Muß man sich gleich scheiden lassen Review: A chaotic 1932 relic

If you are looking for a lost cinematic masterpiece, you should probably keep moving. But if you have a soft spot for dusty Weimar-era comedies where everyone yells and runs through doors, *Muß man sich gleich scheiden lassen* is a weirdly charming way to spend eighty minutes.

Modern viewers who need crisp sound or hate subtitles will absolutely despise this. It is loud, frantic, and the audio sounds like it was recorded inside a metal bucket. 🪣

The plot is basically about a married couple who argue over nothing and immediately jump to "we need a divorce!" It is incredibly silly and relies entirely on people refusing to let each other finish a sentence.

Honestly, the main reason I even clicked play was to see S.Z. Sakall. You probably know him as the chubby, cheek-pinching guy from Casablanca.

Here, he is much younger but already doing his signature flustered, stuttering thing. It is comforting to see that some things never change. 😆

Then there is Max Schreck. Yes, the actual creepy vampire from the silent era.

Seeing him in a light, bubbly comedy is just bizarre. He plays a tiny role here, but every time he appeared on screen, I kept expecting him to bite someone's neck or lurk in the shadows.

Instead, he is just... hanging out in a normal comedy. It is a total trip.

The movie is packed with these frantic dialogue scenes that feel incredibly rushed. The microphones back in 1932 were clearly struggling to keep up with all the shouting.

There is this one scene where a guy is trying to explain a misunderstanding while holding a giant dog. The dog looks completely bored by the human drama, and I honestly couldn't stop watching its face. 🐕

It is a much lighter experience than some of the other German stuff from that era, like The Golem, which is obviously a completely different vibe. It has more in common with the frantic energy of Der verjüngte Adolar.

The pacing gets incredibly messy in the second half. It feels like the writers just ran out of actual jokes and decided to have everyone shout at the same time to fill the silence.

Some of the physical gags are just... not great. Like, a guy slipping on a rug level of comedy that doesn't really translate well today.

But there is a cozy warmth to the whole thing. The sets look like they were built out of cardboard and the music is incredibly chirpy.

Should you actually watch it? Only if you are a massive film nerd who wants to dig deep into early German sound cinema.

Otherwise, it is probably just a loud, crackly relic. But for me, seeing Sakall and Schreck in the same credits was worth the headache.