Münchhausen (1943 film)
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| Münchhausen | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Josef von Báky |
| Produced by | Eberhard Schmidt |
| Written by | Gottfried August Bürger Erich Kästner Rudolph Erich Raspe |
| Starring | Hans Albers Wilhelm Bendow |
| Music by | Georg Haentzschel |
| Cinematography | Konstantin Irmen-Tschet Werner Krien |
| Distributed by | Universum Film A.G. (Ufa) |
| Release date(s) | March 3, 1943 |
| Running time | 105mins 119mins (restored version) |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| IMDb profile | |
Münchhausen is a 1943 fantasy comedy film directed by Josef von Báky a prominent director who remained in Germany under the Nazi regime. Despite being made in Nazi Germany, this film is noted for the way in which it was able to avoid the politics of the time. Science Fiction author David Wingrove has commented that this work "sidesteps immediate political issues whilst conjuring up marvellous visual images of an ageless pastoral Germany"
The story follows the life of Baron Hieronymus von Münchhausen who was granted immortality by a sorcerer some 200 years previously. Here he recounts to a group of friends tales of his travels through Russia, his encounter with a man who could run more than 200 mph, and a ring he was given which would make him invisible. His story culminates in his recounting a trip to the moon where he meets headless plant people.
Some of the film's footage is now missing. In March 1943 on release the film was 134 minutes long. Over the years the length of the film gradually decreased until the 1954 version, which was 101 minutes long (with the generally screened version being a mere 88 minutes). Today a 114 minute version exists in the Murnau Foundation.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels ordered the production of Münchhausen in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ufa film studio which released it. A banned author, Erich Kästner, wrote much of the film's screenplay. However, the pseudonym Kästner wrote under, “Berthold Bürger” (Bürger means “citizen”, but also refers to one of the writers who made the Münchhausen tales popular), was left out of the credits. Maybe it slipped from the censor's attention or it was left in the movie for good, there is one surprisingly clear political statement of Kästner to be heard in the film: on the moon, where Münchhausen experiences a quite weird time warp, he realizes "Nicht meine Uhr ist kaputt, die Zeit ist kaputt!" (My watch is not broken, it's time (meaning "era") that's broken).
Münchhausen was the third feature film made in Germany using the new Agfacolor negative-positive material.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Hans Albers | Baron Münchhausen |
| Wilhelm Bendow | Der Mondmann |
| Brigitte Horney | Zarin Katharina II |
| Michael Bohnen | Herzog Karl von Braunschweig |
| Ferdinand Marian | Graf Cagliostro |
| Hans Brausewetter | Freiherr von Hartenfeld |
| Hermann Speelmans | Christian Kuchenreutter |
| Marina von Ditmar | Sophie von Riedesel |
| Andrews Engelmann | Fürst Potemkin |
| Käthe Haack | Baronin Münchhausen |
| Waldemar Leitgeb | Fürst Grigorij Orlow |
| Walter Lieck | Der Läufer |
| Hubert von Meyerinck | Prinz Anton Ulrich |
| Jaspar von Oertzen | Graf Lanskoi |
| Werner Scharf | Prinz Francesco d'Este |
| Armin Schweizer | Johann |
| Leo Slezak | Sultan Abd ul Hamid |
[edit] See also
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), by Terry Gilliam
- Les Aventures de baron de Munchhausen (1911) by Georges Méliès
[edit] References
- Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)
- Internet Movie Database
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