User Reviews

"Wenn mein Schätzchen auf die Pauke haut" is also known as "When My Darling Stands Up" and this is not the literal translation because in German the darling is playing the drum. But first things first: This one here is a West German 85-minute movie from 1971, so this had its 45th anniversary last year. The director is Peter Weck, actually a prolific actor from Austria, but also an experienced filmmaker. One of the writers is Kurt Nachmann, who was among Austria's most known script creators as well. Still, it is a West German production. The cast includes some fairly well-known actors from that time and all of them are names that are still very famous today. This includes Uschi Glas and Roy Black who are all about the romance in here and a bit about the drama as well, but really only if you compare them to Ilja Richter, who is really all about the comedy with his slapstick and haggard figure and his funny lines all the time. The title of course also tries to cash in with Glas' Schätzchen popularity from that time. I personally probably enjoyed Theo Lingen once again the most because he is just really hilarious in everything he is in, even if many roles are basically almost the same. For example, this film here is often also referred to as a Pauker movie (probably also because of the title) and yes Lingen plays a director once again. Overall, however, the film simply is not convincing in terms of both story-telling and comedy and these are the two core components. Also it is not really as touching as it wants to be at times. I did like the music, however. Black was certainly not the most gifted actor, but his voice is outstanding and great fun to listen to. The German song vaguely translated "It's nice to be alive" is always a highlight. All in all, the songs are not enough though to make up for the weaknesses. It is basically another "Heile Welt" film with lots of (attempts at) comedy and a romance plot full of banter that ends happily of course. Thumbs-down from me. Not recommended.