User Reviews

I did not intend to write about this film until I read the other three comments. I agree with some but not all points taken in them. As I have not read the book I can only judge the film as it is. Though I know that the book must be different in style and pace. Just consider that the book is interspersed with cooking recipes, something you can hardly translate into film language (and consequently has not been attempted).

As with almost all books by Johannes Mario Simmel, the title is misleading, though very catchy. There are not many films of German origin that deal with the Third Reich and WWII in a satirical or comic way, at least not in the 50ies and 60ies. This was the domain of the winner of the war. German war films focussed mainly at either the life of common soldiers ("08/15") or some questionable NS character ("Canaris"). "Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein" is definitely not a thriller, as has been already observed, but a comedy with a serious background and threatening moments, but fast in switching into parodies of whatever we have seen in real thrillers, like Gestapo henchmen, bullying army officers, seedy fellow spies and more. In this respect he follows the groove of Chaplin´s "The Great Dictator" though of course not in depth and quality.

O. W. Fischer is okay, though he is overdoing his stuff every now and then. Senta Berger is lovely in one of her very first roles and very relaxed with her costars. The voiceover keeps assuring us that whatever might happen, it will not be the end of our hero. Some of the comic confusion is too long and the fights is very slow and unbelievable. It is a relief that the film, who takes place in England, Germany, and France has also been filmed at least partly in those countries, and does not rely on old stock footage like the Edgar Wallace series. The producers have been so sure of the success of this film that they already finished the sequel before this film has been shown in the movies and advertised it like the James Bond franchise at the end of this film.

"Es Muß Nicht Immer Kaviar sein" or "Operation Caviar" is a co-production between West Germany and France from 1961 that resulted in a German-language movie from 1961, which means this one already has its 55th anniversary this year. The title already implies that it is a film not to be taken too seriously, so we have a comedy here. I am not sure about the thriller component listed here on IMDb. There may be a tense moment here and there, but this possibly takes it too far to say it would be such an unusual combination of genres. Anyway, I cannot say I enjoyed the watch at all. Not even O.W. Fischer can make it work and he is seen by many as the most talented German-language actor from this era. I never saw too much in Senta Berger when it comes to range and talent and it makes it difficult to appreciate the film if she plays one of the central characters. Her looks are good of course, but that's it. Eva Bartok may be better, but I cannot say she wowed me either. The rest of the cast I am not familiar with, so no further elaboration. But none of them gave a performance either that motivates me to take a look into their body of work. Same about the makers. I find it always shocking to find so many people working on a film like this one here (as writers and directors) and still the final outcome is so entirely forgettable as this black-and-white film. The latter I am probably not a great fan of and this is a subjective perception only, but I also found the script and plot extremely lacking in terms of quality and character development. Sometimes it doesn't feel realistic and when it does, it still feels uninteresting. The consequence is that the movie drags on several occasions and felt way too long and lacking focus at approximately 100 movies. It is very telling if a film like this receives awards attention, gets a sequel and finally even a series based on the characters. The 1960s have not been good at all when it comes to (West) German movies and here we have a prime example of an above-average famous film from the country that is actually entirely forgettable and hasn't age well at all, but also should not have received all this attention decades ago. There is not a single area (acting, writing, directing etc.) where I would really say this is an aspect that the film is worth seeing for. So stay away and watch something else instead. Names like Helmut Käutner and Géza von Radványi that frequently stand for quality do not cut the cake here.