Henker, Frauen und Soldaten (1935)

                                HANGMEN, WOMEN AND SOLDIERS

This film we find interesting for a number of reasons. First, it stars the famous  and hugely popular "blond Hans" -- Hans Albers,  in a double-role as a German pilot in and after WWI and as his look–alike first cousin, a Bolshevik Commander. Second, it is one of a very few films which dealt with the Freikorps fight against Bolshevism in "the East" after the defeat of Germany in WWI. Third, it is a fine production with an excellent Cast, Director (Johannes Meyer, shown left), and high production values. Fourth, it is a film which has never been re-released in cinemas, nor issued on VHS or DVD. The only 'pirate' prints circulating on DVD are poor quality, and have scenes missing. One such scene was restored by an enthusiast by inserting footage found only in a Third Reich "home video" issued in 8mm !  It is almost unwatchable. Lastly, we have not only one but two different original 1935 German posters for the film, as well as some very rare lobby cards and a cinema programme to share here.

The Catalogue of Forbidden Features and Short Film Productions has this synopsis:

At the end of the '14 - '18 war a famous German Air Ace is captured by the English in the Middle East. He escapes and returns to Germany. After the war Germany is in chaos, debauchery becomes the rule of the day. The Ace wants none of this and, learning of the battles with the Bolshewiks in the East, goes there to offer his services. He meets a Russian woman Spy and they fall in love. The Commander of the Bolshewiks is his cousin and they look identical. In a duel he kills his cousin and goes to the Bolshewik camp as their Commander. The Spy is there, she loves him, but her duty to her Fatherland comes first and she denounces him. He escapes, however, and leading his troops across a boggy moor, they surprise the enemy and destroy them. Both the Ace and the Spy are killed in the fighting.

 The  4-page cinema programme text reads:

The film begins in 1918 on the Palestine front. We see how the sparse German troops heroically defend themselves against the Anglo-Arab superiority. One fighter pilot, Michael von Prack, stands out in particular. Forced by a lack of fuel, he has to make an emergency landing, with his opponent, an English fighter pilot named Mac Callum, whose plane he set on fire, with him. After a horrific thirst hike through the desert with Mac Callum, Prack is taken prisoner by the English. There he learns of Germany's collapse and manages to escape home on an English plane. In Königsberg he gets to know the post-war frenzy and, disgusted by this activity, he joins a volunteer force that manfully keeps watch against the Bolshevik superiority in the East. With his troops he comes across the army department of his Russian cousin Alexej von Prack, a former tsarist officer who made himself available to the Bolsheviks. - Alexei looks surprisingly similar to Michael and has often been mistaken for him in peacetime.

 Alexei v. Prack is the lover of a Russian woman, Vera Ivanovna, whom Michael von Prack also met in Germany, without him knowing that she is in the service of Russian espionage and Alexej von Prack. Vera has learned to love Michael, but is still under Alexei's spell. When he finds out about her relationship with Michael, his fight against him also becomes personal. He decides to destroy the rival and his troops. He almost succeeds in this. He invites Michael to a meeting, but the two cousins clash.

 Michael knocks out Alexei in a sabre duel. - Found by a Russian department - and mistaken because of his resemblance to Alexe  - he ends up in the Russian headquarters and there sees the plans of his fallen opponent. Nevertheless, the Russian Chief Inspector - to whom Vera reveals the situation - the suggestion is made to continue as Alexej v. In order to serve in the Russian army, he turns down the offer for patriotic reasons. He manages to escape and uses his knowledge of the Russian situation to lead his troops to victory. However, he was seriously wounded during the pursuit by the Russians and, at his request, was left alone by his forward-rushing troops. With the awareness that he had rendered a great service to his fatherland despite the greatest personal sacrifices, he experienced the most overwhelming victory of his German army division.

 Here is the review in the DER FILM newspaper at the Berlin premiere:

BELOW: This original 1935 poster is a non–standard size (not A0, A1, etc.) It also has a rubber-stamped approval on it rather than a printed Film Censorship Office Reichsadler stamp. It has been told to us that it was a U-Bahn (subway) advertising poster.

BELOW, our other original Bavaria Filmkunst studio poster with a second graphic design: