Der Postmeister (1940)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Gustav Ucicky

Writers:

Alexander Pushkin (short story "Statsionnyy smotritel" from volume "Povest Belkina") and
Gerhard Menzel (writer)

Release Date:

24 April 1940 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

When two russian captains of cavalry came to a German post station one of them recalls what happened long time ago...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Heinrich George	...	Der Postmeister
Hilde Krahl	...	Dunja
Siegfried Breuer	...	Rittmeister Minskij
Hans Holt	...	Fähnrich Mitja
Ruth Hellberg	...	Elisawetha
Margit Symo	...	Mascha
Erik Frey	...	Sergej
Alfred Neugebauer	...	Gutsbesitzer
Franz Pfaudler	...	Knecht Pjotr
Leo Peukert	...	Oberst
Reinhold Häussermann	...	Schneider
Auguste Pünkösdy	...	Wirobowa
Oskar Wegrostek	...	Hausknecht beim Rittmeister
Hugo Gottschlich	...	Diener des Rittmeisters
Anton Pointner	...	Der Kavalier des Rittmeisters

Also Known As:

The Stationmaster (International: English title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Scharndorf, Lower Austria, Austria

Company:

Wien-Film

Movie Connections:

Remade as Dunja (1980)

Vater und Tochter

Germany 1940: the legendary directors have departed : Fritz Lang,Robert Siodmak,Detlef Sierck (Douglas Sirk)...

A first version of this Russian story was made in France starring Harry Baur in the thirties,but the German version is generally considered best of all including a third one ,"Dunja" ("Dunja" is the name of the heroine.)

"Der Postmeister" is not unworthy of the melodramas Sierck made with Zarah Leander ("La Habanera");melodramas buff should definitely watch it.

It contains scenes you would not expect from the Nazi years ;the most amazing is an astounding dance of a topless gypsy (you read well);the scene when the father explains to her daughter that he did not behave decently with her mother who closed her bedroom ;the wedding and the feast (what kind of beast could attend such a feast?)just to fool the poor father whose only purpose in life is to see his daughter happy;the young officer telling to a distraught Dunja how much he despises those gals you've got to pay for sex;the same going crazy when he discovers he's been betrayed (just look at his eyes:impressive!);an unusually inventive editing when papa returns home ,leaving her girl to despair whereas he thinks she's the happiest girl in the world...

Dunja has many relatives in the world of cinema:from Pabst' s "Loulou" to Renoir/Zola's "Nana".