''I Often Think of Piroschka'' (german: Ich denke oft an Piroschka) is a 1955 German

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Kurt Hoffmann Kurt Hoffmann (12 November 1910 – 25 June 2001) was a German film director, the son of Carl Hoffmann. He directed 48 films between 1938 and 1971. He ran a production company Independent Film along with Heinz Angermeyer. His 1958 film ' ...

and starring

Liselotte Pulver Liselotte Pulver (born 11 October 1929), sometimes credited as Lilo Pulver, is a Swiss actress. Pulver was one of the biggest stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, where she often was cast as a tomboy. She is well known for her hearty an ...

Gunnar Möller Gunnar Möller (1 July 1928 – 16 May 2017) was a German television and film actor. He appeared in over 160 film and television productions between 1940 and 2016. He was most successful as a leading man in German cinema of the 1950s, especially w ...

and

Wera Frydtberg Wera Frydtberg (11 August 1926 – 16 June 2008) was a German film actress, film and television actress. She appeared in ''I Often Think of Piroschka'' (1955) Her best known film ''Wir Wunderkinder'' (known in English as ''Aren’t We Wonderful?'' ...

. It was shot at the

Bavaria Studios Bavaria Studios are film production studios located in Munich, the capital of the region of Bavaria in Germany, and a subsidiary of Bavaria Film. History The studios were constructed in the suburb of Geiselgasteig in 1919 shortly after the Firs ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Ludwig Reiber Ludwig Reiber (1904–1979) was a German art director.Capua p.159 The veteran Reiber worked on film and television set design from the silent era to the early 1970s. He was employed by the Munich-based Bavaria Film at the Emelka Studios. He wor ...

. It is based on the novel of the same name by .

Plot

The frame story shows Andreas, a middle aged man, sitting in a train and reminiscing about "Piroschka". The main story starts with him as a young university student on a boat in the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, on his way to spend several weeks with a host family in the small Hungarian village of Hódmezővásárhely-Kutasipuszta. On board he meets and befriends fellow German Greta, who is on her way to a vacation on

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

. When the boat arrives in Budapest, they spend the evening together, with Andreas falling for Greta. After their romantic dinner and stroll is disturbed by an intrusive fiddler, they part ways but promise to contact each other. The next day, after a long train ride, Andreas arrives at Hódmezővásárhely-Kutasipuszta and is cordially welcomed by his hosts, doctor Johann von Csíky and his wife Ilonka, and by many others, e.g.

station master The station master (or stationmaster) is the person in charge of a railway station, particularly in the United Kingdom and many other countries outside North America. In the United Kingdom, where the term originated, it is now largely historical ...

István. The next day, when exploring the village and taking pictures, Andreas, who does not speak Hungarian, meets a feisty girl who does not answer his questions in German. Believing her not to speak his language, he makes several snarky remarks regarding her looks and behavior. When he learns that the girl, who is István's daughter Piroschka, is in fact the best student of German in the village and understood him perfectly, he is embarrassed. But Piroschka does not seem to mind and happily accompanies him to a feast he and his hosts are invited to. During the celebration, she coaxes him to dance the

Csárdás Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary and neighboring l ...

with her. They have a great time and, in the next weeks, spend much time together, e.g. teaching each other their respective languages. Andreas begins to develop feelings for her. One day a postcard from Greta arrives, inviting him to visit her in

Siófok Siófok (; german: Fock; la, Fuk) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest municipality in Somogy County and the seat of Siófok District. It covers an area of about 124.66 km2 (48.1 ...

. This leaves Andreas conflicted. He tries to keep the contents of the postcard secret from Piroschka and takes the earliest train the next morning. But Piroschka has read the postcard and sneaks onto the same train, following Andreas to the hotel in Siófok. When he meets Greta there, they both notice Piroschka. After some confusion, Andreas and Greta tell Piroschka to take the next train back but agree to spend the day together until the train leaves. In the evening, Piroschka again convinces Andreas to dance the Csárdás with her and Greta notices how happy he seems. Piroschka misses the evening train and Greta agrees to let her sleep in her room. During the night, Piroschka slips out and into Andreas' room, where she tearfully apologizes for his trouble and then leaves. The next morning, Greta tells Andreas that she knows he loves Piroschka. He rushes back home but is told that Piroschka does not want to meet him. Andreas spends the last days of his vacation depressed. On his last night he meets Piroschka at another celebration, but she ignores him. Only after they are left alone together by a supportive Johann, they reconcile. But Piroschka soon has to leave to bring her drunk father home. Both are heartbroken that Andreas has to leave the next morning. But when his

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than Local train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...

passes the town again the same night, Piroschka has manipulated the

railway signal A railway signal is a visual display device that conveys instructions or provides warning of instructions regarding the driver’s authority to proceed. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly. Typically, a signal mi ...

s so that the train stops and she can "kidnap" him from the train. They spend the night together and Andreas promises to come back next year. The frame story then ends with Andreas explaining that he never was able to return but that this way he will always remember Piroschka as "young and sweet."

Cast

as Piroschka Rácz *

as Andreas *

as Greta *

Gustav Knuth Gustav Knuth (7 July 1901 – 1 February 1987) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1935 and 1982 and starred in the TV series '' Alle meine Tiere''. He was married to the actress Elisabeth Lennartz. Selected ...

as István Rácz *

Rudolf Vogel Rudolf Vogel (born 10 November 1900, Planegg – died 9 August 1967, Munich) was a German film and television actor. He was the father of Peter Vogel, the father-in-law of Austrian actress Gertraud Jesserer and the grandfather of actor-journalis ...

as Sándor *

Adrienne Gessner Adrienne Gessner (23 July 1896 – 23 June 1987) was an Austrian actress. Gessner appeared in over fifty film and television shows during her career, including the 1955 costume film '. Gessner appeared in a mixture of German and Austrian films dur ...

as Ilonka von Csiky *

Annie Rosar Annie Rosar (May 17, 1888 – August 5, 1963) was an Austrian stage and film actress who is best remembered today for her appearances in many Austrian comedy films from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In those movies, she was frequently cast in the ...

as hotel keeper Márton * Margit Symo as Etelka Rácz * as Johann von Csiky * as a priest *Eva Karsay as Judith

Reception

The film is in the

heimatfilm ' (, German for "homeland-films"; German singular: ') were films of a genre popular in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. ''Heimat'' can be translated as "home" (in the geographic sense), "hometown" or "homela ...

tradition which was at its height when the film was released. It was extremely popular, and Pulver became closely identified with her role as the title character Piroschka.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0048193 1955 romantic comedy films German romantic comedy films West German films Films based on German novels Films directed by Kurt Hoffmann Films set in Hungary Films set in the 1920s Bavaria Film films 1950s German films 1950s German-language films Films shot at Bavaria Studios