Undoubtedly, the story staged by E. W. Emo in The Fairy Doll is nothing particularly original. It could even be stated that the feature film has acquired particular historical importance today precisely because it is one of the films in which Romy Schneider’s parents took part when they were young. Yet, despite everything, we must recognise a certain grace and elegance in the staging of the tender love story between the two young protagonists.
The Story of Vickie is not intended to faithfully depict the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign. Marischka’s main aim – and that of Sil-Vara before him – is to entertain the audience, to move them and to make them dream with a classic love story.
In addition to standing out for his versatility and his extraordinary way of winning the audience’s heart, the actor Paul Hörbiger was also the protagonist of singular, noteworthy events. Among the most famous performers of the Wiener Films, the characters he played, be they aristocrats or clumsy bellhops, are unforgettable.
The scene in which actors Hans Moser and Paul Hörbiger, dressed as bellhops, are struggling with the transport of some heavy luggage, including a big wooden box, is, to this day, considered one of the most famous sketches in the history of Austrian cinema. This is one of the highlight scenes of the comedy Hallo Dienstmann, directed by Franz Antel in 1951.
It is not surprising that a feature film like 1. April 2000 (a fine fantapolitical satire directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner) was made precisely in 1952, seven years after the end of the world war and only three years before the Austrian State Treaty by which, among other things, the nation’s neutrality was officially proclaimed.
The Angel with the Trumpet, the successful feature film by Karl Hartl from 1948 and freely adapted from the novel The Vienna Melody, written by Ernst Lothar in 1946, is a family saga and faithful portrait of around sixty years of Austrian history, which successfully mixes the two different points of view – that of Hartl himself, as well as the point of view from the original novel.