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Die Carmen von St. Pauli

Docks of Hamburg
Retrospective 2018
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek
When Hamburg ship’s mate Klaus Brandt catches a thief one night at the port, his downfall is pre-ordained. For the thief turns out to be a young, attractive woman and the otherwise upright sailor allows her to slip away unmolested. Jenny is the star of a local dive bar, with a side-line in smuggling. The smitten Klaus starts to neglect his duties to spend time with her, and is eventually fired. Fully under the spell of Jenny’s powers of seduction, he is roped in to the shady business of the “harbour rats” and even comes under suspicion of having murdered a rival for Jenny’s affections ... Star-studded cinema against the backdrop of an authentic working world. Using a variety of angles of Hamburg’s port, Die Carmen von St. Pauli imbues a putative everyday scenario with the mythical aura of a Brechtian “Jenny the pirate”. Travelling shots along the waterfront lend the film an almost neo-realist character. Nonetheless, this story of an easy woman among hard men is imbued with the romance that the film – with an eye on Hamburg’s famed red-light district – purports to expose as “contrived”.
by Erich Waschneck
with Jenny Jugo, Willy Fritsch, Fritz Rasp, Wolfgang Zilzer, Tonio Gennaro, Otto Kronburger, Walter Seiler, Charly Berger, Fritz Alberti, Max Maximilian, Betty Astor Germany 1928 German intertitles 96’ Black/White

With

  • Jenny Jugo
  • Willy Fritsch
  • Fritz Rasp
  • Wolfgang Zilzer
  • Tonio Gennaro
  • Otto Kronburger
  • Walter Seiler
  • Charly Berger
  • Fritz Alberti
  • Max Maximilian
  • Betty Astor

Crew

Director Erich Waschneck
Screenplay Bobby E. Lüthge
Cinematography Friedl Behn-Grund
Set Construction Alfred Junge

Produced by

Universum Film AG (Ufa)

Additional information

DCP: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden