La classe volante

Unlike some other German movies of the 1950s, this one is still worth watching. It is a true adaptation of Erich Kästner's children's' novel of the same name. The author did not only write the screenplay himself , but also appears in the first and last scene and provides the narrator's voice in several scenes. With a cast of prominent German actors of the time, notably Paul Dahlke and Paul Klinger, and budding rock'n'roll star Peter Kraus in his first movie role, the movie tells the story of the "Tertia" students (7th/8th grade) in a small town boarding school, who continue a "prehistoric" feud with the boys from a neighbouring school. Woven into this narrative are questions of honesty, courage, loyalty, friendship - and money issues, which never lack in Kästner's books. The boys also write and perform a play about the lessons with their favourite teacher, Johannes Böck called Justus (the just one) and moreover manage to bring him back together with a long-lost childhood friend. I was astonished to see the very good acting of the child actors, among them now famous German director Michael Verhoeven. Even though it's sometimes obvious that painted scenery is used and the editing is somewhat less varied than what we're used to these days, the movie never seems dated in a way that makes it an effort to watch - quite the contrary!

So I was searching something on Youtubeland and it was recommended to me randomly, Hungarian dubbed version, my native language. I thought I lost this movie forever as I never found it ever, we had it on vhs but it was gone years ago. So never seen it in German, but Hungarian sync actors were really nice at the time. So now I relive my old feelings, the book is one of my all-time favourites and I saw this wintertime at my grandmother's flat twenty+ years ago. It is still fantastic and endured during the years. The atmosphere, the human(e) emotions, the message is clear, it is one of the best guides to children about social / moral values, it helped me for sure, I think it is Kästner's absolute top 1. Some way I'll get it to show it to my children one day. One of th best heartwarming and heartfelt stories I have ever known so far. Please watch it and bring more humanity to the world!

This is yet another film-version of an Erich Kaestner Classic. Kaestner is one of the most popular German children's book authors of the 20th century. Among many other works, he penned "Emil and the Detektives" and "The Parent Trap". The author always includes the theme of honor, friendship and loyalty in his stories.

The setting here is an "Internat", a boarding school with strict rules and deep tradition. The upper class men are known to play pranks on the new students, and none of the teachers dare to interfere in student affairs. A side plot tells of an incident decades ago, involving a teacher who ended up living as a hermit, disillusioned with the world.

The way teachers deeply cared about their students, and the respect given to them in return reminds of the "good old days", when the profession had fewer material rewards, yet was much more fulfilling.

Look for a cameo appearance by the author in the closing scene, as he autographs his book for a young fan, played by Peter Kraus, who later emerged as a Teen Idol Rock & Roll Singer, becoming the German "Elvis". This is a very enjoyable movie. Those who are familiar with the times and the author will be very pleased.