Long before he played the corpulent Goldfinger, German actor Gert Froebe was a scarecrow-skinny comedian. In Berliner Ballade, Froebe makes his screen debut as Otto, a feckless Everyman who tries to adjust to the postwar travails of his defeated nation. Stymied by black-market profiteers and government bureaucrats, Otto begins fantasizing about a happier life at the end of that ever-elusive rainbow. Director R. A. Stemmle doesn't have to strive for pathos: he merely places his gangly star amidst the ruins of a bombed-out Berlin, and the point is made for him. Filmed in 1948, Berliner Ballade was later released in the U.S. as The Berliner.
Unfortunately the movie The Berliner is not yet available on HBO Max.
Directing | Robert A. Stemmle | Director |
Writing | Günter Neumann | Writer |
Production | Alf Teichs | Producer |
Production | Heinz Rühmann | Producer |
Camera | Georg Krause | Director of Photography |
Editing | Walter Wischniewsky | Editor |
Art | Gabriel Pellon | Production Design |
Sound | Werner Eisbrenner | Music |
Sound | Günter Neumann | Music |
Costume & Make-Up | Gertraud Recke | Costume Design |
Production | Werner Drake | Production Manager |
Production | Bruno Michalk | Unit Manager |
Production | Martin Sternberg | Unit Manager |
Sound | Hans Löhmer | Sound |