''The Captain from Köpenick'' (german: Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, links=no) is a 1931 German

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

Richard Oswald Richard Oswald (5 November 1880 – 11 September 1963) was an Austrian film director, producer, screenwriter, and father of German-American film director Gerd Oswald. Early career Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began h ...

and produced by

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

. It is one of several films based on the 1931 play of the same name by

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was t ...

.Rentschler p. 166 The story centers on the Hauptmann von Köpenick affair in 1906. 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 Johan ...

in Berlin and on location in

Köpenick Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopt ...

. 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 ...

Franz Schroedter Franz Schroedter (9 May 1897 – 14 November 1968) was a German art director.Giesen p.212 Selected filmography * '' The Black Count'' (1920) * ''The Dance of Love and Happiness'' (1921) * ''The New Paradise'' (1921) * '' The Queen of Whitechapel ...

Plot

''Der Hauptmann von Köpenick'' is based on a true story that took place in Germany in 1906. A poor cobbler named

Wilhelm Voigt Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt (13 February 1849 – 3 January 1922) was a German impostor who, in 1906, masqueraded as a Prussian military officer, rounded up a number of soldiers under his "command", and "confiscated" more than 4,000 marks from a mu ...

purchased the second-hand uniform of a Prussian infantry captain. Wearing this, he travelled to the borough of

and ordered a troop of guardsmen to place themselves under his command. He then declared the town hall to be under military law, ordering the arrest of the mayor and treasurer and confiscating all the funds in the

exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...

. In this film version it's a considerable sum of 4,000

reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

s. Voigt's orders were obeyed without question and he temporarily got away with the caper, although he was eventually caught.

Cast

References

Bibliography

External links

*
The film on dvd
1931 films 1930s historical comedy-drama films German historical comedy-drama films German biographical films Biographical films about fraudsters German black-and-white films Films of the Weimar Republic 1930s German-language films Films set in 1906 Films set in Berlin Films about con artists Films directed by Richard Oswald Films produced by Gabriel Pascal German films based on plays Comedy films based on actual events Films based on works by Carl Zuckmayer Films shot at Johannisthal Studios Cultural depictions of Wilhelm Voigt 1930s German films {{1930s-Germany-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links