The Threepenny Opera (1931 film)

The Threepenny Opera
Directed by	G. W. Pabst
Produced by	Seymour Nebenzal
Written by	Béla Balázs Leo Lania Ladislaus Vajda
Starring	Rudolf Forster Margo Lion Carola Neher Lotte Lenya Reinhold Schünzel
Music by	Kurt Weill
Cinematography	Fritz Arno Wagner
Editing by	Hans Oser (German version), Henri Rust (French version)
Release date(s)	19 February 1931 (Germany) 17 May 1931 (USA)
Running time	113 minutes (German version) / 107 minutes (French version)
Country	Germany
Language	German and French language versions

The Threepenny Opera (German: Die 3-Groschen-Oper) is a 1931 German musical film directed by G. W. Pabst. It was produced by Seymour Nebenzal's Nero-Film for Tonbild-Syndikat AG (Tobis), Berlin and Warner Bros. Pictures GmbH, Berlin. The film is loosely based on the 1928 musical theatre success The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. As was usual in the early sound film era, Pabst also directed a French language version of the film, L'Opéra de quat'sous, with some variation of plot details (the French title literally translates as "the four penny opera"). A planned English version was not made. The two existing versions were released on a video.

The Threepenny Opera differs in significant respects from the play, and the internal timeline is somewhat vague. The whole of society is presented as corrupt in one form or another. Only some of the songs from the play are used, in a different order.

Plot

Film director Georg Wilhelm Pabst (right) and actor Albert Préjean (as Mackie Messer) during filming the film L'Opéra de quat'sous (The Threepenny Opera) in 1931.

Macheath aka "Mack the Knife" ("Mackie Messer" in German) is presented as an anti-hero and is in league with Tiger Brown, Chief of Police, who is in charge of the coronation of an unspecified queen.

Macheath marries Polly Peachum, daughter of Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, but still visits the brothel on Turnmill Street. Peachum is displeased at his daughter's marriage, and threatens Brown with disruption of the coronation - arranging for a protest march of beggars and others. Macheath is arrested, after a rooftop escape from the brothel where he had gone to visit Jenny, his former lover during a raid. Macheath is imprisoned and sentenced to death.

Polly, meanwhile, buys a bank, and runs it with Macheath's henchmen, making him a bank director, and she then arranges surety for Macheath to leave prison. This causes a change of heart by her parents - her father tries to stop the protest march but fails.

Jenny visits the prison, and aids Macheath's escape: he makes his way to the bank, where he discovers his new status. Brown, whose police career is ruined by the demonstration, and Peachum, also come to the bank and agree to link up.

Cast

German-language version

• Mackie Messer - Rudolf Forster
• Polly - Carola Neher
• Tiger-Brown - Reinhold Schünzel
• Peachum - Fritz Rasp
• Frau Peachum - Valeska Gert
• Jenny - Lotte Lenja
• Pfarrer - Hermann Thimig
• Moritatensänger - Ernst Busch
• Smith, Gefängniswärter - Vladimir Sokoloff
• Mackie Messers Platte – Paul Kemp, Gustav Püttjer, Oskar Höcker, Krafft Raschig
• Filch – Herbert Grünbaum
• Bordellbesitzerin – Sylvia Torff

French-language version

• Polly Peachum – Florelle
• Mackie – Albert Préjean
• Peachum – Gaston Modot
• Jenny – Margo Lion
• Smith, geôlier – Vladimir Sokoloff
• Mme. Peachum – Lucy de Matha
• Tiger-Brown – Jacques Henley
• chanteur de rues – Bill-Bocketts
• pasteur – Hermann Thimig
• nouveau mendiant – Antonin Artaud
• mendiant – Roger Gaillard^(fr)
• fille à Turnbridge – Marie-Antoinette Buzet
• bande à Mac - Arthur Duarte, Marcel Merminod, Pierre Léaud, Albert Broquin

External links

• The Threepenny Opera at Rotten Tomatoes
• Criterion Collection essay on The Threepenny Opera by Tony Rayns
• The Threepenny Opera at the Internet Movie Database
• The Threepenny Opera at AllRovi