Der Raub der Mona Lisa

Willi Forst works at an art shop. He's called on to cover the Mona Lisa with glass to prevent its degradation. It's just another job, until he gets to look at the painting close up, then handle it, and then he's in love. He buys a copy and hangs it in his room. He spots Trude von Molo, a chambermaid, and is struck by her resemblance to the painting, and makes a play for her. He is neither rich nor famous, so she says no. So Forst decides to do something big: steal the real painting.

It's based on the real theft of the Mona Lisa in 1910. Before then, it wasn't the most famous painting in the world, just another well-regarded example of Leonardo da Vinci's work. Its theft made it famous, and rumors went about that it had been stolen by agents of J. P. Morgan or the Kaiser.

It makes a pleasant, mild comedy. Director Géza von Bolváry cannily does without much dialogue; Forst doesn't say a word until a dozen minutes in, even though others do, His silence gives him an air of anomie, and forces the audience to concentrate on his performance, and the moment he falls in love with the painting.

The real thief of the Mona Lisa, Vicenzo Peruggia, spent eight months in prison for the theft. Then the Great War broke out and everyone forgot about it, except that the Mona Lisa was now the most famous painting in the world.