This 90-minute film is named "In the Morning at Seven the World Is Still in Order" and I will do without the German title here as it will give half a dozen spelling mistakes and you can read it on the profile page anyway. It was directed by Kurt Hoffmann and he was among the most successful filmmakers of his time. This movie here is from the final stages of his career and it is a West German production of course. It was released in 1968, so it will have its 50th anniversary next year. Quite a log time. The cast does not really offer any big names compared to other films from that time that are still somewhat known, so you can say that it is not among Hoffmann's most or least known. The only cast member I know is Ralf Zacher I believe and I see like him many cast members are pretty old, but still alive right now. One who is not that old yet is lead actor Archibald Eser and he quickly disappeared from the acting industry. The only other film he showed up in is the sequel to this movie we have here actually and the fact that they made a sequel also shows you how successful this first film here was. After all, it won a Golden Screen that was only awarded to those films that really reached gigantic audiences numbers in Germany.
Now about the story: It says family and comedy are the genres here on IMDb, but this is only partially correct. I think there were more than enough dramatic moments, especially by standards back then, to say this is a drama movie, for example the major plot point when one boy threatens another with a knife. And there are really more sequences like these to be honest. as for the comedy aspect, I am really not sure. Yes the romance in here is somewhat linked to comedy and banter as well on many occasions (as it was frequently the case in German films back then), but is it a funny movie by any means? I don't think so. It certainly has not aged well from that perspective. But I will give the benefit of the doubt here and say that people perceived humor very differently back then, so it's fine maybe to call it a comedy film, even if the humorous component is almost missing entirely in my opinion. Okay, a couple words on the title of my review. If you know Heintje or have seen any of his films, then you basically know what to expect here. Just imagine a Heintje film without the singing. Admittedly Eser is a name almost nobody remembers today in Germany, while Heintje is still known to very many, but I would still say that it is not worse than a Heintje film. I guess he was missing the angel-like voice to become more popular. And it was really difficult to take this film seriously for me, or the main character with the name of Gaylord. The explanation is that the original novel this is based on is by a British writer named Eric Malpass. Okay, anyway these were my thought on this film. As a whole, I give it a thumbs-down and don't recommend checking it out. Really no need for a sequel and if I ever check it out (which will definitely not be anytime soon), then I'd be genuinely surprised if it is any good.
Now about the story: It says family and comedy are the genres here on IMDb, but this is only partially correct. I think there were more than enough dramatic moments, especially by standards back then, to say this is a drama movie, for example the major plot point when one boy threatens another with a knife. And there are really more sequences like these to be honest. as for the comedy aspect, I am really not sure. Yes the romance in here is somewhat linked to comedy and banter as well on many occasions (as it was frequently the case in German films back then), but is it a funny movie by any means? I don't think so. It certainly has not aged well from that perspective. But I will give the benefit of the doubt here and say that people perceived humor very differently back then, so it's fine maybe to call it a comedy film, even if the humorous component is almost missing entirely in my opinion. Okay, a couple words on the title of my review. If you know Heintje or have seen any of his films, then you basically know what to expect here. Just imagine a Heintje film without the singing. Admittedly Eser is a name almost nobody remembers today in Germany, while Heintje is still known to very many, but I would still say that it is not worse than a Heintje film. I guess he was missing the angel-like voice to become more popular. And it was really difficult to take this film seriously for me, or the main character with the name of Gaylord. The explanation is that the original novel this is based on is by a British writer named Eric Malpass. Okay, anyway these were my thought on this film. As a whole, I give it a thumbs-down and don't recommend checking it out. Really no need for a sequel and if I ever check it out (which will definitely not be anytime soon), then I'd be genuinely surprised if it is any good.
