In December 1950 Curt Goetz and Valerie von Mertens were for the first time after their exile back on the German stages. Their first and immediate success was the play Das Haus in Montevideo. Obviously prompted by this, Curt Goetz adapted the play for film and took the direction in his own hands.
Went it all quickly, maybe? The adaptation went no further than adding a few scenes to give the impression that the play was now a film script. Goetz's direction is aimed at the play and the cast, not aimed at film direction. The result is that it is nothing more than a registration of the play, in which the humour and wit never gets the chance to rise to the surface. Now it is only important as documentation of Curt Goetz/Valerie von Merten's life and work.. Plain, sometimes less than that, cinematography add to the tedium.
An also not completely successful but far better adaptation was made by Helmut Käutner in 1963.
Went it all quickly, maybe? The adaptation went no further than adding a few scenes to give the impression that the play was now a film script. Goetz's direction is aimed at the play and the cast, not aimed at film direction. The result is that it is nothing more than a registration of the play, in which the humour and wit never gets the chance to rise to the surface. Now it is only important as documentation of Curt Goetz/Valerie von Merten's life and work.. Plain, sometimes less than that, cinematography add to the tedium.
An also not completely successful but far better adaptation was made by Helmut Käutner in 1963.