"Kindermädchen für Papa gesucht" is a German film from 1957, so this one will have its 65th anniversary next year already and this shows you how old it is really. I should say "West German" because obviously back then my country was not the way is is now and has been for over 30 years. The title basically means "Looking for a nanny for daddy" and it's a little play on words we have here that somewhat implies that daddy is so childish himself that he still needs a nanny (as you can see during the final sequence when they pretend to be fighting and makes noises accordingly), but also at the same time that said nanny is a romantic interest for daddy. Which is a bit confusing though because there is no real father in this movie. The film stays comfortably under the 1.5-hour mark, which is a good thing because it is not really a good watch. It is one of those many romance relationship comedies from that era that also include some music, even if there is not a lot in here compared to other films, basically only the Andrea sequence, even if that was a memorable one in terms of the plot you can say. But more about the story later. Another thing that can be added here is that this is a color film, which should not be taken for granted given the year when this was made, but can be taken somehow for granted if we are looking at the genre. Those movies were almost always in color in contrast to political movies etc. Also the colors were really bright in the version I saw last night / this morning. Saw one other and there they were not, so I assume the one I just saw on television was some kind of restauration. I mean okay maybe a bit of retro feeling is lost this way, but I do not really mind. I do think the visual side, also the sets and costumes emphasized through these colors made this film a bit of a better watch, even if I never really considered giving it a thumbs-up. But we will get to that later.
The director was Hans Quest. He was 40 at that point already, but it was still one of his earlier career efforts. Also he has more acting credits than directing credits, but he did not act in this film here, even if he did in many other films during the exact same time. Here he was "only" in charge behind the camera. And he almost never wrote his own screenplays, so they got actually many people for that here. Curth Flatow and Eckhard Hachfeld were in charge of the screenplay and they were allso not super young, especially Hachfeld in his mid40s, but this film was also from the beginnings of their careers and lived on and worked for many decades afterwards. Jochen Kuhlmey got the third writing credit and he came up with the idea. This film was not from the end of his career, but in his 40s this is also one of his final credits already. Even if there were not super many admittedly. The most famous actor here is probably Claus Biederstaedt. He died less than a year ago in his early 90s and it is kinda telling that the one who got second credit here is the woman who plays his sweetheart as we find out at the end and not the man who plays his cousin. So the film may be theoretically a story of two cousins, but eventually it's all about the romance again. Besides, just came to my mind how they still say "Vetter" in this film and not "Cousin" as we do in Germany now. Another (language-related) piece of evidence from a time long gone. Susanne Cramer is the female lead here and probably easy on the eye if you like blondes, but she really had an ill-fated life ahead of her. Also surprised to see she was only 20 here. Very young. As early as she died, Carla Hagen (who plays the second female love interest) and Ingrid Lutz make up for it. The former turns 90 this year, the latter is already five years ahead and still with us. Hopefully too when you read this review of mine.
As for the plot and story, it is really exactly what you could expect from a film like this. The way things unravel can be predicted relatively early. One of the cousins has a crush on a young woman and starts wooing her, but in an attempt to get these two together the other cousin spends a lot of time with said woman and eventually they fall for each other while the older male protagonist is not mad or something, but instead finally realizes that his employee is the right one for him and she has loved him for a long time and he is just too blind to see it. The men are depicted as fools here in a playful way. Nothing anti-male you see in new Degeto films for example. But men just need women nonetheless to help them find happiness. Take the younger protagonist and his parallel on theater visits it was I think early on. The subscription thingey. He enjoys the company of women, but is not ready yet to really go steady with one of them. Until he meets this charming blonde. And then proposals and engagements are thrown around way more quickly than it happens in the 21st century. Also kinda telling that they were still a bit shy to depict signs of affection on screen. Not as shy as kisses back in very old silent films, but still. We do see the older couple (also just by ten years or so) kissing near the end on one occasion though. Aside from all the romance chaos, we also have a lot of comedy. I personally preferred Philipp's approach there, but in terms of the supporting players, it was also mildly funny (not too much though) how the old housekeeper was included. For example the film is not one bit ashamed of going over the top during the scene when we see her all tied up there and how she cannot talk, but first thing she says is that she will quit her job because the little boy is so diffiicult to handle. More comedy includes the protagonist's basically hiding on several occasions said boy is not theirs. This becomes obvious during the first meeting of the older male protagonist and his (initial) woman of choice, but also during a phone conversation later when the younger guy says something wrong that almost gives him away. Or of course the explanation the younger guy has when the woman almost realizes the truth.
