Epic musical theater with Hildegard Knef and Curd Jürgens
On February 8th, 1963 the time had come: the German-French film adaptation of the DREIGROSCHENOPER / THREEPENNY OPERA by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill premiered in the GLORIA-Palast in Munich. Directed by Wolfgang Staudte and produced by Kurt Ulrich, the film was shot in the Berlin-Tempelhof studio with a huge cast of stars. The plot is largely taken from the play, the music was adapted somewhat to contemporary tastes with a larger orchestra.
The plot about the criminal Mackie Messer (Curd Jürgens), who is up to mischief in London at the turn of the century, can be assumed to be familiar. The cast is more interesting anyway. Lino Ventura plays the police chief Brown, June Ritchie can be seen as Mackie's bride Polly Peachum, whose parents are played by Hilde Hildebrand (Große Freiheit No. 7) and Gert Fröbe (GOLDFINGER!). Walter Giller, Siegfried Wischnewski and Erna Haffner appear in smaller roles. A casting coup from Hollywood is at the start as the moral singer: Sammy Davis Jr. Sings Brecht and Weill as if he had never done anything else.
And then Hildegard Knef (Decision Before Dawn)! Stepped in for Giulietta Masina, who was actually supposed to shoot her third film for Kurt Ulrich. Of course, Hilde was a better fit! Of course she sings the song about the dive bar Jenny and the pimp ballad together with Curd Jürgens (The Spy Who Loved Me). You simply have to see and hear this!
563,000 tickets were sold in the West German box office. It couldn't have been because of the star line-up. The lack of popularity was more likely due to the fact that the image quality and coloring could no longer meet the standards of "Der Schatz im Silbersee / Treasure in the Silver Lake" (1962). But the film is definitely worth seeing, not just for educated people and theater goers!
