***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This lavish production in Agfacolor, ordered by Goebbles himself, was made to mark the 25th anniversary of the German UFA-Studio. The film begins with a gala 18th century ball at the Bodenwerder castle by the jovial Baron Muenchhausen and his wife. There is a sudden lovers' quarrel between two of the guests. The young girl flees and jumps into her car. We have been viewing a costume party, and the period is very definitely the present. The baron and his much older wife attempt to reconcile the pair. He tells them of the adventures of his "ancestor", the fabulous Baron Muenchhausen, and the film goes into flashback, this time to the real 18th century. Muenchhausen and his servant Christian visit the baron's father, who is puzzled over Christian's invention of a rifle which can see and shoot a distance of 200 kilometers. After the visit the pair decides to go to Braunschweig at the invitation of the Prince of Brunswick to whom the Empress Catherine the Great has offered a command of a Russian regiment. The prince asks for Muenchhausen's help in convincing his lovely mistress Louise la Tour to make the trip, and when this is accomplished the group sets off for Russia. The dealings at the Russian courts are devious. The magician Cagliostro tries to enlist Muenchhausen in a plot against the empress, but without success. At a carnival the baron meets a young girl named Kaetchen who is later revealed to be the Catherine in disguise. Muenchhausen becomes Catherine's new lover, kindling the jealousy of the former favorite, Prince Potemkin, who challenges the baron to a duel, injuring him slightly. Muenchhausen goes to the sinister loking house of "Doctor" Cagliostro to have his wound treated, and while there warns Cagliostro that he is about to be arrested. Although the magician knows this, he rewards the baron with the secret of eternal youth, and also gives him a ring that will amke him invisible for one hour. As the secret police breaks into the house, Cagliostro escapes using magic to amke him invisible. Catherine soon tires of Muenchhausen and sends him to Turkey in command of a regiment. He is inadvertently shot on a cannonball to Constantinople where he becomes a prisoner of the sultan. After a period of imprisonment he is reunited with his servant, Christian. The baron is offered his freedom if he will convert to Moslem religion. He explains to the sultan that this would be impossible because he would have to drink water instead of wine, but the sultan tells him he does not really abstain - and gives a sample of his private stock of Tokay. Muenchhausen insists that the Tokay he drank at the palace of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna was twice as good. This leads to a bet in which the baron promises to provide the sultan with a bottle from Vienna in an hour. If he wins the bet he will have his freedom. Thanks to a wonderful runner, the bottle is produced, leading to a second wager. If the wine is indeed better than the sultan's, Muenchhausen will be rewarded with the beautiful Princess Isabella d'Este, a prisoner in the harem. Muenchhausen wins this bet too, but the Sultan reneges on his promise, attempting to pass off the aging Louisa la Tour as Isabella. Using the magic ring, the baron invades the harem, abducts the real princess, and sets sail for Venice. He learns that the girl's family had planned to marry her to an old man. She had fled the city but was abducted by pirates who sold her to the sultan. Her sudden return is no joy to the family, and her wicked brother Francesco has her kidnapped a second time and locked up in a convent. Muenchhausen fights a duel with Francesco that results in the latter's clothes being cut to ribbons. Muenchhausen and Christian, with the d'Este family in pursuit, escape Venice in a balloon conveniently anchored in the Grand Canal. Their vehicle takes them to the moon. There, in a surrealist landscape, Christian ages and dies, because one day is equal to a year on earth - but Muenchhausen is, of course, immortal. His gloom is dispelled by the presence of the wife of the Man in the Moon. She can be in two places at the same time by separating her head from her body. But even her charms soon pale, and the baron returns to Germany. The scene now shifts back to the present (presumably the 1930s) where Muenchhausen tell the startled young couple that he and his distinguished "ancestor" are one and the same. Thoroughly frightend, they flee the castle. The baroness, having observed that her husband is attracted to the girl, tells him to follow his new love. Instead, he renounces the gift of eternal youth to grow old with her.
This film has been a favorite of mine since my childhood. Therefore, I can highly recommend it. In my opinion, this version is much better than the 1988 offering by Terry Gillian.
This film has been a favorite of mine since my childhood. Therefore, I can highly recommend it. In my opinion, this version is much better than the 1988 offering by Terry Gillian.