I already mentioned the Andrea music sequence and this is the scene in which the two lovebirds really fall for each other there. Bit everything about felt so mediocre and this really fits the entire film for a description I would say. I was not amazed. The song was nothing special, nothing particularly catchy and the romance that came with this scene also did not really win me over. But then again, I preferred the other guy anyway. That one also was not the epitome of subtle really, but at least did not feel so ham with a perma grin on his face just like Biederstaedt's character. May sound harsh and I know one shall not speak poorly about the dead, but it's true and he is not gonna read it anyway. I see he received some awards recogntion from the German Film Awards for example, so I assume he did better on other occasions and honestly, films like this one here always go a bit over the top and this is where some of their charm comes from, but can only carry so many. The older woman sometimes made me smile a bit with the color in her face for example too. Or the moment with the older cousin ending up on the younger woman's bedside was also a bit hilarious in a politically incorrect way and I liked how they used this scene again later on when the female protagonist (the woman you see on the imdb photo here) is talking about this exact situation to get her man of choice a little jealous. But no psuedo drama here really. or at least not for a long time. She immediately tells the younger woman and the four are also united in the end and kissing. Pay attention there to the boy talking exactly to the audience with his little countdown to the end. Back then, breaking the fourth wall, especially at the very end was nothing uncommon at all and happened far more frequently than it does in films nowadays.
Okay, this is pretty much it then. There is not a lot more to say about this film. I think they made no sequels to this one here and it makes sense because closure and happy ending are there 100%. They also really took the light route here. You see some red liquid on the floor that is used on the occasion of a prank to have others think it is blood, but obviously isn't. This is movie supposed to distract people from the bleak years after World War II and there is not the slightest political message included in here. Also not in terms of subtext. This was more common anyway with films from the GDR, but then again they did not make so many lighter movies there. Even they fairytales were frequently on the dark side. Another thing that comes to mind here is that it is not only about romance, but you also see young kids on several occasions, not only the boy who serves as the kid that needs a nanny. Others as well. Which makes me think that this was intended as film for the entire family, not just the parents, even if mostly for them I suppose. Also with the nanny element here, a certain Mary Poppins comes to mind immediately. But the thing in favor of this film here that you can say is that it did not try to cash in on the success because Mary Poppins happened a few years later. So this is basically original and not linked to any other projects. Only to Kuhlmey's mind. Sadly, this still does not mean it was as satisfying a watch as I would have liked it to be. For a positive recommendation, I simply must feel more entertained during the film as a whole. A lot of the comedy has not aged too well. As a consequence, I was glad that here we have a relative short movie. Let's leave it at that overall. Never close to failure territory, but this one is nonetheless a project you'd better skip unless these films are something you totally adore. For me, it's a thumbs-down. Too over the top. Oh and also pay attention to how smoking was nothing evil back then yet. I think this was from before cancer studies made obvious how dangerous the use of cigarettes can be in the long run.
The director was Hans Quest. He was 40 at that point already, but it was still one of his earlier career efforts. Also he has more acting credits than directing credits, but he did not act in this film here, even if he did in many other films during the exact same time. Here he was "only" in charge behind the camera. And he almost never wrote his own screenplays, so they got actually many people for that here. Curth Flatow and Eckhard Hachfeld were in charge of the screenplay and they were allso not super young, especially Hachfeld in his mid40s, but this film was also from the beginnings of their careers and lived on and worked for many decades afterwards. Jochen Kuhlmey got the third writing credit and he came up with the idea. This film was not from the end of his career, but in his 40s this is also one of his final credits already. Even if there were not super many admittedly. The most famous actor here is probably Claus Biederstaedt. He died less than a year ago in his early 90s and it is kinda telling that the one who got second credit here is the woman who plays his sweetheart as we find out at the end and not the man who plays his cousin. So the film may be theoretically a story of two cousins, but eventually it's all about the romance again. Besides, just came to my mind how they still say "Vetter" in this film and not "Cousin" as we do in Germany now. Another (language-related) piece of evidence from a time long gone. Susanne Cramer is the female lead here and probably easy on the eye if you like blondes, but she really had an ill-fated life ahead of her. Also surprised to see she was only 20 here. Very young. As early as she died, Carla Hagen (who plays the second female love interest) and Ingrid Lutz make up for it. The former turns 90 this year, the latter is already five years ahead and still with us. Hopefully too when you read this review of mine.
