Bachelor of Hearts

After his success in 'The One That Got Away' German actor Hardy Kruger played the lead role in another British feature film. In this 1958 romantic comedy Kruger plays West German mathematics student Wolf Hauser, who is on an exchange scholarship to Cambridge University. While there he becomes involved with a Cambridge University student group called 'The Dodos', and picks up a new girlfriend. A lightweight student comedy drama which doesn't amount to much either comedy wise, drama wise, or romance wise, is episodic, and has Kruger in the central role, who (although not bad) is not convincing as a romantic lead. It does have several highlights though (thanks to Leslie Bricusse and Frederic Raphael's screenplay) including a male nighttime raid on Girton College, and documentary footage of 'Poppy Day', but the highlight of director Wolf Rilla's film is Geoffrey Unsworth's colour cinematography of late 1950s Cambridge (it sometimes almost seems like a kind of promo for Cambridge), as Wolf learns about life, love, and broadening his horizons. Naturally the romance laden ending ends with a bit of punting.

German exchange student (Hardy Kruger) comes to the fictional University College, Cambridge. A collection of stereotypical but enjoyable Varsity capers ensue. Sylvia Syms is positively radiant - the proverbial English Rose. She has a knack for bringing the film to life whenever she appears on screen. The remainder of the players form a very predictable bunch of undergrads in their mid-twenties and profs in ttheir mid-eighties. Lovely views of the City, and one or two well orchestrated set-pieces (the raid on all-female college Girton is notable) make this effortless viewing.

With a screenplay by Leslie Bricusse and Frederic Raphael and terrific color photography by Geoffrey Unsworth, Wolf Rilla's "Bachelor of Hearts" is a one-of-a-kind grandiose sort of rom-com. Loaded with physical comedy, it's shot on location at Cambridge and provides an exaggerated look at the strange rituals and behavior of those upper class twits that Monty Python made such fun of a decade later.

International superstar Hardy Kruger is constantly the center of attention, providing an outsider's point-of-view mixing with his fellow students at Cambridge University. Sort of the steady center of the movie, Sylvia Syms plays his #1 romantic interest from a nearby Girls College, playing straight to Hardy no matter how outrageous his antics become.

Director Wolf Rilla (who made the classic "Village of the Damned"") pulls out all the stops, including documentary-style footage of the campus events with students as extras, and even mixes in plenty of sex comedy for Hardy to frantically execute. Among the many pretty girls in the cast is a fun turn by Barbara Steele, affecting a high-pitched goofy voice worthy of Carol Kane.

This gentle comedy really scores for me. Hardy Kruger is very good, then again so are all the players in this film. However, I have to admit that one of my favourite actresses, the beautiful Sylvia Syms not only steals the film but also my heart. The Cambridge scenes and scenery are beautiful too, and as someone who lives near that iconic City it really is shown off at it's best. Others have suggested this is a film to watch if you have nothing else to do, I disagree, this feelgood film for me is a joy and as such needs to be watched and appreciated for what it is - a lovely piece of our past when things were simpler, happier and more innocent.

This had the bones of a good film but just disintegrated into a poor slap stick.