up in his Rolls Royce and they become friends.As the rest of the members of the conference search for the lord to apologize to him for the Revue not being accurate, Headed by the professor , played by Max Gulstorf. They find him with the chorus girl , Dot , played by actress Else Von Mollendorf, and Arthur both playing instruments in the orchestra of the night club. Both the professor and the lord make up . They all go to a french dive where an Apache dance is Mistaken for the man beating up on a women. The lord knocks the male Apache dancer down .But the police come in and everyone starts to calm down. The chorus girl has no pass port so The lord tells the Gendarmes that she's his daughter.Then a press photographer takes their picture. This is when the trouble starts when they get in the paper and what to do when his wife,Josephine finds out. Kirsten Heiberg made her film debut as a review star , Fifi,. There's an amusing sequence when Josephine finally gets a giant fish ,that she wanted to catch in years, that she's dragged into the water but when they finally get it he, Arthur, shoots it. Like most film of the time there was female nudity once again, The Scene where Josephine spies on her husband by disguising herself as women student of Napi and the professor looks like he's taking notes , siting in front of the table . The lord wants to look at his note s but he shows him he's drawing a naked women. Another strange scene is that it's suppose to be France but as he and the other lord goes home with the chorus girl on the ship, you can hear the band playing German folk song Un Du Mine Fahrts Mit. Well his wife send him a letter to France acting as if nothing happen going along with the idea that that's her daughter and asks him to bring her home. He and lord Cunningham are befuddled cause they don't know what's going to happened. Well when they get home Josephine treats Madeleine like her own daughter cause she wants to know what really happened. She confronts Arthur that she under stands an she wants to forget the past making a suggestion that she and Lord Cunn have been having an affair just to test him and get him jealous.Causing a funny duel between Lord Cunn and lord Cav, ending up shooting each others hat. The biggest embarrassment is that she planning to have a garden party, to Introduce Dottie to Society.Arthur want's to stop this , The attempts to put sleeping pill on Dots tea during tea time fails. As the lord is singing for the invitees of the party. He gets shock when one of the honorable is introducing her , Dot, all dressed up to the members of the upper class. Lord Cunn is at the piano and falls a sleep cause of the sleeping powder he took. All of a sudden the members of the Napoleon conference shows up messing up the whole party. We find lord Cavershott in bed with a head ache. His wife , Josephine next to him confesses that she was testing him and found him to be honorable. She also lets him know that he needs Dot as much as her, so they both decide to go to her be room and let her no they want to adopt her. But she gone stating in a letter she decided to back the the theater she will miss them.So they decide to go to the theater to let her know they want her back.She , Dot Agrees,. Well you know the propaganda now . It was putting the British Royalty down. It was also putting France down. But Napoli ghost in the scene was a subtle representative of - you know who ,Hitler.Cause this version of Napi claims to the Lord Cav that he was faithful to Josephine. We know the real one wasn't. In spite of propaganda, which was light it was highly entertaining. Available with English subtitles On D. V. D. from
war films dot com 07/15/11
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