The Master of Ballantrae (1953)

Country: East Germany
Director: William Keighley
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Rating: 6.8/10
Length: 89 mins

Storyline

For the corpulent nobleman, Sir John Falstaff, the inn in the small English town of Windsor is the best of all places. Here he can indulge in excessive dining and intemperate drinking, as well as swagger and boast about his adventures, particularly those of an amorous nature. At present, he has designs on the two young women, Mistress Reich and Fluth, who, in turn, lead our paunchy hero mightily by the nose. Mistress Reich indeed has much to deal with: her pretty daughter, Anna, has no lack of suitors and the parents cannot agree on who the future son-in-law should be. Anna, however, has already made her choice: she wants to marry young Master Fenton, a match which fails to suit her parents' plans. She plans a clandestine wedding ceremony in the forest. But it so happens that the townspeople join forces on the same night to sour stout Falstaff's life in Windsor and to drive him out of town. To pull off this dirty trick, Mistresses Reich and Fluth arrange yet another rendezvous with Falstaff in the forest at midnight. The citizens disguise themselves and now appear to the love-sick Sir John as ghosts. This is more than he can take and, horror-stricken, he flees Windsor forever. This musical masterpiece was questioned by the SED prior to its release due to the film's portrayal of societal relations. Great comedic performances.—DEFA Film Library

Plot Keywords

male female relationship, foreign language adaptation, based on play

Short Review

"The Master of Ballantrae" is an ok swashbuckler, taken down by that there is no real villain other than the British and by Errol Flynn's rather lackluster performance. The films settings has a sort of Disneyland feel, especially when in the Caribbean where it's seems like it might have been a prelude to the Disney ride. Not a bad movie, but not up to some of the better films of this genre.