This film's title merits some explanation. Technically, the German word for a 50-mark banknote is "Fünfziger" (mit umlaut), but in informal speech this is often rendered as "Fuffziger" (ohne umlaut). Literally, "ein falscher Fuffziger" means "a false (counterfeit) 50-mark note", but in German slang "ein falscher Fuffziger" is usually applied figuratively to a person, to indicate that he or she is phony or dishonest. Just as Americans will refer to a certain sort of individual as "a three-dollar bill", Germans will refer to a fraudulent person as "a phony fifty". In this very interesting movie, the title seems meant both literally and figuratively.
I wish I knew what the 1935 exchange rates were, so that I could tell you what 50 German marks might equal in dollars or sterling of that time. I do know that the weekly wage in 1935 for a typical German worker -- such as Christa Bach, the heroine of this film -- was significantly less than 50 marks. In 1935 Germany, 50M banknotes were comparatively rare, so the average citizen (seldom handling the genuine article) would be unfamiliar with them and mightn't readily spot a fake.
Mr Wallner and Mrs Strachwitz are partners in crime: he counterfeits 50-mark notes, and she passes them. Her favoured method is to make a small purchase in a busy shop, paying for the item with a fifty and demanding more than 45 marks' change whilst the cashier is too distracted to inspect the banknote properly. When she does this in the appliance shop where pretty young Christa works the till, Mrs Strachwitz haughtily claims to be Frau Plüschkow, the wife of the local privy councillor.
When Christa discovers that the banknote is boodle, she realises that she is now responsible for the shop's loss: more than her weekly wage! Rather than doubting Frau Plüschkow's honesty, Christa assumes that the councillor's wife must have passed the bad note in good faith ... and will surely make it good. However, when she brings the counterfeit to the very posh plush Plüschkow residence, the real Frau Plüschkow (honestly) denies all knowledge of it. Thinking that Christa is accusing her of falsehood or theft or worse, the councillor's wife indignantly has Christa tossed into the street.
Reluctantly, Christa makes good the shop's loss from her own meagre funds, and she puts aside the bad banknote ... intending to hold it for a few years until her now-infant nephew is old enough to appreciate it as a novelty present. But the note accidentally gets back into circulation, and complications ensue.
SPOILERS COMING: The privy councillor and his wife have a handsome son George who is a bank director, and therefore very interested in banknotes both true and false. So, guess how this movie ends for Christa.
There are several excellent performances here, not least from the pretty Lucie Englisch as Christa Bach. I found her character's surname distracting, since "bach" in Wales (literally "little" in Welsh) is a term of endearment. Käthe Haack and Theo Lingen are quite good as, respectively, Christa's sister and brother-in-law.
I must strongly disagree with IMDb reviewer Thursdays (any relation to the Man Who Was Thursdays?), who stated that it "was rare during this period" for a German film to lack Nazi propaganda or political references. I'm no defender of the Third Reich, but the historic truth is that most of the movies produced in Germany during Hitler's reign were in fact NOT propaganda movies ... and the ones that were propaganda nearly always avoided explicit Nazi references, preferring to cite earlier figures in Germany's history, such as Schiller or Goethe. 'The Phony Fifty' is an excellent film, quite entertaining, and while watching this 1935 German production it is indeed quite easy not to think of Nazism at all. I'll rate this one 8 out of 10.
I wish I knew what the 1935 exchange rates were, so that I could tell you what 50 German marks might equal in dollars or sterling of that time. I do know that the weekly wage in 1935 for a typical German worker -- such as Christa Bach, the heroine of this film -- was significantly less than 50 marks. In 1935 Germany, 50M banknotes were comparatively rare, so the average citizen (seldom handling the genuine article) would be unfamiliar with them and mightn't readily spot a fake.
Mr Wallner and Mrs Strachwitz are partners in crime: he counterfeits 50-mark notes, and she passes them. Her favoured method is to make a small purchase in a busy shop, paying for the item with a fifty and demanding more than 45 marks' change whilst the cashier is too distracted to inspect the banknote properly. When she does this in the appliance shop where pretty young Christa works the till, Mrs Strachwitz haughtily claims to be Frau Plüschkow, the wife of the local privy councillor.
When Christa discovers that the banknote is boodle, she realises that she is now responsible for the shop's loss: more than her weekly wage! Rather than doubting Frau Plüschkow's honesty, Christa assumes that the councillor's wife must have passed the bad note in good faith ... and will surely make it good. However, when she brings the counterfeit to the very posh plush Plüschkow residence, the real Frau Plüschkow (honestly) denies all knowledge of it. Thinking that Christa is accusing her of falsehood or theft or worse, the councillor's wife indignantly has Christa tossed into the street.
Reluctantly, Christa makes good the shop's loss from her own meagre funds, and she puts aside the bad banknote ... intending to hold it for a few years until her now-infant nephew is old enough to appreciate it as a novelty present. But the note accidentally gets back into circulation, and complications ensue.
SPOILERS COMING: The privy councillor and his wife have a handsome son George who is a bank director, and therefore very interested in banknotes both true and false. So, guess how this movie ends for Christa.
There are several excellent performances here, not least from the pretty Lucie Englisch as Christa Bach. I found her character's surname distracting, since "bach" in Wales (literally "little" in Welsh) is a term of endearment. Käthe Haack and Theo Lingen are quite good as, respectively, Christa's sister and brother-in-law.
I must strongly disagree with IMDb reviewer Thursdays (any relation to the Man Who Was Thursdays?), who stated that it "was rare during this period" for a German film to lack Nazi propaganda or political references. I'm no defender of the Third Reich, but the historic truth is that most of the movies produced in Germany during Hitler's reign were in fact NOT propaganda movies ... and the ones that were propaganda nearly always avoided explicit Nazi references, preferring to cite earlier figures in Germany's history, such as Schiller or Goethe. 'The Phony Fifty' is an excellent film, quite entertaining, and while watching this 1935 German production it is indeed quite easy not to think of Nazism at all. I'll rate this one 8 out of 10.