3 Groschen-Oper, Die (1931)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Bertolt Brecht (text by)
Béla Balázs (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

25 February 1932 (Japan)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

In London at the turn of the century, the bandit Mack the Knife marries Polly without the knowledge of her father, Peachum, the 'king of the beggars'.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play | Number In Title

Cast

Rudolf Forster	...	Mackie Messer
Carola Neher	...	Polly
Reinhold Schünzel	...	Tiger-Brown
Fritz Rasp	...	Peachum
Valeska Gert	...	Mrs. Peachum
Lotte Lenya	...	Jenny (as Lotte Lenja)
Hermann Thimig	...	The Vicar
Ernst Busch	...	The Street Singer
Vladimir Sokoloff	...	Smith, the Jailer (as Wladimir Sokolow)
Paul Kemp	...	Mackie Messer's Gang Member
Gustav Püttjer	...	Mackie Messer's Gang Member
Oskar Höcker	...	Mackie Messer's Gang Member
Krafft-Raschig	...	Mackie Messer's Gang Member (as Kraft Raschig)
Herbert Grünbaum	...	Filch

Also Known As:

Dreigroschenoper, Die (Germany) (alternative spelling)
The Beggar's Opera
The Threepenny Opera (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Certification:

Germany:(Banned) (1934-1945) | Finland:(Banned) (1932-1951) | Finland:K-16 (1951)

Filming Locations:

Halensee, Grunewald, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film was banned by the Nazi Party in 1933 and prints of the film were destroyed. The film was restored and reconstructed in the 1960s.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#17.4)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Die Dreigroschenoper

Pabst's bitter musical

In the last few years before Nazi power overtook the German film industry, Kurt Weill's operetta reached the screen in this effective and well-cast version. Notable for including Lotte Lenya (Weill's wife) as Jenny, it is funny, memorable, imaginatively filmed, and despite the language barrier, does justice to the songs enshrined in popular culture such as ‘Mack the Knife'.

A giant of early European talkies, this musical has much to recommend to a viewer looking at it after seven decades. An adaptation with songs of John Gay's ‘The Beggar's Opera', it deals with the underworld of crooks, moneylenders, and cut-throats.

Chief of note in the varied cast are Rudolf Forster as Mackie, Carola Neher as Polly, Fritz Rasp as Peachum, and Ernst Busch as the Street Singer. This movie is one of bitterness and foreboding, and it is excellent.