by Hal Erickson
synopsis
This German melodrama is set in the Paris of some hundred years ago. It is a tale of two brothers: Robert (Paul Dahlke), a gentleman thief, and Pierre (Richard Haueseler), a less gentlemanly prefect of police. It is understood that neither brother will intrude upon the province of the other. But rules are made to be broken, especially when women are involved. Kaethe Dorsch delivers the film's best performance as Robert and Pierre's mother. There are subplots aplenty during the film's 100-minute running time, but things never get too confusing, not even in the English-dubbed version. Der Bagnostraefling was written and directed by Gustav Froelich, a well-known German actor whose previous credits included Fritz Lang's Metropolis,
