Before Billy Wilder discovered William Holden he was stuck with John Lund in this lesser known comedy. I'm surprised it's not better known because it ticks the Wilder boxes - sex, cynicism, an iconic star.
Maybe the post war vibe turns off critics though that didn't stop them liking The Third Man. Maybe it was Lund - though there is an all-time great star performance from Marlene Dietrich. Maybe it's because Dietrich ultimately turns out to be bad - well, a Nazi sympathiser. The other role is Jean Arthur who comes in high status as a congresswoman - though she does melt for Lund. There's a rapey-ish kind of scene where Lund bails her up against filing cabinets - though this is repeated with her bailing him up at the end, so it is softened.
More could have been made of the Nazi villain - it felt like there was too little of him. Also there was too much of this general at the end.
It felt a little mean Marlene wound up in a labour camp - the film is so empathetic towards her character. A lot of smart dialogue. Very understanding of the difficulties of a conquering army taking over a conquered nation, matter of fact acceptance about sex and bribes, fascinating look at post war Berlin.
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