Vienna, City Of Songs

There's an old joke about the world's thinnest books: one of them is supposed to be One Thousand Years of German Humor. Never was that punchline better borne out than in this film. Director Richard Oswald has a hand like a foot as he attempts to place six comedians in search of a story. This is one of Germany's earliest sound films and the inexperience is evident, the recording ranging from shrill to mushy. It is especially poor in the singing sequences of Max Hamsen. The plot, even if you understand the Berliner German dialect, is thin at best, and the overplaying by all the actors, except for Ehrlich, is strictly from cornsville.