Münchhausen

Joseph Goebbels commissioned the star-studded spectacle for UFA’s 25th anniversary in 1943. It was intended to demonstrate the efficiency of the isolated German film industry. When it was decided to adapt Rudolf Erich Raspe's Münchhausen, UFA commissioned Erich Kästner, who was banned by the Nazi regime, to write the script under a pseudonym. The film follows a charismatic Baron as he journeys through 18th-century Europe, juggling the political and human forces that rule it: the Czar of Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the Venetian court, and even on the moon. Liberal Kästner managed to sneak some critical sentences and opinions into the work. According to Wikipedia, after watching segments of the film, Hitler's order was to never work with Kästner again. From the distance of time, this film is problematic because it is so good. Münchhausen was the third film shot in Germany using Agfa's color raw material, and the result is spectacular. Goebbels, who sought to entertain the masses and distract them from the war, lavished budgets that brought the level of design to perfection. The presence of Hans Albers in the lead role gives the film elegance and wit, so watching the film through contemporary eyes is a combination of admiration and averseness. 

A film from the holdings of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung (www.murnau-stiftung.de) in Wiesbaden