Menschen untereinander (roughly People to Each Other) is one of the films that documented the hardships of post-World War I Germany through the eyes of both the proletariat as well as those that remained among the bourgeois. Centered on the mixed-use building owned by the money grubbing Frau Buttner (Erika Glassner) it is a blend of stories from the tenants lives that uses the staff as a sort of Greek chorus to tie the whole thing together, although the different stories barely connect to each other beyond their location.
Director Gerhard Lamprecht, whose career extended from the silents through the Schicklgruber era and beyond, presages the tenement based dramas like City Streets that would become popular in the US in the next decade. Various stories are told, from the poor piano teacher who was impoverished by post-War inflation to a sickly balloon vendor, but eventually we come down to two main story arcs. Probably the more interesting of the two is the tale of the kindly jeweler whose pregnant daughter (Aud Egede-Nissen) is abandoned by her career climbing husband (Metropolis' Alfred Abel) after she (inexplicably, at least to me) ends up in jail. Meanwhile, his other daughter, lovely Renate Brausewetter falls in love with the church mouse poor, former somebody, Paul Bildt. The second equally satisfying story-line involves Frau Buttner getting swindled out of her precious money by super greasy 'diamond merchant' Aribert Wäscher.
Lamprecht focuses on the mostly naturalistic performances although at a cost. Takes and scenes do tend to go on a trifle too long but for the most part things keep you interested throughout. Restored from 16mm prints in 2013 it looks quite good and the print I viewed had an impressive piano score, regrettably uncredited. Apparently there are a missing 6 minutes and while not really impacting what remains I suspect some of the other character's stories might have been resolved as a few of them just seem to disappear from the film. Worth seeing.
