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Comedian Harmonists (1997)

Director: Joseph Vilsmaier

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From Time Out Film Guide

The Comedian Harmonists were a popular German sextet of the late '20s/early '30s specialising in sentimental or smutty ditties (inventively arranged) with titles like 'My Little Green Cactus'. A showbiz saga with grisly historical trimmings, the film recounts the assembling of the poverty-stricken musicians during the Depression, their initial setbacks and eventual success; followed by personal tensions, exacerbated by the Nazi ascendancy - half the group being Jews - and their final break-up. It ought to be fascinating, and there are intriguing sidelights: their fans, embarrassingly, numbered the prominent anti-Semite Julius Streicher. But it's relentlessly routine, both on the personal and political level, though the director's affection for the Harmonists' music certainly comes across.

Author: BBa 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Joseph Vilsmaier

Producer: Hanno Huth, Reinhard Klooss, Danny Krausz

Cast: Ben Becker, Heino Ferch, Ulrich Noethen, Heinrich Schafmeister, Max Tidorf, Kai Wiesinger full cast

Genre(s): Musicals

Duration: 129 mins


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