A Mad Idea

1932 film

Philipp Lothar Mayring
Fritz Zeckendorf

Based onA Mad Idea by Carl LaufsProduced byBruno DudayStarring

Willy Fritsch
Dorothea Wieck
Rosy Barsony

Cinematography

Werner Bohne
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet

Edited byConstantin MickMusic by

Walter Jurmann
Bronislau Kaper

Production
company

UFA

Distributed byUFA

Release date

13 May 1932 (1932-05-13)

Running time

87 minutesCountryGermanyLanguageGerman

A Mad Idea or A Crazy Idea (German: Ein toller Einfall) is a 1932 German comedy film directed by Kurt Gerron and starring Willy Fritsch, Dorothea Wieck and Rosy Barsony.^[1] It was made by UFA, Germany's biggest studio. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's art direction was by Julius von Borsody. Location shooting took place around St. Moritz in Switzerland. It is based on the 1887 play A Mad Idea by Carl Laufs.

Synopsis

Penniless Munich-based painter Paul Lüders goes to stay at his uncle's castle in the Swiss Alps. His equally impoverished uncle has gone to England in order to try and sell the property to a wealthy English acquaintance Miller. A series of misunderstandings lead to Paul renting out the various rooms as if it were a hotel, including a large booking by the Miller Girls, a dance troupe led by the impresario Theo Müller. Further confusion arises when Paul mistakes Müller's daughter Evelyn for the daughter of the wealthy Englishman. The real daughter Mabel also turns up, as does Paul's ex-girlfriend Anita. Despite the mix-ups, the hotel is now so successful his uncle abandons the idea of selling it.