Champagne & Caviar: Four Weimar Comedies (1931-1932)

Flicker Alley is one of the most interesting movie distributors going, as well as one of my favorite labels. Over the years, they've released a remarkable number of outstanding silent and early sound films with more to come. 

Coming in June is Champagne & Caviar: Four Weimar Comedies (1931-1932) which features a film directed by none other than actor Fritz Kortner, who played Dr. Ludwig Schön opposite Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box. I didn't know Kortner directed films, and as I find him an interesting film personality, I am interested to see Der brave Sünder (The Upright Sinner), one of the four films on this new set. Here's an image from Pandora's Box depicting the two actors. It's followed by what's been announced about this forthcoming release.

Champagne & Caviar: Four Weimar Comedies (1931-1932)

Die Privatsekretärin (The Private Secretary) / 1931
Directed by  Wilhelm Thiele / 80 minutes / 1.19:1 / Monaural / Germany

Der brave Sünder (The Upright Sinner) / 1931
Directed by Fritz Kortner / 88 minutes / 1.19:1 / Monaural / Germany

Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (The Trunks of Mr. O.F.) / 1931
Directed by Alexis Granowsky / 78 minutes / 1.19:1 / Monaural / Germany

Ich bei Tag und du bei Nacht (I By Day, You By Night) / 1932
Directed by Ludwig Berger / 96 minutes / 1.19:1 / Monaural / Germany

2-DISC BLU-RAY EDITION

Flicker Alley is honored to present four musical comedies from the late years of the Weimar Republic, showcasing the “champagne and caviar” days of German cinema, a stark contrast to the dawn of one of history’s darkest periods.

These innovative and oft-risqué works feature some big screen stars, such as Peter Lorre, Hedy Lamarr, and Renate Müller, whose starring role in The Private Secretary was once thought partially lost after all prints of her films were ordered to be destroyed by the Nazi regime. A miraculous discovery of two surviving 16mm prints at the Library of Congress now allows us to experience Müller’s charismatic leading performance after decades of silence.

While the films themselves are wholly mirthful, they are also case studies of an exuberantly artistic era that championed self-expression and creative freedoms, before the extraordinary flame was snuffed out.

Feature Films Include:

Die Privatsekretärin (The Private Secretary) (1931) - Renate Müller plays the title role in director Wilhelm Thiele’s workplace comedy (adapted from the 1905 novel by István Szomaházy) about a young woman who goes to work in a bank office in search of a wealthy husband.

Der brave Sünder (The Upright Sinner) (1931) - Max Pallenberg stars as Leopold Pichler, a haplessly dedicated banker tasked with transporting money to Vienna, but who is unknowingly part of a larger financial scheme on the part of his boss. Directed by Fritz Kortner, The Upright Sinner is based on Alfred Polgar’s play The Embezzlers, in turn based on the novel by Valentin Kataev.

Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (The Trunks of Mr. O.F.) (1931) - Directed by Alexis Granowsky and starring Peter Lorre (arriving on the heels of his star making turn in Fritz Lang’s M) and Hedy Lamarr, The Trunks of Mr. O.F. follows a small German town that turns itself upside down in order to impress an imagined visitor whose extravagant luggage has arrived at the local hotel.

Ich bei Tag und du bei Nacht (I By Day, You By Night) (1932) - Ludwig Berger directs the charming romance between Grete (Käthe von Nagy) and Hans (Willy Fritsch), two boarders who rent the same room, one during the day and the other at night. A likely influence on Billy Wilder’s The Apartment, I By Day, You By Night is also infused with an all-singing, all-dancing celebration of the power of cinema.

This deluxe Blu-ray edition is made possible thanks to the generous underwriting and funding from the Sunrise Foundation for Education & the Arts and the Villa Aurora / Thomas Mann House, Inc. serving as fiscal sponsor, as well as the restorations efforts of Filmmuseum München, Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, and Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.

Bonus Materials Include:

• Audio Commentary for The Private Secretary - By Lukas Foerster, German film critic and programmer
• Audio Commentary for The Upright Sinner - By Nadine Rossol, Professor of Modern European History at Essex University, with additional insight by Lukas Foerster
  
• Audio Commentary for The Trunks of Mr. O.F. - By Angeana Hans, Professor of German Studies and affiliated faculty in Cinema and Media Studies at Wellesley College
• Audio Commentary for I By Day, You By Night - By Christian Rogowski, Professor in Language and Literature in the Department of German at Amherst College
• Souvenir Booklet - Featuring an essay by Lukas Foerster
• Reversible Cover Artwork
• All Region Encoding (A,B,C)

 THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.