Produced in 1937/38, this comedy was surely under the control of Goebbel's propaganda ministry, and it indirectly endorses Nazi rule by showing how "ridiculous" the Weimar republic was in 1930.
The waiter Karl Kramer (Heinz Rühmann) works in a Baltic beach resort, but takes an opportunity for temporary work in a renowned restaurant in Berlin. Here he gets in contact with Lu (Sybille Schmitz) and her upper-class family and their political friends, where he makes such favorable impression that they even plan to nominate him as Reichstag (parliament) candidate for their fictional Freisinnige Wirtschaftspartei. The main political issue seems to be a law to prescribe gussets (Zwickel) in swimwear, which at least in part reflects a real event, the "Zwickelerlass" of 1932. Some snide remarks on the Soviet Union, and life of the workers there, are also included. Famous satiricist Werner Finckh is seen as the man from the press. The tension comes mostly from Karl's double role as waiter vs. upper-class gentleman.
Substantial parts of this movie deal with horse-racing, betting, and cheating in those. Karl wins a lot of money, loses it again, "finds" a lot, to lose it again, and after some mild thriller action in Baden-Baden ruefully returns home to the unnamed Baltic place to marry his Grete.
The unspoken message is, "Aren't we happy that the pre-Hitler days of 1930 are over?" But 50 years later, this is still an interesting document of the times. Just keep in mind it was endorsed by the propaganda ministry.
The waiter Karl Kramer (Heinz Rühmann) works in a Baltic beach resort, but takes an opportunity for temporary work in a renowned restaurant in Berlin. Here he gets in contact with Lu (Sybille Schmitz) and her upper-class family and their political friends, where he makes such favorable impression that they even plan to nominate him as Reichstag (parliament) candidate for their fictional Freisinnige Wirtschaftspartei. The main political issue seems to be a law to prescribe gussets (Zwickel) in swimwear, which at least in part reflects a real event, the "Zwickelerlass" of 1932. Some snide remarks on the Soviet Union, and life of the workers there, are also included. Famous satiricist Werner Finckh is seen as the man from the press. The tension comes mostly from Karl's double role as waiter vs. upper-class gentleman.
Substantial parts of this movie deal with horse-racing, betting, and cheating in those. Karl wins a lot of money, loses it again, "finds" a lot, to lose it again, and after some mild thriller action in Baden-Baden ruefully returns home to the unnamed Baltic place to marry his Grete.
The unspoken message is, "Aren't we happy that the pre-Hitler days of 1930 are over?" But 50 years later, this is still an interesting document of the times. Just keep in mind it was endorsed by the propaganda ministry.