"Robinson soll nicht sterben" or "The Legend of Robinson Crusoe" or "The Girl and the Legend" is a west German German-language movie from 1957, so it will have its 60th anniversary next year. The film runs for slightly under 90 minutes and was directed by Josef von Báky based on a play by Friedrich Forster-Burggraf. The former was one of Germany's really successful filmmakers at that point, so it should not be a surprise to anybody that he got 2 of Germany's biggest young stars at that point on board, namely Romy Schneider (the lead) and Horst Buchholz (her co-lead). This film came out around the time the Sissi trilogy ended and as with other Schneider works, this is (despite its age) a film in color. Buchholz plays once again the German version of Marlon Brando in a character that is a bit of a brute and hangs around with the wrong people. Luckily, he has Schneider's character (and a bunch of kids) to save the day for him. Yes Schneider plays a girl named Maud and as in all her other works, she is a bit of a saint (no pun intended to Eva Marie / Waterfront) who personifies warmth, altruism and innocence as she pretty much always does.
As for the film itself, I was not impressed. Not at all. The two stars play characters that are really stereotypical for them, but bring nothing really new to the table and the script, story and plot are also not doing them any justice when it comes to letting them put their talent on display. Also on boards are established German actors like Romy's mother Magda, Gustav Knuth and even Gert Froebe plays a small role. Sadly too insignificant to really make a difference. People who love relatively old German films (from after Nazi Germany and the silent film era) will see a handful familiar faces in here. But even to those, it it difficult for me to recommend the watch. I personally did not see anything memorable or even special in these 1.5 hours. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
As for the film itself, I was not impressed. Not at all. The two stars play characters that are really stereotypical for them, but bring nothing really new to the table and the script, story and plot are also not doing them any justice when it comes to letting them put their talent on display. Also on boards are established German actors like Romy's mother Magda, Gustav Knuth and even Gert Froebe plays a small role. Sadly too insignificant to really make a difference. People who love relatively old German films (from after Nazi Germany and the silent film era) will see a handful familiar faces in here. But even to those, it it difficult for me to recommend the watch. I personally did not see anything memorable or even special in these 1.5 hours. I give it a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.