Hans Henninger

The wintry mountainscapes of Bavaria provide the backdrop for this airy German comedy. The story is set in motion when young clerk Boenecke (Richard Romanowsky) accidentally delivers a check to the wrong bank. Boenecke's boss Schumann (Walter Steinbeck) suspects the clerk of embezzlement -- especially since our hero has taken off on an extended Alpine vacation with his sweetheart Hilde (Magda Schneider). Before this comic chain reaction can be straightened out, hero and heroine have become entangled with a gang of female pickpockets. Essentially a "moonlight and strudel" confection, Winterachtstraum was perfect escapist entertainment for Magda Schneider's legions of fans.

Flanders, Hispanic Monarchy, 1616. The inhabitants of the small town of Boom are busy organizing the annual local festivities when the arrival of the Duke of Olivares, who rules the country on behalf of the King Philip III of Spain, is announced. While the male citizens cowardly surrender to panic, the brave female citizens decide to become the best hosts the Spaniards can ever meet. (German version of the French film La Kermesse héroïque, 1935.)

This 1936 film tells the story of the doings of foreign agents in Germany and their allies among the German population. Having placed an ad in a local paper looking for "contact with bigwigs in German industry", enemy agents Morris and Geyer end up making contact with an engineer named Brockau. Brockau has developed an improvement in turning oil into gasoline and that's just what these enemy agents are looking for. Brockau, for his part, needs money, because his girlfriend is a selfish cow who demands more and more toys and trinkets, which has put our naive little nerd deep into debt. Brockau, however, is not the only unwitting maroon to fall into the clutches of the evil agents: the former bank agent Hans Klemm, now doing his service in the Wehrmacht, ends up being contacted by an agent from the other side and ends up getting blackmailed into working for them.

De jeunes téléphonistes français et allemands sont régulièrement en contact pour les nécessités de leur service. Malgré la barrière de la langue, ils finissent par se comprendre et par sympathiser. Une jeune opératrice tombe ainsi amoureuse de son collègue qu'elle n'a jamais vu. Les deux jeunes gens vont se chercher dans les deux capitales.