Kaisermanöver

One of the many Austrian films of the 50's that show a nostalgic and false portrayal of the Austrian-Hungarian empire and with a stuffy moral: just go for "kleines Glück" (little happiness) and everything will be alright. But it must also be said that this is a very amusing film (and that is what counts), very well designed and with beautiful dresses; and all this in excellent Agfacolor. There is witty dialogue, it is well paced (though the military parades seem to go on for hours) and well written; Franz Antel's direction is above his standard here.

The operetta and revue interludes are nice and the can-can is surely worth watching. The cast is fine (even Rudolf Prack is not as deathly as usual) and has fun. Two (very different) comics of the old guard are here: Hans Moser and Oskar Sima; both are good, but it is easy to see that Moser is the more natural one.