The postwar period (post WWII) in cinema was notoriously prudish, certainly in the US, but also in Germany. This film pushed the envelope as far as Germany's moral code of the time would permit, which is a bit further than the Hayes code, but still rather timid when compared to Italy or France. This applies both to the subject matter - largely revolving around voyeurism, and the visuals: there are a few glimpses of female nudity including (shock, horror!) the briefest of nipple exposures. Despite the voyeurism theme the script was clearly desexualised, e.g. the predatory Don Fernando character has not been given much opportunity to predate.
The film makers had the advantage of being able to point to the 1943 version of the story - censors certainly would not want to be seen to be stricter than their Nazi predecessors, and prudence was not too high up on Goebbels' list of priorities.
Given all of this, one might think of this movie as a transitional form, ultimately leading to the sex comedies of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Well, it is not - there is no observable continuity. Themes from the story have shown up in those later pictures, e.g. 'Liebe durch die Hintertür' copies the bathtub voyeurism motif and 'Die Jungfrauen von Bumshausen' have a similar nude-statue-scandal, but between 1955 and 1968 there is little if anything resembling a stepping stone of genre conventions. In other words, the old ideas were revived under the relaxed censorship regime after being dormant for over a decade.
The film is thus interesting to watch in this historical context. Otherwise, i.e. as a motion picture in its own right, it has not much to offer. The whole production appears very stagy (incidentally, not unlike Brigadoon). The male cast is mostly too old for their roles, by 10 if not 20 years; perhaps it was part of the deliberate attempt to desexualise the content. But this was not quite thought through as it leaves some central characters with little to do.
The film makers had the advantage of being able to point to the 1943 version of the story - censors certainly would not want to be seen to be stricter than their Nazi predecessors, and prudence was not too high up on Goebbels' list of priorities.
Given all of this, one might think of this movie as a transitional form, ultimately leading to the sex comedies of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Well, it is not - there is no observable continuity. Themes from the story have shown up in those later pictures, e.g. 'Liebe durch die Hintertür' copies the bathtub voyeurism motif and 'Die Jungfrauen von Bumshausen' have a similar nude-statue-scandal, but between 1955 and 1968 there is little if anything resembling a stepping stone of genre conventions. In other words, the old ideas were revived under the relaxed censorship regime after being dormant for over a decade.
The film is thus interesting to watch in this historical context. Otherwise, i.e. as a motion picture in its own right, it has not much to offer. The whole production appears very stagy (incidentally, not unlike Brigadoon). The male cast is mostly too old for their roles, by 10 if not 20 years; perhaps it was part of the deliberate attempt to desexualise the content. But this was not quite thought through as it leaves some central characters with little to do.
