by Robert Firsching
synopsis
Director Paul Czinner cast his future wife, the talented Elisabeth Bergner, in her first sound feature as Ariane, a naive Russian girl going to school in Berlin. Ariane falls in love with the worldly Konstantin (Rudolf Forster), but he avoids women with little experience in life, so she pretends to be a sophisticate to win his affections. This amusing romantic comedy was remade by Billy Wilder as Love in the Afternoon (1957), but this version is better, primarily due to a delightful performance by Bergner in the lead.
characteristics
- Adulterer
- Adultery
- Extramarital-affair
- Love
- May-December-romance
- Star-crossed-lovers
- Faithfulness
- Fidelity
- Conflict