Although arguably not Helmut Kautner's greatest film it is probably his most popular and the one for which he will be best remembered whilst Hans Albers, despite a distinguished career, will forever be associated with Hannes the singing sailor.
The bawdy, boozy, brawling sequences in the Grosse Freiheit no 7 of the title are well choreographed but for this viewer at any rate the film's effectiveness lies in the intimate scenes where Kautner's gift with actors comes into play. The performances of Albers, Ilse Werner(also teamed to great effect in 'Munchhausen') Hans Soehnker and Hilde Hildebrand are exemplary whilst the director puts on his actor's hat as Karl and fellow screenwriter Richard Nicholas does a turn as an ancient mariner. One of the film's obvious highlights is the magnificent nightmare sequence splendidly edited by Annaliese Schoennenbeck.
Kautner managed to navigate the perilous waters of National Socialism and refused to allow his films to be infused with Nazi ideology which naturally brought him into conflict with Herr Goebbels. Originally endorsed by the Propoganda Ministry as a tribute to the Merchant Navy, the finished film was deemed to be immoral, unheroic, demoralising and subversive. As a result it achieved the distinction of being one of ten films banned by Goebbels in 1944. As for Albers, he cleverly distanced himself from Nazi propoganda and as with the equally popular Heinz Ruemann, the Hitler regime turned a blind eye to his partner being Jewish.
Although perhaps not equal to the sum of its parts, Kautner's film with its melancholic strain continues to cast its spell and bears the hallmarks of a master film-maker. Shot in glorious Agfacolor by Werner Krien its songs undoubtedly contributed to its success, to the extent that outside Northern Europe Herr Albers is renowned more as a chanteur than the fine actor he was. As a son of Hamburg his statue still stands in the Platz named after him and he was to get more mileage out of the Hamburg connection with 'On the Reeperbahn at half past Midnight' and 'Heart of St. Pauli' in the late 1950's when he was, alas, well beyond his prime.
Kautner went on to become a beacon of light in the commercial wasteland of post-war German cinema.
