I could not believe it but war films dot com had put out a digital print on DVD. Normally there quality is either poor or fair. When I told them how good their print was they raised their prices to 1 dollar more. Me in my big mouth. This was Conrad Veidt's last film in Germany and Mady Christians. This had subtitles so I didn't have to guess. Inspite of that I still had trouble with the plot.Conrad Portrays Marquis De Pontingnac. He's about to go on a fox hunt until three men want to see him.Two of them are inventors. Ones trying to introduce the petal bicycle and the second one the telephone. This is suppose to take place in France during the Empress Eugenie period. So this is silly. He finds them both useless.The third one is Didier, played by Heinz Ruhmann, who is an assistant orchestra conductor of the theater. Who goes to the marquee to inform that Offenbach could not write the music for his dance but he has his own composition, A song written for his fiancé Juliette. But his girl friend Annabelle , who's an actress played by Friedel Schuster, comes in and show him her riding Habit and informs him he's going to be late for the fox hunt. Lillian Harvey play's Heinz Ruhmanns fiancé Juliette who's the hairdresser for Empress Eugenia, played by Mady Christians is riding on a cart and notices that one of her garters are gone.Well during the fox Hunt the marquee notices that the dogs are fighting over something it'a Juliette's garter. He takes it for good luck. but has an accident and becomes unconscious. Julieete gets off the cart to trace where the garter she borrowed from the empress , fell. That when she notices that the marquee in the stretcher is holding the garter being taken to the army barracks.She tries to go in with them to get her garter but the guards won't let her. so she sneaks around Looking for him. The military doctor states that because he didn't get up from the horse he does not have long to live. As the doctor puts some clothes over his eyes, He asks for his last request. One of those request is Marianne ,played by Kate Kuhl, whom he saw singing wanting her to sing for him again. The military doctor see's Juliette and insist that she goes into the room and sing for him.Well she does and since his eyes are covered up by some cloth , he doesn't notice who is. So she sings for him and then sees her garter and picks it up.After he recovers , when every one is mourning him thinking he's dead. He sees the real Marianne and she tell him she hasn't sang in 10 years and now owns a bird shop.Now he has to search for her. He get's Heinz Ruhmann to look for the song he heard her sing in the area of the theater where he has the songs. As Juliette visiting him he's not paying attention to her and he tells her why. She realizes that that she has to go to the marquee to let him know,the marquee think then it's the empress who was serenading him. So he goes to see her. As he approaches the house he hear Juliette and thinks thats the empress.Her aide, played by German character actor stalwart Hubert Von Meyerinck. as soon as the marquee enters the room Juliette already stops the singing .As she tries to tell him. The Empress,played by Mady ,comes in and ask what he wants . He notices why she isn't responding to him after he complimented that she sang to him while he was still injured and he would keep it a secret. She still doesn't know what she talking about. When he leaves, her aide hears about it and thinking that they had a ta tetate, he sends the invitation to Marquee to come to the violin concert that the Empress Eugenia is having with her nieces.So he gets the invitation Didier thinks it's his fiancé that sent it. the message tells her him to meet at the gardens. So he shows up. The Empress wonders why he's here. Juliette tries to give him the message to meet her at the garden, He finally get's it. Goes to the Garden but it's Juliette. she tires to tell him the the empress isn't coming. But she comes in and he makes a pass at her she shocked and doesn't know why. He asked her to meet him at his place . The empress is shocked. he leaves.Juliette tells the Empress without letting her know it was her that he thinks she is the one who serenaded him. She feels complimented about it and thinks she might see him, But Juliette suggest that she doesn't.Heinz Ruhmann is now going to do the conducting for the operetta. He has Broken up with Juliette. Meyerck shows y up at the marquees place pretending to be a Baron. Then warns him that there going to be a scandal unless this is stopped but Julliette shows up instead. Dressed up with the empresses cape. He know recognizes her.Annabell shows up Jeliouse that Julie has taken away her boy friend.But hes late for the opera. So Juliette helps her ex by forcing to go back to the stage to do her work with a sward. He gets her there on time but she tries to get out of it Annabelle. Well she goes down stairs to the are below the stage she's sad that she left Marquee. Then by surprise he's down there and they kiss. Uncut unexpurgated, notorious Nazi musical, Banned by Hollywood, Available
Review of Ich und die Kaiserin
