"13 Stühle" or "13 Chairs" is a German black-and-white film from 1938, so this movie will have its 80th anniversary 2 years from now. If you see the year, you will realize immediately that this was made during the years of Nazi Germany, actually shortly before the outbreak of World War II and still there is not really any propaganda in here, just like it is the case with most Heinz Rühmann films. He was a very unpolitical actor. The biggest influence here probably concerns the writers. This film is based on a work by Soviet Jews originally and these were not credited due to their religion. Actually, there exist many versions of this story from all kinds of countries. Rühmann gets help in this 85-minute film by his co-lead Hans Moser, possibly the most famous Austrian actor of his time. Annie Rosar, probably the biggest female lead here, was also a successful and prolific actress playing Moser's character's wife in here. It is the story of a man who inherits 13 chairs and sells them right away not knowing that one of them contains a fortune. The entire film is about getting the chairs back and finding the one char that makes him rich. But is money really everything? The film results in a very happy ending, not only for the two likable protagonists, but also for an orphanage. I am not the biggest fan of Rühmann's early works, but usually prefer his later movies. This one is an exception though, a pretty decent watch and I give it a thumbs-up.
Review of 13 Stühle
