The Punch Bowl

Die Feuerzangenbowle is based on the familiar and often-filmed story idea of pupils playing various tricks and jokes on their teachers. An easy excuse for an avalanche of slapstick one might think and indeed we get our fair share.

The twist in the story is the leader of the pack, the major cause of the teachers' headaches: Johannes Pfeiffer. He is not a real pupil at all, instead a successful playwright with a PhD. One evening at the pub his friends discover that he never went to a school but was educated privately. Their stories of their boyhood years (and a bit too much alcohol) persuade him to see for himself and 'be a boy again'.

Die Feuerzangenbowle is the second film version of Heinrich Spoerl's novel. Heinz Rühmann played the lead in both films, which is somewhat surprising as they have been made ten years apart. Therefore he is a bit too old for his role now but still manages to pull it off quite convincingly.

The film was made in 1944, so it is a bit astonishing that the Nazi censors were prepared to pass a film with such an anti-authoritarian message. To keep them happy, Spoerl created one character, the teacher Brett, who displays authority and firmness and whom the pupils blindingly obey -- the sort of person you can easily imagine being in charge of an SS regiment. Still, Spoerl uses this very character to deliver a political message: when the teachers discuss how to get hold of the culprit of the most recent outrageous trick, one suggests that "there is always a 'friend' willing to talk", a clear reference to the wide-spread culture of denunciation in Nazi Germany. Brett replies "I hope we don't have any friends like this in our school."

Die Feuerzangenbowle is very well made and today enjoys a cult status in Germany (the 1944 version that is). However, most of the humour would not travel well at all, especially the clever use of accents and dialects is virtually untranslatable; a non-native speaker -- even somebody with a fair knowledge of German -- would miss most of it when watching the original.

It begins with a group of authors around a bowl of hot punch, reminiscing about their schooldays, the pranks they played, and how the teachers were all good guys anyway. Among their number is Heinz Rühmann, who never had schooldays. He was privately educated and is now a successful poet, novelist, and playwright. He decides he has missed much, so he shaves off his beard and mustache, cuts his hair, and dons a pair of glasses. He next joins a provincial school as a senior, and proceeds to indulge in all the tricks, japes, and escapades that he missed out on.

This is, of course, a chance for 41-year-old Rühmann to offer his audience a grand old time, as he evades the punishment for his skylarking by means of sophistry and taking advantage of the stultified decorum of the institution. His japes are funny, and that alone would be good enough. Yet take a look at the way the teachers are portrayed: a bit stuffy, but good-hearted and with the best interests of their pupils at heart, even if they often don't quite know how to do their jobs. We see the events through Rühmann's eyes, more experienced than his fellow students, and wiser than his unworldly teachers. It's a surprisingly warm comedy.

A German film from 1944 is suspect. What to expect?

A propaganda movie? There are some reviews who have discovered some elements of Nazi ideology deep down in the movie, but in general I would not call this a propaganda movie.

A comedy? That makes more sense! The war wasn't going very well for Germany at this point in time and the public public could use some entertainment to forget for a moment their everyday misery. The lead actor Heinz Ruhmann was an established comedy star in Germany from 1930 onwards.

The best characterization of the movie however is given by words like nostalgia ("sehnsucht" in German) and melancholy. Das dritte Reich has lost its glamour and the film longs for times gone by (the good old days). This is true for the main character (he longs back to his high school days) and for the film in total (it is situated around 1900).

The teachers ("Herr Professor" in German) are excentric and rather naive. There is no femme fatale in the movie, but one can imagine that they would have ended just like Professor Rath in "Der Blaue Engel" (1930, Josef von Sternberg) had there been one. For a moment the Nazi regime kept the drollery of the students for rebellion against the authority of the teachers and didn't give permission for the release of the film. It took a visit from Ruhmann to propaganda minister Goebbels to change his mind. One only has to compare "Die Feuerzangenbowle" with "Zero de conduite" (1933, Jean Vigo) to understand how exagerrated the fear of the Nazi regime was.

Germany was losing the war, its cities were being bombed to smithereens, so it's easy to see why Goebbels felt the need for quality escapist entertainment like this gentle, funny school comedy.

Heinz Ruhmann plays a successful writer who was educated by tutors and never attended school, and who decides to return to his hometown disguised as a pupil to find out what he missed. What ensues is a lot of sweet-natured tomfoolery, with lots of tricks played on the teachers - something which nearly got the film banned because of its supposedly 'anti-authoritarian' tendencies.

There's no real message except that 'schooldays are the best days of your lives', and perhaps that's its secret - for it remains among the most popular of all film comedies in Germany and is cult viewing around Christmas time. Ruhmann is in his element in this film, but particular mention should go to the wonderful Erich Ponto as the eccentric chemistry teacher, who is quite best thing in the film.

"Die Feuerzangenbowle" is absolutly one of the Best Movies ever and the Best German Movie at all. In my personal Ranking the "Feuerzangenbowle" is under my TOP 8 Movies. Between "The Life of Brian" it's the funniest Movie. It's made during the II. World War near Berlin. At one Time the British and US-Bomber came and at the other Time this Movie was made. Such a funny Movie in such a Dark Time. In the Beginning the Movie was forbidden by the Nazis but the they need every Laugh for the poor German Humans.

The Cast of this Movie it outstanding in the German History. There are not only Stars, no - but every Character is perfect casted. The leading Man Heinz Rühmann is the Best Actor in the History of German Movies. And here he has his Best Part before his Character-Time from the End of the 50s to the End of the 60s. He played the leading Role in the Oscar nominated Movie "The Captain of Koepenick" and a supporting Role - his only Hollywood Movie (he was too old this Time and don't wanted to leave Germany for longer Time) - Stanley Kramer's "The Ship of Fools". The "Halliwell's" means, he is Great in this Movie. It's truly sad for non-German speaking Persons that they can't see his Movies (you can but at the most important Countries like USA, UK, Canada, France, Japan and Australia are non-English or non-Motherlanguage not often shown and seen)

sorry for my bad English (I learn and try - learning by doing)