Liebeslied: A quaint, dusty musical romance from 1935

Is it worth the watch?

If you have a thing for black-and-white musical dramas from the mid-30s, you will probably dig Liebeslied. It is not exactly high art, but it has that specific, dusty charm that keeps you watching even when the plot starts to drag. If you hate slow-burn romances or get annoyed by stage-bound performances, just skip it. It is not trying to be the next The Heart of Texas, and that is fine by me.

The whole thing feels like a stage play that got lost on its way to a movie set. The tenor—Josef Reithofer—walks into this honky-tonk, and for a second, you think he’s just going to be a jerk. He’s too polished for the place. But then he starts singing, and the movie pivots into this weirdly sincere romance that feels like it belongs in a different, much lighter flick.

Oddly Specific Details

• The lighting in the bar scenes is surprisingly harsh. You can see the dust motes dancing in the air if you squint hard enough.
• There’s a moment where a character just stands there for an uncomfortable amount of time, waiting for the music to kick in. It felt like they forgot their cue.
• The background extras in the club scenes look like they were told to 'look busy' and just started aggressively cleaning the same glass for five minutes straight.

The chemistry between the leads is… well, it is polite. That is the best way to put it. It feels like they are acting through a glass wall. Maybe it’s just the era. You don’t get that raw, messy energy you see in something like Women Men Marry. Everything is very controlled, very rehearsed.

I found myself zoning out during the dialogue scenes and just waiting for the next song. The music is actually pretty decent if you like that operatic style. It’s loud, it’s dramatic, and it fills the room much better than the script does. There is a strange comfort in how predictable it all is. You know exactly when the tenor is going to win the girl, and you know exactly how the 'humble performer' is going to react.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a movie that exists in a very specific pocket of time. Sometimes that’s enough. 🎶