Movie

The Bat (1937)

• October 30, 1937
• 1h 43m

• Comedy

Overview

The delightful Johann Strauss comic opera Die Fledermaus was mercilessly lampooned in this truly bizarre production. For starters, a framing device has been added: After appearing in 300 consecutive appearances of Fledermaus (which translates as The Bat) the lead tenor (Georg Alexander) imagines that he's seeing bats everywhere. Driven a bit over the edge by all this, he falls asleep and has a nightmare about the opera, with a group of non-singers cast in the leading roles. The original libretto about romantic assignations, political imprisonments and mistaken identity is burlesqued to the hilt: at one point, the hero finds out that his prison cell is surrounded by rubber tubes!

Directors

Paul Verhoeven, Hans H. Zerlett

Writers

Walter Wassermann, Carl Haffner, Lotte Neumann, Richard Genée

Starring

Lída Baarová, Hans Söhnker, Friedl Czepa