The Punch Bowl

It begins with a group of authors around a bowl of hot punch, reminiscing about their schooldays, the pranks they played, and how the teachers were all good guys anyway. Among their number is Heinz Rühmann, who never had schooldays. He was privately educated and is now a successful poet, novelist, and playwright. He decides he has missed much, so he shaves off his beard and mustache, cuts his hair, and dons a pair of glasses. He next joins a provincial school as a senior, and proceeds to indulge in all the tricks, japes, and escapades that he missed out on.

This is, of course, a chance for 41-year-old Rühmann to offer his audience a grand old time, as he evades the punishment for his skylarking by means of sophistry and taking advantage of the stultified decorum of the institution. His japes are funny, and that alone would be good enough. Yet take a look at the way the teachers are portrayed: a bit stuffy, but good-hearted and with the best interests of their pupils at heart, even if they often don't quite know how to do their jobs. We see the events through Rühmann's eyes, more experienced than his fellow students, and wiser than his unworldly teachers. It's a surprisingly warm comedy.