Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Zum Teufel mit der Penne" is as the (complete) title already says the second movie from the German Lümmel film series from the 1960s and 1970s. The director here is the successful Werner Jacobs and the writer is the equally successful (if not more) Franz Seitz. The cast includes a handful names who are still really popular today in Germany. Every German film buff knows Hans Kraus, Peter Alexander, Heintje, Hannelore Elsner, Theo Lingen and Willy Millowitsch, at least their names. So you can certainly say this 90-minute film has a star-studded cast. The story and film itself is probably not on par with these big names, but it is still a satisfying watch. And this is mostly because the film does not take itself seriously at all, even in the more dramatic moments. Yes the inclusion of Heintje early on was extremely random and just as a crowd pleaser as he added nothing to the story, but the music was nice, also by Peter Alexander and that made me deal with it easily. And one actor I have not mentioned yet is Rudolf Schündler as Knörz, who is just so much fun to watch in all his scenes. I would have liked to have Lingen more screen time just like he did in the first, but it's fine and the film works as a Peter Alexander showcase too, because of the great range he has. And luckily for audiences Hans Kraus (not a great actor honestly) did not get so much screen time this time and still (or maybe because of that) he was improved compared to the original film. I think this was a decent watch and recommend it. Many more films should follow. Lets see how these are.