As for the plot and story, it is really exactly what you could expect from a film like this. The way things unravel can be predicted relatively early. One of the cousins has a crush on a young woman and starts wooing her, but in an attempt to get these two together the other cousin spends a lot of time with said woman and eventually they fall for each other while the older male protagonist is not mad or something, but instead finally realizes that his employee is the right one for him and she has loved him for a long time and he is just too blind to see it. The men are depicted as fools here in a playful way. Nothing anti-male you see in new Degeto films for example. But men just need women nonetheless to help them find happiness. Take the younger protagonist and his parallel on theater visits it was I think early on. The subscription thingey. He enjoys the company of women, but is not ready yet to really go steady with one of them. Until he meets this charming blonde. And then proposals and engagements are thrown around way more quickly than it happens in the 21st century. Also kinda telling that they were still a bit shy to depict signs of affection on screen. Not as shy as kisses back in very old silent films, but still. We do see the older couple (also just by ten years or so) kissing near the end on one occasion though. Aside from all the romance chaos, we also have a lot of comedy. I personally preferred Philipp's approach there, but in terms of the supporting players, it was also mildly funny (not too much though) how the old housekeeper was included. For example the film is not one bit ashamed of going over the top during the scene when we see her all tied up there and how she cannot talk, but first thing she says is that she will quit her job because the little boy is so diffiicult to handle. More comedy includes the protagonist's basically hiding on several occasions said boy is not theirs. This becomes obvious during the first meeting of the older male protagonist and his (initial) woman of choice, but also during a phone conversation later when the younger guy says something wrong that almost gives him away. Or of course the explanation the younger guy has when the woman almost realizes the truth.
I already mentioned the Andrea music sequence and this is the scene in which the two lovebirds really fall for each other there. Bit everything about felt so mediocre and this really fits the entire film for a description I would say. I was not amazed. The song was nothing special, nothing particularly catchy and the romance that came with this scene also did not really win me over. But then again, I preferred the other guy anyway. That one also was not the epitome of subtle really, but at least did not feel so ham with a perma grin on his face just like Biederstaedt's character. May sound harsh and I know one shall not speak poorly about the dead, but it's true and he is not gonna read it anyway. I see he received some awards recogntion from the German Film Awards for example, so I assume he did better on other occasions and honestly, films like this one here always go a bit over the top and this is where some of their charm comes from, but can only carry so many. The older woman sometimes made me smile a bit with the color in her face for example too. Or the moment with the older cousin ending up on the younger woman's bedside was also a bit hilarious in a politically incorrect way and I liked how they used this scene again later on when the female protagonist (the woman you see on the imdb photo here) is talking about this exact situation to get her man of choice a little jealous. But no psuedo drama here really. or at least not for a long time. She immediately tells the younger woman and the four are also united in the end and kissing. Pay attention there to the boy talking exactly to the audience with his little countdown to the end. Back then, breaking the fourth wall, especially at the very end was nothing uncommon at all and happened far more frequently than it does in films nowadays.
Okay, this is pretty much it then. There is not a lot more to say about this film. I think they made no sequels to this one here and it makes sense because closure and happy ending are there 100%. They also really took the light route here. You see some red liquid on the floor that is used on the occasion of a prank to have others think it is blood, but obviously isn't. This is movie supposed to distract people from the bleak years after World War II and there is not the slightest political message included in here. Also not in terms of subtext. This was more common anyway with films from the GDR, but then again they did not make so many lighter movies there. Even they fairytales were frequently on the dark side. Another thing that comes to mind here is that it is not only about romance, but you also see young kids on several occasions, not only the boy who serves as the kid that needs a nanny. Others as well. Which makes me think that this was intended as film for the entire family, not just the parents, even if mostly for them I suppose. Also with the nanny element here, a certain Mary Poppins comes to mind immediately. But the thing in favor of this film here that you can say is that it did not try to cash in on the success because Mary Poppins happened a few years later. So this is basically original and not linked to any other projects. Only to Kuhlmey's mind. Sadly, this still does not mean it was as satisfying a watch as I would have liked it to be. For a positive recommendation, I simply must feel more entertained during the film as a whole. A lot of the comedy has not aged too well. As a consequence, I was glad that here we have a relative short movie. Let's leave it at that overall. Never close to failure territory, but this one is nonetheless a project you'd better skip unless these films are something you totally adore. For me, it's a thumbs-down. Too over the top. Oh and also pay attention to how smoking was nothing evil back then yet. I think this was from before cancer studies made obvious how dangerous the use of cigarettes can be in the long run.
