Tugboat M 17

Another film about a man in a midlife crisis. The story is simple: George plays Henner who lives with his wife and child on a tugboat, going on the river to Berlin. There he meets the attractive Gescha (Betty Amann, of "Asphalt" fame), and a story of love, betrayal and sadness ensues. While this is impressive in itself in spite or perhaps because of the acting being a little 'rougher' than in your usual UFA film, another layer of attraction is created by the film becoming almost a sort of city symphony in places. Wonderful to see the old Berlin at the end of the Weimar era: the Kurfürstendamm, the Potsdamer Platz, neon advertisements for Persil washing-powder - all photographed and edited gorgeously. A very lyrical film which makes great use of music and sound and shows all of Hochbaum's talent as a director and editor, too.