Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Das doppelte Lottchen" or "Two Times Lotte" is a West German black-and-white film from 1950, so this movie is already over 65 years old. It is one of the two pretty famous works by director Josef von Báky and he also won a German Film Award for it, but the real star here is of course writer Erich Kästner, who also received a German Film Award, just like the movie itself that was honored as best of the year with the Golden Candlestick, the equivalent to the Lola back then. It runs for approximately 100 minutes and I cannot say I am too familiar with the cast here. But the lack of really well-known actors (at least by today's standards) is not the major problem here. The major problem is the writing and this is especially disappointing given Kästner's fame and the fact that he adapted the book himself. It is one major aspect that was frequently a problem, namely the complete lack of shades. All the characters were depicted as likable, except the lover of the girls' father who was depicted completely unlikable, so we would cheer for the parents getting together. It's really cheap and uninspired in my opinion and apart from that I cannot say that I liked the parents a lot. No matter how much they tried to justify it, there is no excuse for denying your daughter that she has not only a sister, but an identical twin. And I personally felt that the Günther twins also did not display the greatest range really. Not surprised at all that they stopped acting quickly. Peter Mosbacher was by far the one who gave the best performance in here. But he alone cannot make up for all the flaws with this movie. I do not recommend the watch and the Lohan (happy 30th birthday Linds!) version is for example far superior.

mnm1-1 This is a wonderful movie; so much better than any of the "Parent Traps" or "Charlie and Louise". Isa and Jutta Guenther are charming and the movie is quite well acted, both by the twins and the numerous other fine actors and actresses, many very well known in the German film industry.I think the twins look extraordinarily alike, except for one pose of the portraits they have taken together. I don't understand why the director chose the only one of those portraits in which the twins look different. We catch glimpses of the other poses in which the girls look identical. Too bad.Actually, the dream sequence is my least favorite part of the film. I think may favorite scene may be the false Lottchen's first (and only) disaster in the kitchen.I have only seen this film available in German with no subtitles.

marshalldj-1 Because it has been decades since I saw this on TV late at night while babysitting as a teenager, I don't remember all the details, but I think it had subtitles. Is an English subtitled version available on video or DVD? I would love to know. It was, in my memory superior to the Haley Mills version which came out later. How would I track down whether, indeed this is the one that was televised back then? And I wonder if the book has been translated into English. I will have to check on that.As I recall the black and white film that I saw, it wasn't quite as silly as the Disney one or the most recent one, but I am not sure.

MargheritaDTorbiera There have been many remakes of this movie, mainly in the US and in Germany, but this is the one and only real one!!! Following the book line by line, even the authors comments (given by the author Erich Kästner himself in the movie!) on what is happening, the story is highly enjoyable and more than touching! Set in Austria/southern Germany in the beginning fifties, the story about the unhappy divorce of the famous musician and conductor Ludwig Palffy and the hardworking (at that time!!!) mother/journalist Louiselotte Körner is ever so realistic. Don't let yourself being prejudiced by it's old appearance; this movie is worth watching! Sentiments and misunderstandings, a laugh and a cry, everything comes up. Here, the switch is kept up for at least a couple of weeks, with all the difficult situations to master. In the later movies, like the latest Parent Trap, how funny and nice that one is, the exchange doesn't last more than a few days. But these original Lotte and Louise had a REALLY hard time, keeping it up so long!To me, all the main characters are sympathetic, and that's a must in a movie like this. You really want them to get together again, and are so happy when they finally manage! With, as a symbol, Palffy's atelier moved to the condo next door, instead of somewhere else in the city.The only real minus is the fact that the twins Louise and Lotte don't really look alike. It's quite easy to tell them apart, and therefore rather strange that nobody notices. Their acting isn't all that fantastic either, but on the whole this movie is - at least in my opinion - the best parenttrapmovie ever made.