Max, der Taschendieb (1962) User Reviews

Quite dated - but not too bad...

[doublezero · 22 October 2004]

I saw this movie today for the first time, it's a typical Heinz Rühmann vehicle, set during the Wirtschaftswunder era in Germany. Rühmann plays Max who makes a living picking pockets and keeping an honorable surface towards his kids (of course, he's the loving dad) and the neighbors. He keeps out of big time crime, but has an in-law who is a no-good - and who inevitably falls into the lures of the crimelord, who is of course named Joe (Haha!). Sticking to his principles of not telling the police anything, he manages to make up with the big shots and turn good for a happy ending.

The movie was actually a little dated, especially with the dialogue (the ever-prominent youth slang issue when watching 35-year-old flicks), but on the other hand it surprised me with some swearing, cool music (The Shadows perhaps?), and even a short scene of female nudity from behind.

It was definitely a better Rühmann film and worth watching. As always, he plays the perfect, caring daddy; watch out for an out-of-character appearance by a very young Hans Clarin.

7.5 / 10

Rühmann can't save it all alone

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 1 July 2016]

"Max, der Taschendieb" or just "Der Taschendieb" is a West German German-language movie from 1962, so this one will have its 55th anniversary next year and it is another Heinz Rühmann movie from the latter stages of his career. He was 60 when this one came out. It runs for 90 minutes and is in black-and-white like most other Rühmann films. The title already gives away what Rühmann's character does for a living in here, but matters get a lot more complicated if he gets drawn into a lot more serious crime than pick-pocketing. The supporting cast includes a couple names that may seem familiar to German movie buffs such as Hans Leibelt and Hans Clarin. The director here is Imo Moszkowicz and it is probably his most known work. Same can be said about writer István Békeffy, but his co-writer Hans Jacoby has made a couple more known films. Unfortunately, this film also falls with the script. Rühmann elevates the material from start to finish, but the action is just so uninteresting and unfunny for the most part that it is just not worth seeing. Also the crime references in the plot are as frequent as boring. I give it a thumbs-down. watch something else instead.