Robert and Bertram

Robert and Bertram, the first of the four major Nazi anti-Semitic films, is an otherwise delightful musical comedy set in 1839, directed with skill and panache by Hans H. Zerlett, a Goebbels favorite who specialized in musicals and action pictures. It relates the misadventures of two vagabonds who escape from prison and become fugitives on the run. Rudi Godden’s Robert and Kurt Seifert’s Bertram are suggestive of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, even performing a dance routine reminiscent of Stan and Ollie’s in Way Out West.

The rascals foil the plans of a swindling creditor who is foreclosing on the local innkeeper. Posing as the Count of Monte Cristo and friend, they attend a soirée given by Counselor of Commerce Nathan Ipelmeyer (Herbert Hübner). The masked ball is populated by heavy-handed, exaggerated Jewish caricatures, all obsessed by money and young Aryan maidens. Bertram steals Frau Ipelmeyer’s jewelry, allowing the innkeeper to pay off his mortgage. The Jewish caricatures here are shown to be unappealing and corrupt.