Caught in the Act
Director: Hans Schweikart
Screenplay: Ernst Marischka and Hans Schweikart
Producer: Heinrich Haas
Music: Peter Kreuder
Cinematography: Franz Koch
Country of production: Germany
Original language: German
Year of release: 1944
Running time: 87 minutes
Production company: Bavaria Filmkunst GmbH
Cast
Ferdinand Marian: Alfred Peters, engineer
Margot Hielscher: Inge Christensen, employee at the detective agency
Oskar Sima: Roland Schmidt, owner of a detective agency
Fritz Kampers: Georg, Alfred’s friend
André Mattoni: Erwin, Inge’s fiancé
Lizzi Holzschuh: Dagmar Karlsen, Alfred’s girlfriend
Jane Tilden: Fritzi
Alice Treff: Hella, Inge’s friend
Arthur Wiesner: Police officer
Joseph Offenbach: Head waiter at the restaurant
Viktor Afritsch: Floor waiter at the Hotel Bristol
“In flagranti” (Caught in the Act) is a 1944 German feature film in the screwball comedy genre, directed by Hans Schweikart. The leading roles were played by Ferdinand Marian, Margot Hielscher and Oskar Sima.
Plot
Dagmar Karlsen, a singer and the girlfriend of engineer Alfred Peters, has long had a nagging suspicion that he is cheating on her with another woman. She therefore visits Roland Schmidt’s detective agency so that he can launch an investigation into the matter. Unfortunately, there are no experienced detectives left in the office that evening, so Schmidt has no choice but to call upon Inge Christiansen, a young employee from the correspondence department. She is tasked with shadowing Peters on his business trip, which is due to start that very evening. To carry out this assignment, however, she has to postpone her planned holiday with her fiancé Erwin at short notice.
That same evening, Inge takes the same train as Peters. In her compartment, she happens to bump into her school friend Hella, with whom she sat her A-levels. Inge tells Hella about her first case as a detective. As they eat together in the dining car, she notices that Peters has also taken a seat there. The young detective seizes the opportunity to search Peters’ luggage in his compartment undisturbed. There, in his suitcase and briefcase, she discovers his fondness for various tin toy figures. However, as she leaves the compartment, she is surprised by Peters, who initially harbours no suspicion. It is only later, when he checks his luggage, that he realises his belongings have been searched and a tin figure is damaged. Naturally, he suspects Inge, whom he takes for a travelling thief.
During an 80-minute stopover, Peters gets off the train at the station to take a taxi to a restaurant. There he meets up with his friend and business partner Georg. Inge follows him there in another taxi. Peters reports that their joint bridge-building project has been approved by the supervisory board of Brückenbau AG and that nothing now stands in the way of the construction work going ahead. They arrange to meet the next day at the Hotel Bristol. During the meeting, Alfred Peters notices that Inge is also in the restaurant. He tells his friend Georg about his encounter with Inge on the train that evening and is certain that Inge is a thief or a spy. For this reason, after leaving the restaurant, he approaches a police officer and has Inge arrested on suspicion of being a criminal. At the police station, it later transpires that Inge has not committed any theft or similar offence. Instead, Alfred is arrested for making a false accusation. Because of her time at the police station, Inge has missed the train’s onward journey and has to book a hotel room for the night. Peters is also released and sneaks into the hotel where Inge is staying. All sorts of mix-ups and curious circumstances ensue, and the two grow closer. However, Inge had managed to send a telegram to Roland Schmidt, the owner of the detective agency. Her initial assessment is that, given the tin toy found at Peter’s home, it can be assumed that Peter has an ‘illegitimate’ child.
The next morning, they continue their journey by train. During the journey, Peters meets a young woman. Peters has no idea that Fritzi is his friend Georg’s fiancée. Inge makes another phone call to Roland Schmidt to give him an update, this time reporting that Peters has a lover (Fritzi) by his side. As a result, Alfred Peters’ girlfriend and detective Roland Schmidt fly to Inge Christiansen’s. Erwin, Inge’s fiancé, joins them.
At the Hotel Bristol, all three actually catch Alfred and Inge in the act, sharing a passionate kiss.
All the mix-ups and speculation are resolved over a dinner together. Erwin now finds himself drawn to Dagmar, Alfred Peters’ girlfriend, and Inge and Alfred also become a couple in the future. The supposed mistress (Fritzi) also turns out to be Georg’s fiancée.
