Menschen am Sonntag (1930)

Edwin, a taxi driver, lives with Annie, a neurasthenic model. They plan to spend Sunday at the Nikolassee beach with Wolfgang, an officer, gentleman, antiquarian, gigolo, at the moment a ... See full summary »

Directors:

Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak,

Writers:

Curt Siodmak, Robert Siodmak (source material),

Stars:

Erwin Splettstößer, Brigitte Borchert, Wolfgang von Waltershausen

Cast

Credited cast:
Erwin Splettstößer	...	Himself (taxi driver)
Brigitte Borchert	...	Herself (record seller)
Wolfgang von Waltershausen	...	Himself (wine seller)
Christl Ehlers	...	Herself (an extra in films)
Annie Schreyer	...	Herself (model)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kurt Gerron	...	Himself
Valeska Gert	...	Herself
Heinrich Gretler	...	Himself
Ernö Verebes	...	Himself

Storyline

Edwin, a taxi driver, lives with Annie, a neurasthenic model. They plan to spend Sunday at the Nikolassee beach with Wolfgang, an officer, gentleman, antiquarian, gigolo, at the moment a wine salesman. After an argument, Annie stays at home while Edwin joins Wolf. Wolf has brought along a new girlfriend, Christl. Brigitte, Christl's best friend, joins the group. Brigitte is the manager of a record shop. At the beach Wolf tries to kiss Christl but she rejects him and he turns his attentions toward Brigitte, who is more receptive. Wolf and Brigitte go off together and he seduces her. Back on the beach, Wolf and Erwin, now tired of their dates, flirt with two other women as Brigitte and Christl look on, appalled. They have small satisfaction when the men have to borrow money from them to pay for the paddle-boat they were renting. As they part at the end of the day, Brigitte hopes Wolf will see her next Sunday, but he and Erwin have other plans. The bond between the two men is the one ...

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Plot Keywords:

semi documentary | berlin germany

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Release Date:

4 February 1930 (Germany)

Also Known As:

People on Sunday

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmstudio Berlin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was a major hit when it was released in Germany in 1930. Five of the people who worked on the film who went on to direct films in Hollywood: Curt Siodmak, his brother Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Fred Zinnemann and Billy Wilder.

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Connections

Referenced in Sunny Side Up (1994)

User Reviews

filled with fantastic shots

Marvellous late German silent that anticipates the Italian neo-realists, although I note some claim that this is not realistic at all and may even be showing struggling Berlin through rose tinted glasses. I'm not sure; those fantastic city sequences seem real enough and perhaps the regularly intoned opinion that Hitler was lurking in the shadows of a dispirited people, is itself a little fanciful. In any event this is a great little film filled with fantastic shots, moving street shots of and from moving trams, poetic close-ups of the young folk and a great sense of landscape at the lakeside. As usual with me and silent movies, I seem to get captions I don't need because the action is so obvious and whole sequences of back and forth dialogue left untitled. But just to watch the imagery is good enough and the little trysts, arguments, upsets and loving looks need no titles at all.