Männer vor der Ehe: A bit dusty, but strangely polite

Is it worth your time?

If you're a fan of vintage European cinema, sure, give it a whirl. It's light, it's polite, and it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. But if you hate movies where the entire plot hinges on someone mishearing a telephone conversation, stay far away. You will be tearing your hair out within twenty minutes.

There is this specific energy in Männer vor der Ehe that reminds me a lot of Wrong Number, Miss. It's all about doors opening and closing, people hiding behind curtains, and that constant, frantic pacing that feels very rehearsed. It’s not necessarily bad, just very… staged.

The small stuff

The cast is fine, I guess. Grethe Weiser shows up, and as usual, she’s doing the heavy lifting to keep the comedy afloat. Some of the men in the movie act like they’ve never seen a woman before, which was probably meant to be funny back then. Now? It mostly just makes you want to pat them on the head and tell them to calm down.

There’s a scene about halfway through—I think it’s in a restaurant?—where the background extras are clearly bored. One guy in the back left just sits there staring at his soup for an eternity. It’s way more interesting than the actual dialogue happening in the foreground. I couldn't stop looking at his spoon.

• The pacing is erratic. Sometimes it flies, sometimes it crawls.
• The lighting in the interior shots is very flat, like a stage play.
• The humor is mostly puns and physical gags.

It doesn't have the grit of Vampires of Warsaw, obviously. It’s not trying to be dark or moody. It’s just trying to be a harmless bit of fluff. Sometimes that’s all I want, but tonight, I felt like the movie was trying a little too hard to be cute.

Honestly, the best part is just watching the fashion and the old-fashioned manners. Everyone is so polite while they're being absolutely ridiculous to each other. It’s a weird contrast. I’m not saying it’s a classic, but it’s a decent way to kill an hour if you’re tired of modern stuff. Just don't look too closely at the plot holes, or the whole thing might just fall apart like a bad souffle. ☕️