Continuing my countdown of the final ten in 100 consecutive movie nights!
Threepenny Opera (1931), dir. George Pabst, starring Rudolf Forster, Carola Neher, Lotte Lenya, Reinhold Schünzel, Fritz Rasp, Valeska Gert, Ernst Busch. Adapted from the hit stage musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
I have to admit I was fully prepared to love this movie before it even began, which makes this review a little suspect. Oh well. The fact is I’ve been watching an awful lot of German films from between the wars, both silent and sound, and I am familiar enough with some of the actors that when they pop up in small roles I feel like I’m seeing an old friend. (“Oh look! The minister is Hermann Thimig!”)
That disclaimer aside, here’s my take on the movie.
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