Flying Classroom (1954)

All is not really well between the boys of Gymnasium and the boys of the six-form High School: sparks fly when they get within 100m of each other! The continuous feud between the pupils is ... See full summary »

Director:

Kurt Hoffmann

Writers:

Erich Kästner (novel), Erich Kästner (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Dahlke, Heliane Bei, Paul Klinger

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Dahlke	...	Justus
Heliane Bei	...	Schwester Beate
Paul Klinger	...	Der Nichtraucher
Erich Ponto	...	Der Sanitätsrat
Bruno Hübner	...	Prof. Kreuzkamm
Herbert Kroll	...	Direktor Grünkern
Rudolf Vogel	...	Friseur Krüger
Willy Reichert	...	Martins Vater
Ruth Hausmeister	...	Martins Mutter
Arno Ebert	...	Johnnys Vater
Peter Vogel	...	Der schöne Theodor
Peter Tost	...	Martin
Peter Kraus	...	Johnny
Bert Brandt	...	Matz (as Bert Brandt jr.)
Knut Mahlke	...	Uli

Storyline

All is not really well between the boys of Gymnasium and the boys of the six-form High School: sparks fly when they get within 100m of each other! The continuous feud between the pupils is only one of the pleasant alternations, which life brings into the everyday school life. In addition, there are the rehearsals for the school theatre; and there are the secrets around a teacher called 'Justus' and a man called 'Nichtraucher' or the "non-smoker" since he lives in an abandoned non-smoking railway carriage. Moreover, in between all the exciting surprises, a few serious things remain to be done...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to hannibal | reference to the punic wars | school | social misfit | rivalry | 

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy | Family

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This is not the first and not the last project director Kurt Hoffmann did with writer Erich Kästner. He directed Ich vertraue Dir meine Frau an (1943), in which not only Paul Dahlke was also playing a role, but Kästner served as an uncredited writer. Later Hoffmann also directed Three Men in the Snow (1955), another movie based on a novel by Erich Kästner, to which he also wrote the screenplay.

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Goofs

When Ferdinand plays a prolonged solo before the start of the play (near the end of the movie), Matz hits him with half a roll on the head. Surprised, Ferdinand takes his hands off the piano, but the music continues for several seconds.

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Connections

Referenced in Annaluise & Anton (1999)

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Soundtracks

O Tannenbaum
Traditional

User Reviews

Childhood favourite found after 23 years

So I was searching something on Youtubeland and it was recommended to me randomly, Hungarian dubbed version, my native language. I thought I lost this movie forever as I never found it ever, we had it on vhs but it was gone years ago. So never seen it in German, but Hungarian sync actors were really nice at the time. So now I relive my old feelings, the book is one of my all-time favourites and I saw this wintertime at my grandmother's flat twenty+ years ago. It is still fantastic and endured during the years. The atmosphere, the human(e) emotions, the message is clear, it is one of the best guides to children about social / moral values, it helped me for sure, I think it is Kästner's absolute top 1. Some way I'll get it to show it to my children one day. One of th best heartwarming and heartfelt stories I have ever known so far. Please watch it and bring more humanity to the world!

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German Latin

Release Date:

3 September 1954 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Flying Classroom

Filming Locations:

Kitzbühel, Tyrol, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carlton-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1