Romanze in Moll (1943)

(A Romance in Minor Key)

Directed by: Helmut Käutner

Produced by: Hermann Grund

Written by: Helmut Käutner,

Willy Clever

Music: Lothar Brühne

Cinematography: Georg Bruckbauer

Edited by: Anneliese Sponholz

Starring:

Marianne Hoppe: Madeleine

Paul Dahlke: Madeleine’s husband

Ferdinand Marian: Michael

Eric Helgar: Michael’s brother

Siegfried Breuer: Viktor

Karl Platen: Michael’s servant

Elisabeth Flickenschildt: Doorkeeper’s wife

Anja Elkoff: Singer

Ernst Legal: Hard-of-hearing man

Hans Stiebner: Fat man

Leo Peukert: Cafe proprietor

Carl Günther: Jeweler

Walter Lieck: Tall man

Hugo Flink: Banker

Ernst Rotmund: Police inspector

Helmut Käutner: Poet

Klaus Pohl: Pawnbroker

Though uncredited, the Maupassant story, Les Bijoux, was the inspiration for this poignant drama, A Romance in Minor Key. In late 19th century France, the wife of a bookkeeper is blackmailed by her husband’s boss after he discovers she is also the mistress of a famous composer. This beautifully made film has a sensitive delicacy that is unusual for Third Reich cinema. The cast – directed by the brilliant Helmut Käutner – is outstanding. Although Goebbles didn’t like this film very much, Käutner went on and made to other brilliant melodramas before the end of the war. Ferdinand Marian, best known for another film we sell, Jud Suss, is, as usual, brilliant.