13 Stühle (1938) Poster

(1938)

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8/10
Friendship is worth more than money
mdm-117 October 2006
Heinz Ruhmann and Hans Moser are paired once again in a light hearted comedy. A poor barber with dreams of perfecting an invention that restores hair growth and a thrift store owner unite in a quest of finding a fortune hidden in the upholstery of an old chair. To make the task more interesting (not to mention amusing), there is a set of 13 chairs, only one of which holds the cash prize.

As the two desperately follow the trail of the chairs (each, of course, had already been sold to different buyers), each retrieved chair is immediately "searched" for the stashed money, and each time there is nothing. The considerable expenses of this undertaking are paid by the store owner, while his demands for a share of the eventual profits grow higher.

The ending may be somewhat predictable, but the "bonus" is an uplifting testimony to the value of friendship and honor. There are things in life money won't buy.

Reminiscent of the legendary Laurel & Hardy films, "13 Stuhle" is made from an old "formula" creating laughter from slapstick and mistaken identity, adding occasional sentimental moments, resulting in a simple delight we can still enjoy on a Sunday afternoon on television...some 70 years later.
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6/10
Enjoyable early Rühmann comedy
Horst_In_Translation21 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"13 Stühle" or "13 Chairs" is a German black-and-white film from 1938, so this movie will have its 80th anniversary 2 years from now. If you see the year, you will realize immediately that this was made during the years of Nazi Germany, actually shortly before the outbreak of World War II and still there is not really any propaganda in here, just like it is the case with most Heinz Rühmann films. He was a very unpolitical actor. The biggest influence here probably concerns the writers. This film is based on a work by Soviet Jews originally and these were not credited due to their religion. Actually, there exist many versions of this story from all kinds of countries. Rühmann gets help in this 85-minute film by his co-lead Hans Moser, possibly the most famous Austrian actor of his time. Annie Rosar, probably the biggest female lead here, was also a successful and prolific actress playing Moser's character's wife in here. It is the story of a man who inherits 13 chairs and sells them right away not knowing that one of them contains a fortune. The entire film is about getting the chairs back and finding the one char that makes him rich. But is money really everything? The film results in a very happy ending, not only for the two likable protagonists, but also for an orphanage. I am not the biggest fan of Rühmann's early works, but usually prefer his later movies. This one is an exception though, a pretty decent watch and I give it a thumbs-up.
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