''The Captain from Köpenick'' () is a 1931 German

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

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 life and career Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, ...

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. His first two dramas were failures. In 1929, he wrote the script ...

.Rentschler p. 166 The story centers on the Hauptmann von Köpenick affair in 1906. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios 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 ado ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

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

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 Wilhelm Voigt (13 February 1849 – 3 January 1922) was a German con man and impostor. In his most famous exploit, Voigt masqueraded as a military officer of the elite Prussian Guards in 1906, rounding up a number of Imperial German Army soldi ...

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 (United Kingdom), 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 ''Transaction account, current account'' (i.e., mon ...

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

reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

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-drama 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 German-language biographical films German-language comedy-drama films {{1930s-Germany-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links