Broken Lullaby (1932)

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Reginald Berkeley (writer)
Samson Raphaelson (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt whenever he kills a German soldier who...

Plot Keywords:

Post War | Nationalism | Haunted By Past | Guilt | German Soldier

Cast

Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. H. Holderlin
Nancy Carroll	...	Fraulein Elsa, Walter's Fiancée
Phillips Holmes	...	Paul Renaud
Louise Carter	...	Frau Holderlin
Tom Douglas	...	Walter Holderlin, German soldier killed by Paul
Emma Dunn	...	Frau Muller
Lucien Littlefield	...	Herr Walter Schultz
Tully Marshall	...	Gravedigger
Zasu Pitts	...	Anna, Holderlin's Maid
George Bickel	...	Herr Bresslauer, Dress Shop Owner
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Davis
Lillian Elliott	...	Frau Bresslauer
Julia Swayne Gordon
George Irving
Rodney McLennan	...	War Veteran (as Rodney McLennon)
Torben Meyer	...	Waiter at Inn
Reginald Pasch	...	Fritz's Father
Frank Sheridan	...	Priest
Joan Standing	...	Flower Shop Girl
Marvin Stephens	...	Fritz

Also Known As:

The Man I Killed (UK)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Atypical Lubitsch

Is this really a Lubitsch film? I discovered "The Man I Killed" aka "Broken Lullaby" the other night and my feelings are somewhat mixed. The film concerns a young French soldier, Paul, that has killed an equally young and able German soldier, Walter, in the trenches during the final days of World War I. Paul is constantly overcome by feelings of guilt and remorse and he travels to a small German town where the dead soldier's family lives. The family thinks he is Walter's dear friend. Paul's presence in the town outrages some folks, but in the family he is their son and replaces the dead soldier. Paul confides to Walter's Fiancee, Fraulein Elsa, about his real relationship to Walter, but she discourages to tell the family because it will create more problems and ultimately disrupt the wholesomeness of the family.

In many ways, "Broken Lullaby" is Lubitsch's most atypical film. Remarkable how the director of sparkling and sophisticated comedies and operettas could come up with such ambitious, deeply serious subject like "Broken Lullaby". Although I was kind of moved by the film's overpowering message of pacifism and wholesomeness, I can't help feeling that this is not the sort of picture Lubitsch should have made in the first place. At times, it feels unbearably heavy-handed & preachy as it relentlessly tries to make its pacifist, anti-war message palatable to the viewer. But that does not mean a remotely mediocre movie. It is just different for Lubitsch.