Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944 film)

Die Feuerzangenbowle The FireTongs Bowl or The Punch Bowl is a 1944 German film, directed by Helmut Weiss and is based on the book of the same name. It follows the book closely as its author, Heinrich Spoerl, also wrote the script for the film. Both tell the story of a famous writer going undercover as a student at a small town secondary school after his friends tell him that he missed out on the best part of growing up by being educated at home. The story in the book takes place during the time of the Wilhelmine Empire in Germany. The movie was produced and released in Germany during the last years of World War II and has been called a masterpiece of timeless, cheerful escapism. The movie stars Heinz Rhmann in the role of the student Hans Pfeiffer, which is remarkable as Rhmann was already 42 years old at that time. The title comes from the German alcoholic tradition of Feuerzangenbowle .

Die Feuerzangenbowle was produced by Ufa Studios in PotsdamBabelsberg. Filming was drawn out by shooting scenes to perfection to save the younger actors from being drafted into the war. Nevertheless, by the time the film was released, the German army had suffered massive casualties and some of the actors had been killed on the battlefield despite these efforts.The films release was in question when Bernhard Rust, secretary of education and former high school teacher, bristled at the way the movie poked fun at teachers. To circumvent a ban by the censorship board, producer Heinz Rhmann presented the film to Hermann Gring at the Fhrerhauptquartier where it proved to be a success, thus affecting its delayed release onFebruary 1944 in Berlin. ........

Source: Wikipedia