Item: Hokuspokus
Rating: 7.6
Author: Archivist John

Is this worth your time?

If you like fast-talking legal battles and 1930s German vibes, you will probably get a kick out of this. If you hate old movies where everyone over-enunciates every single syllable, maybe skip it.

Hokuspokus is one of those films that feels like it was filmed on a stage because it basically was. But that is not a bad thing here.

The whole thing centers on Kitty Kellermann. She is played by Lilian Harvey, who is just magnetic in a way that modern actors usually aren't.

Kitty is on trial because her husband, Paul, supposedly drowned while they were out on a boat. The prosecutors think she pushed him.

Then comes the twist that makes the whole courtroom gasp. Kitty is three months pregnant.

But her husband has been dead for five months. Oops.

The math does not add up, and the movie knows it. It leans into the scandal of it all with a bit of a wink.

The Vibe of the Room

The courtroom itself feels weirdly small. Like they only had enough budget for three rows of seats and a very tall desk for the judge.

I noticed that the extras in the back keep leaning in at the exact same time. It is almost like a dance, or they are all sharing one very long piece of invisible string.

Gustaf Gründgens plays the defense lawyer, Peer Bille. He is the real star for me.

He has this way of walking across the room that makes you think he’s about to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Which fits the title, I guess.

He does not act like a lawyer. He acts like a magician who accidentally ended up in law school.

The dialogue is so fast. If you are reading subtitles, you might miss some of the facial expressions, which is a shame.

There is a specific moment where the judge looks at his watch and you can tell he just wants to go home and have some bratwurst. It is a tiny detail but it made me laugh.

Why it feels different

Most movies from this era, like East Lynne, take their drama so seriously that it becomes a bit much. Hokuspokus does not do that.

It knows it is a bit of a circus. It is almost a satire of how much people love a good murder trial.

The chemistry between Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch is... well, it is famous for a reason. They made a bunch of movies together, and you can see they just get each other's timing.

Hokuspokus scene — Scene from Hokuspokus

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Hokuspokus (1930) through its definitive frames.

There is a scene where they are talking about art—Paul was a failing artist—and the way they describe his terrible paintings is brutal.

I felt bad for the dead guy for a second. Then I remembered he might not even be dead.

Wait, is that a spoiler? Probably not, the movie is almost 100 years old.

The Technical Stuff (Sort of)

The sound quality is a bit crackly. It sounds like someone is frying bacon in the room next door while they are talking.

But that is part of the charm of 1930 cinema. It feels real and dusty.

I found myself comparing the pacing to something like The Americano. This feels way more focused, even if it stays in one room for way too long.

Sometimes the camera lingers on a piece of evidence—like a hat or a glove—for way too long. Like it’s trying to tell me it's important, but then it never comes up again.

It’s that kind of clunky storytelling that makes me love this era. It is not polished to death by a computer.

A Random Tangent

There is a guy in the cast named Max Ehrlich. He has this one reaction shot where he looks genuinely confused by the plot.

I felt that. Sometimes the logic leaps in this movie are huge.

You have to just go with it. Don't try to be a detective while watching this.

Just let the fast talking wash over you. It is more about the rhythm than the actual clues.

If you want something darker, go watch The Unknown. But if you want to feel like you’re sitting in a smoky theater in Berlin in 1930, this is the one.