by Hal Erickson
synopsis
This self-conscious German "art" picture stars musical-comedy favorite Jenny Jugo, here doing a Marlene Dietrich imitation (before Dietrich had been "invented" by Josef Von Sternberg). Nearly plotless, the film concentrates on a group of low-lifes who hang out along the waterfront in Hamburg. There are the usual jealousies, petty squabbles and not-so-petty outbursts of violence. Heroine Jugo, her splendid singing voice unheard, comes off best under the circumstances, while Willy Fritsch and Fritz Rasp do their best to hold the audience's attention. The prints distributed to the U.S. were substandard, at least according to contemporary critics.
