The Company's in Love: A Rough First Swing from Ophüls

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for early German sound films or just want to see how a legendary director started, then yeah, put it on. If you need tight pacing or a story that doesn't feel like it’s being held together by duct tape, maybe skip it. It’s for the curious types, really.

It’s wild thinking this is the same guy who later made things like The Divorcee feel like such polished gems. Here, you can almost see Ophüls sweating a bit behind the camera. He’s trying to juggle the comedy and the musical numbers, and sometimes the two just don't want to play nice together.

The whole thing where Gretl gets plucked from her quiet village life to become a star feels extremely rushed. One minute she’s sorting mail, the next she’s in Berlin dodging advances from a bunch of guys who act like they haven't seen a woman in a decade. It’s a classic setup, but man, the way they throw her into the fire is jarring.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Company's in Love (1932) through its definitive frames.

The musical numbers are… well, they’re there. They don't have that spark you’d see in later, better musicals. It feels a bit like they were checking boxes just to keep the audience awake between the dialogue scenes.

Odd little things that stuck with me:

• The alpine village shots look like they were filmed in a hurry, like the crew was just waiting for the weather to turn bad.
• Hubert von Meyerinck is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. He’s clearly having more fun than anyone else on screen.
• There’s a moment in the second act where the camera lingers on a door closing for, like, three seconds too long. I checked my phone thinking the stream had died.

It doesn't have the grit of The Big House or the weird, specific charm of Hay que casar al príncipe. It’s just... early. It feels like a dress rehearsal for a much better movie that Ophüls didn't quite have the budget or the script for yet.

Still, you gotta admire the ambition. They’re trying to make a splash. Sometimes they land it, mostly they just make a lot of noise. If you like seeing the growing pains of a director who would eventually become a giant, this is a decent way to spend a rainy afternoon. Just don't go in expecting to be blown away. 🎬