''Princess Trulala'' (german: Prinzessin Trulala) is a 1926 German
silent comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Erich Schönfelder
Erich Schönfelder (1885–1933) was a German screenwriter, actor, and film director of the silent film, silent and early sound film, sound eras. Early in his career he worked frequently with Ernst Lubitsch.
Selected filmography
Writer
* ''Shoe ...
and
Richard Eichberg
Richard Eichberg (27 October 1888 – 8 May 1952) was a German film director and producer. He directed 87 films between 1915 and 1949. He also produced 77 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Munich, Germ ...
and starring
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
,
Dina Gralla
Dina Gralla (born Hedwig Gralla; 15 January 1905 – 11 November 1994) was a German film actress.
Gralla was born Hedwig Gralla in Berlin to German parents. She received dance training in 1919 and performed as a ballet dancer at the revues at th ...
and
Harry Halm
Harry Halm (born Harry Hermann Hahn; 17 January 1901 – 22 November 1980) was a German film actor.
He was the son of director Alfred Halm and took acting lessons with Eduard von Winterstein and Hermann Vallentin. He began his stage career in 19 ...
. It was shot at the
Johannisthal Studios
The Johannisthal Studios were film studios located in the Berlin area of Johannisthal. Founded in 1920 on the site of a former airfield, they were a centre of production during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Nearly four hundred films were made at Joha ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. The film's sets were designed by
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 ...
Kurt Richter
Kurt Paul Otto Joseph Richter (24 November 1900 – 29 December 1969) was a German chess International Master and chess writer.
Chess achievements
In 1922, Richter for the first time won the Berlin City Chess Championship. In 1928, he tie ...
. As was common in her silent films, Harvey's heroine has to choose between several different suitors.
Plot
The young and wild Princess Trulala should finally get married! Her chosen one is the young and beautiful Prince Arnulf, whose father of the same name, the old Prince of Leinefeld, rules over a small empire. In order to get to know her groom better, Princess Trulala travels with her sister, Princess Hopsassa, both disguised as waitresses, to the residence of the young prince. The Prince too wants to get to know his bride better, and dresses up as a forester. Of course, as usual for a comedy of confusion of that time, this leads to all sorts of more or less funny misunderstandings.
Since the two waitresses are quite handsome, the village boys in Prince Arnulf's empire are now also beginning to develop interest in Trulala and Hopsassa, which in turn arouses plenty of displeasure among the village beauties of the country. When Trulala and Arnulf got to know each other better, they quickly take a liking to each other and want to escape the whole Tohuwabohu by tearing away to
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 old prince promptly leaves, believing that he has to free Arnulf junior from this improper "woman", this waitress. But eventually everything dissolves in pleasure, and Prince Arnulf gives his blessing to his son's marriage to that false "waitress", Princess Trulala. And quite en passé, the old man also finds pleasure in Trulala's sister Hopsassa, whom he finally leads home.
Cast
Reception
Writing for the ''Immortal Film''
Heinrich Fraenkel stated: "For
Richard Eichberg
Richard Eichberg (27 October 1888 – 8 May 1952) was a German film director and producer. He directed 87 films between 1915 and 1949. He also produced 77 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Munich, Germ ...
, it was agreed that the cinema audience would love nothing more than adventurous princesses who sit on cavalier knees, drink champagne and cause teasing stirs. How much he was right when his theory was proven by the success of the film ''Princess Trulala''".
[ Fraenkel, Heinrich. (1956) ''Die große Chronik von der Laterna Magica bis zum Tonfilm''. ''Immortal Film''. (in German). Munich. p. 358. .]
References
External links
*
Films of the Weimar Republic
German comedy films
German silent feature films
Films directed by Richard Eichberg
Films directed by Erich Schönfelder
German black-and-white films
1926 comedy films
Silent comedy films
Films shot at Johannisthal Studios
1920s German films
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