The Model Husband (1937 film)

The Model Husband (German: Der Mustergatte) is a 1937 German comedy film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Heinz Rühmann, Leny Marenbach, and Hans Söhnker. It is based on a 1915 American play Fair and Warmer by Avery Hopwood. It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Otto Gülstorff and Hans Minzloff. The film was screened at the Venice Film Festival where it won an award. In the 1950s, it was remade twice: a 1956 West German film The Model Husband and a 1959 Swiss The Model Husband.

The Model Husband
Directed by	Wolfgang Liebeneiner
Written by	Avery Hopwood (play) Jacob Geis Hans Albin Heinz Rühmann
Produced by	Herbert Engelsing Otto Ernst Lubitz
Starring	Heinz Rühmann Leny Marenbach Hans Söhnker Heli Finkenzeller
Cinematography	Werner Bohne
Edited by	Gustav Lohse
Music by	Hans Sommer
Production company	Imagoton
Distributed by	Tobis Film
Release date	13 October 1937 (1937-10-13)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Synopsis

A London banker makes a business trip to Venice where he falls in love with a woman who thinks her friend is cheating. They marry, but she soon gets bored because he is the "model husband"—the way she wished previously: he barely looks at other women. In turn no woman shows interest in him. Moral of the story: she said she wished for the model husband but unconsciously desires a Don Juan. Once he understands, he acts like one (a little) and she falls in love with him all over again.

The film was censored for youth by the Nazis.

Cast

• Heinz Rühmann as Billy Bartlett
• Leny Marenbach as Margret Bartlett
• Hans Söhnker as Jack Wheeler
• Heli Finkenzeller as Doddy Wheeler
• Werner Fuetterer as Fred Evans
• Jola Jobst as Ellen Wilson
• Leopold von Ledebur as Sparkins
• Josi Holsten as Exotin
• Alexa von Porembsky as Mary
• Richard Ulrich as Georg
• Ernst Legal as Möbelpacker
• Eva Behmer as Zuschauerin beim Tennistraining
• Max Holzboer as Trainer
• Michael von Newlinsky as Hardings Geschäftspartner
• Angelo Ferrari as Schiedsrichter
• Kurt Felden as Mr. Harding

Bibliography

• Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim, eds. (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-57181-655-9.
• Hake, Sabine (2001). Popular Cinema of the Third Reich. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73458-6.
• Klaus, Ulrich J. Deutsche Tonfilme: Jahrgang 1937. Klaus-Archiv, 1988.

External links

• The Model Husband at IMDb