Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Der eiserne Gustav" is one of the rare movies where we get to see legendary German actor Heinz Rühmann in color. He was in his mid-50s when he starred in this one as the title character, even if he looks considerably older with his white beard. The writer and director is George Hurdalek and it is probably the most known work of his career. The film runs for 100 minutes approximately and stars a couple other successful and prolific actors from the middle of the 20th century here in Germany. Ingrid van Bergen for example is still alive and known today. The film itself came out a little more than a decade after World War II and it will have its 60th anniversary soon. As many other times in Rühmann's later career years, the film has comedic moments, but also works as a drama. It is the story of Heinrich, who has to master all kinds of challenges concerning his professional life as a carriage driver, but also many personal challenges. Things become pretty tough when taxis become more and more popular. I must say after having watched several of Rühmann's films from the 1950s that I was underwhelmed by this movie we have here. I believe it is the strongest part of his career and the reason why I did not like this one here that much is mostly because some other films he made around that time were just superior. It is still obvious that he is having a lot of fun with his character here. It's just that I did not have as much fun watching him and the story here. At times, it just does feel a bit too absurd for my taste and not really authentic. That's why I give it a thumbs-down.
