Maria Nicklisch

In a transport museum, the items on display begin to tell their stories. Most interesting is the history of the Pullman car. In the beginning, it served as transport for a princely family; then became the headquarters car for the military high command; and then, most adventurous of all, it ended up with a circus. Converted to a bar, it finally had its day and was supposed to serve as a placard carrier. Luckily, the museum saved it from this sad fate.

The setting is Lugano (Switzerland), where an apparently very important world conference takes place. The film tells the story of the young Kitty (Hannelore Schroth), who works as a manicurist at the Eden Hotel, and who in the course of events gets to know both a young journalist (Christian Gollong) and the English minister of economics (Fritz Odemar). A lot of wild mix-ups, comic situations, a love story and occasional singing ensue, and in the end most of the VIPs have gained their share of laughter… There’s also a great performance by Paul Hörbiger as the hotel porter. For a 1939 film made in Germany, “Kitty” is remarkably irreverent and satirical about politics.

Der siebente Junge

Comrades

The bizarre story of a play's development at Munich's Kammerspiele theatre.