When the play was originally staged, the heroine, Polly Peachum was just too mild and the hero, Mr. Peachum too old and crotchety and besides MacHeath and Jenny Diver had become larger than life characters. Originally Jenny Diver was just one of MacHeath's many girls but because of her powerful voice was given 2 duets to sing with Mack the Knife - "The Procurer's Ballad" and "What Keeps a Man Alive". She was also given "Pirate Jenny", a song originally written for Polly Peachum. It was an over the top fantasy about a kitchen maid who becomes captain of a pirate ship and decides which prisoners to kill - "All of them"!!! It was no surprise that the role of Jenny was assigned to Kurt Weill's wife Lotte Lenya.
Unfortunately, the only song Lotte got to sing in the movie was a not very inspired version of "Pirate Jenny" - critics raved about her raspy, powerful voice but here she sang very sweetly!! Even though Pabst's film differed much from the play it still retained it's social satire and challenged conventional ideas of proprietary - "Who is the greater criminal - he who robs a bank or he who founds one"!!! While the play was set in an imaginary 19th century London, Pabst, who was the master of screen realism, decided to reverse his approach and built up a fantastical universe, greatly enhanced by Andrej Andrejew's moody settings. The brothel scene is particularly effective with it's many useless ornaments and it's over powering statues. The commentator is a balladeer who appears at regular intervals with songs that make the narrative flow - everything adds to the dreamlike atmosphere. Brecht and Weill sold the movie rights with the strict instructions that nothing must be changed - they sued Warners and Nero and won. The reason - most of the songs were omitted and Lotte Lenya, instead of being one of the stars was really now only a featured player.
"Mack the Knife" tells you all you need to know about the mysterious McHeath - always on the scene when murders, robberies and rapes are committed but is never questioned, thanks to his very close friendship with the Chief of Police aka "Tiger" Brown. He is about to be married to Polly Peachum (Carola Neher) and the setting is eerie, a thieve's den down by the docks, full of stolen bric-a-brac, a candleabra, grandfather clock, tapestries, kingly chairs, sumptuous food (lots of bananas!!). Polly sings the evocative "No" showing why fine up standing gentlemen will always receive a "No" from her.
Her father J.J. Peachum (Fritz Rasp) is the King of the London Beggars - and he does a roaring trade, for 50% of their takings he coaches the poor in the gentle art of begging and shows them the different ways to get a gentleman to part with their money!! When he realises that his Polly has joined forces with Mack the Knife he threatens the police that if Mackie is not caught and hanged he will ruin the coming coronation by turning all the London beggars loose among the festivities. Mackie gets wind of the plan and flees, leaving Polly in charge, who then uses all the know how she learned from her father to turn MacHeath's business legitimate. Instead of robbing banks, they now own a bank and Polly is a hard taskmaster, threatening to sack anyone who doesn't give 100%. With Mackie now a bank president and Polly now a part of the coronation her father is finding it almost impossible to stop his plans for a beggar uprising!!!
Of the few songs left in the score, they are all highlights including the duet between Mackie and "Tiger" Brown - "The Cannon Song" as well as "The Ballad of the Easy Life". Carola Neher, who played Polly to perfection had a ghastly life. An outspoken anti fascist, she and her husband were captured by the Nazis, her little son taken from her and she later died of typhoid in a concentration camp.
Unfortunately, the only song Lotte got to sing in the movie was a not very inspired version of "Pirate Jenny" - critics raved about her raspy, powerful voice but here she sang very sweetly!! Even though Pabst's film differed much from the play it still retained it's social satire and challenged conventional ideas of proprietary - "Who is the greater criminal - he who robs a bank or he who founds one"!!! While the play was set in an imaginary 19th century London, Pabst, who was the master of screen realism, decided to reverse his approach and built up a fantastical universe, greatly enhanced by Andrej Andrejew's moody settings. The brothel scene is particularly effective with it's many useless ornaments and it's over powering statues. The commentator is a balladeer who appears at regular intervals with songs that make the narrative flow - everything adds to the dreamlike atmosphere. Brecht and Weill sold the movie rights with the strict instructions that nothing must be changed - they sued Warners and Nero and won. The reason - most of the songs were omitted and Lotte Lenya, instead of being one of the stars was really now only a featured player.
"Mack the Knife" tells you all you need to know about the mysterious McHeath - always on the scene when murders, robberies and rapes are committed but is never questioned, thanks to his very close friendship with the Chief of Police aka "Tiger" Brown. He is about to be married to Polly Peachum (Carola Neher) and the setting is eerie, a thieve's den down by the docks, full of stolen bric-a-brac, a candleabra, grandfather clock, tapestries, kingly chairs, sumptuous food (lots of bananas!!). Polly sings the evocative "No" showing why fine up standing gentlemen will always receive a "No" from her.
Her father J.J. Peachum (Fritz Rasp) is the King of the London Beggars - and he does a roaring trade, for 50% of their takings he coaches the poor in the gentle art of begging and shows them the different ways to get a gentleman to part with their money!! When he realises that his Polly has joined forces with Mack the Knife he threatens the police that if Mackie is not caught and hanged he will ruin the coming coronation by turning all the London beggars loose among the festivities. Mackie gets wind of the plan and flees, leaving Polly in charge, who then uses all the know how she learned from her father to turn MacHeath's business legitimate. Instead of robbing banks, they now own a bank and Polly is a hard taskmaster, threatening to sack anyone who doesn't give 100%. With Mackie now a bank president and Polly now a part of the coronation her father is finding it almost impossible to stop his plans for a beggar uprising!!!
Of the few songs left in the score, they are all highlights including the duet between Mackie and "Tiger" Brown - "The Cannon Song" as well as "The Ballad of the Easy Life". Carola Neher, who played Polly to perfection had a ghastly life. An outspoken anti fascist, she and her husband were captured by the Nazis, her little son taken from her and she later died of typhoid in a concentration camp.