Flying Classroom

Unlike some other German movies of the 1950s, this one is still worth watching. It is a true adaptation of Erich Kästner's children's' novel of the same name. The author did not only write the screenplay himself , but also appears in the first and last scene and provides the narrator's voice in several scenes. With a cast of prominent German actors of the time, notably Paul Dahlke and Paul Klinger, and budding rock'n'roll star Peter Kraus in his first movie role, the movie tells the story of the "Tertia" students (7th/8th grade) in a small town boarding school, who continue a "prehistoric" feud with the boys from a neighbouring school. Woven into this narrative are questions of honesty, courage, loyalty, friendship - and money issues, which never lack in Kästner's books. The boys also write and perform a play about the lessons with their favourite teacher, Johannes Böck called Justus (the just one) and moreover manage to bring him back together with a long-lost childhood friend. I was astonished to see the very good acting of the child actors, among them now famous German director Michael Verhoeven. Even though it's sometimes obvious that painted scenery is used and the editing is somewhat less varied than what we're used to these days, the movie never seems dated in a way that makes it an effort to watch - quite the contrary!