"Glückskinder" or "Lucky Kids" (also the literal translation) is a German 90-minute film from 1936 and the fact that this one is already over 80 years old means it is indeed a black-and-white film that belongs to the sound era already. By the way to put it into perspective, it is from the year when Nazi Germany hosted the Berlin Olympics, just so you understand how old it really is. The cast includes names that are still known today like Harvey and Fritsch, who played together in other projects too and their approach is usually a mix of comedy with romance and that is also true during these 1.5 hours. This is a story about a journalist getting together with a woman who is in court for doing something that is treated way more harshly then it should be. These courtroom scenes early on are definitely way too much over the top, but the charm and wit still keep them from becoming cringeworthy. But the longer it goes, the messier it becomes and at some point I just did not feel any of it credible anymore, also involving several major plot twists. The film is not a failure really, but I personally cannot agree at all with the rating it has here on IMDb. Honestly I also found the romance part fairly underwhelming and not because it was never in doubt that they'd get together, even with all the exaggerated banter. Maybe it also had a bit to do for me with the fact that I did not find Harvey really that physically appealing, but that is very subjective of course. So yeah, the story all in all declined a lot the longer the film went and as the solid quality from early on vanished quickly, there is no way I can give this movie a thumbs-up. It felt so unauthentic, so unrealistic, so baity and not like an actual story, just one that was fictitiously created to entertain the masses and that is definitely a negative deal breaker for me. Unless you are a fan of any of the two leads, I suggest you skip it altogether. For audiences watching it has not much to do with luck or happiness.
Review of Glückskinder
