Münchhausen (1943)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Josef von Báky

Writer:

Erich Kästner (script & dialogue)

Release Date:

3 November 1943 (Portugal)

Genre:

Comedy | Adventure | Fantasy

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Disembodied Head | Wine | Sword | Special Effects | Male Female Relationship

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Baron Munchhausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (USA)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Muenchhausen

Runtime:

Germany:119 min (restored version) | USA:110 min | Germany:134 min (premiere version)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:T | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Trivia:

The length of this film, according to the Deutsche Filminstitut, was originally 134 minutes, or 3662 meters (March 1943). However, a mere three months later, it had been pruned to 118 minutes (3225 meters). After the war, the next version (December 1949) was 105 minutes, the 1954 version 101 minutes, the version for general audiences (shown that year) 88 minutes. The currently restored version, assembled by the Murnau Foundation in 1995, clocks in at 114 minutes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Die gefrorenen Blitze (1967)

Humble review

I found the film to be very enjoyable. I was impressed with the use of color. The film used Agfacolor film, which if memory serves me correctly was based on pastels, not at all like Technicolor.

The film is very rich and vibrant in its cinematography and color, this is very much appreciated when one sees the work that went into the Moon set.

Hans Albers plays an arrogant but lovable rogue who takes many, many years to learn the lesson of what is truly important in a mans life.

I am in agreement with one reviewer in that this film is not at all for children and should be screened carefully, this is a European film and the Hayes Act didn't exist in Germany.