A Short Laugh
Comic Characters in the Supporting Programme 1933
In 1931, under the title "Lob der Charge" (In Praise of the Charge), the Berlin film critic Rudolf Arnheim praised the special quality, wit and stubbornness of the supporting actors in the cinema of the Weimar Republic who were acclaimed by the audience. He was thinking especially of comedians such as Siegfried Arno, Szőke Szakáll and Otto Wallburg, all of whom had to flee Germany after the National Socialist seizure of power because of their Jewish origins. Following on from our film series Lob der Charge (In Praise of the Charge) in April 2023, which was devoted to German sound film comedy between 1930 and 1933, we now ask: What happened to the comic charge actors who remained in Germany in the early Nazi era? Which types were in demand from then on? What was allowed and what should be laughed at after Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels had gained control over German filmmaking? What was funny in the "Third Reich"? "A Short Laugh" explores these questions and focuses on a corpus of films that was growing rapidly at the time: the short comedies in the supporting programme of the long feature films. Here we meet stars of the cabaret stages, popular supporting actresses and up-and-coming talents - from Senta Söneland and Lotte Werkmeister to Grethe Weiser, Werner Finck and Theo Lingen.
