Film Archive

Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The (Muenchhausen)

Arising from the past, the Baron of Muenchhausen takes on new form in his free-spirited adventures with his loyal servant Kuchenreutter. In a series of wonderful stories, from Braunschweig to St. Petersburg, Muenchhausen attempts to win over the favors of the Empress Katharina, reigns over Prince Potemkin in a duel, and fights regiment commander in Katharina's war against the Turks. But then he is taken captive and inprisoned by the Turks. However due to his amazing storytelling talents, he soon becomes a pet favorite to the Sultan. In one of his original bets, he is able to free the beautiful Princess d'Este and escape with her to Venice, where he runs into Casanova. Finally, Muenchhausen and Kuchenreutter are tempted by the gondola of the Montgolfiere and lifted up to the moon, where Kuchenreutter takes his last breath but Muenchhausen lives on as an eternal character for all time.

Josef von Baky was born in 1902 in Hungary and died in 1966 in Munich. After his schooling, he worked as a film projectionist before founding his own distribution company with his father, owner of the Urania cinema in Budapest. In 1927, he moved to Berlin where he made the acquaintance of the Hungarian director Geza von Bolvary, with whom he worked as directorial assistant for eight years. He began his own directing career with music films such as Intermezzo (1936) and Menschen vom Varieté (1938). In 1947, he founded Objectiv-Film and produced the melodrama ...and the Sky Above Us (...und ueber uns der Himme, 1947) and The Last Illusion (Der Ruf, 1949). His other films include: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Muenchhausen, 1942), the Erich Kaestner-adaptation Two Times Lotte (Das doppelte Lottchen, 1951) – winner of a German Film Award in Gold, Die Fruehreifen (1957), The Man Who Sold Himself (Der Mann, der sich verkaufte, 1959), The Strange Countess (Die seltsame Graefin, 1961), and many more.
 

Genre Fantasy, Literature
Category Feature Film Cinema
Year of Production 1942
Director Josef von Baky
Screenplay Berthold Buerger
Director of Photography Werner Krien
Editors Milo Harbich, Walter Wischniewsky
Music by Georg Haentzschel
Production Design Karl Getschmann, Otto Guelstorff, Emil Hasler, Walter Kurz, Hans Minzloff, Matthieu Ostermann, Wilhelm Vorwerg
Producer Eberhard Schmidt
Production Company Ufa/Berlin
Principal Cast Hans Albers, Hans Brausewetter, Kaethe Haack, Brigitte Horney, Ferdinand Marian, Leo Siezak, Hermann Speelmans, Marina von Ditmar
Length 116 min, 3,154 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.37
Dubbed Versions English
Original Version German
Subtitled Versions English
Sound Technology Optical Sound
Festival Screenings Regus London 2002
German Distributor Transit Film/Munich

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