Liebe auf den ersten Ton: A weird little musical artifact

Is it worth the time?

Look, if you have a soft spot for 1930s European fluff, you might get a kick out of this. It’s got that specific, frantic energy where everyone is shouting or singing at the camera. If you hate old musicals or get annoyed when plots rely entirely on people refusing to look at who is standing right in front of them, stay far, far away.

It’s not exactly high art, but it’s got a pulse.

Notes from the couch

The whole thing feels like a stage play that someone accidentally filmed. The lighting is so bright it makes the actors look like they are constantly sweating, which actually adds a weird layer of tension to the comedy. Lizzi Waldmüller is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, and I mean a lot.

There is a scene near the middle—you know the one—where the dialogue just loops in circles for what feels like a week. It’s fascinating in a car-crash kind of way. I found myself staring at the wallpaper in the background instead of the actors. The patterns are surprisingly bold for a movie this old.

The musical bits

The songs are... well, they happen. They pop up exactly when you think they’re going to, which is comforting if you like predictability. It lacks the sheer weirdness of something like Russian Lullaby, but it keeps moving. Sometimes it moves too fast for its own good.

• The radio voice segments are hilariously crackly.
• The side characters seem like they were plucked from a completely different genre.
• I’m still not entirely sure why the butler is so angry.

The movie gets noticeably better once it stops trying to explain the premise and just lets the characters argue in hallways. It’s just people running in and out of rooms, slamming doors, and hoping the music covers up the lack of actual plot progression. Honestly? It works. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it clearly knows it’s being a bit silly.

It’s certainly more grounded than the frantic energy of Betty Boop's Ups and Downs, but that’s not saying much. If you want to kill an hour watching people in suits make questionable life choices, this is your ticket. Just don't go looking for depth. There isn't any, and that’s perfectly fine by me. 📻✨