Damals (1943) User Reviews

Citizen Meiners

[suchenwi · 7/10 · 19 May 2008]

This is an interesting film from the later Nazi wartime production (when escapism efforts obviously had to be increased). On one level we might call it a damsel-in-distress chick flick: strong woman gets deeper and deeper in trouble as she lies to her husband about meeting an old friend, gets divorced, emigrates to Switzerland, works as doctor, gets fired for disobeying her boss's orders, emigrates to Portugal, dances in nightclub, emigrates to some unnamed Latin American country...

On another level it's a whodunit thriller - murder in the hotel, mysterious woman, false identity, detective work to find out what happened.

It also appears to have had strong influences from Citizen Kane: the flashbacks, told by different people, which bring the story together in bits and pieces (though in ordered time sequence). Other effects remind almost of slapstick movies (the train wreck) or expressionism (the symbolics of the stopped, then restarted clock).

In general, I find it's interestingly executed, and worth a watch. But in the end I felt a little disappointed - the heroine oh-so good, the ending oh-so sweet. Technically it had good chances to become a Noir, but for that, it would have taken a lot more cynicism - which was probably unwanted by the propaganda ministry in 1943. Still, 7/10.

Mother of Soaps?

[sb-47-608737 · 7/10 · 21 April 2018]

This may be one of the earliest of the Soaps that I have seen, along with a few other movies, all of Zarah Leander e.g. Zu Neuen Ufern. This plot-model is now ubiquitous in the small box- strong and pure woman, ninny man as her opposite lead. The woman could be pure white, but the man is always quite a bit of grey, may not be in character/ hair color, but the green of unfounded jealousy makes him so. Of now, it is deja-vu, but might not have been so then. And then Zarah Leander is there so that itself gets a couple of extra stars. One of the reviewers probably didn't get the plot properly, so let me correct that too.

First of all the Heroine wasn't a retired doctor, but studying to be a doctor, happily married to a lawyer (the green-man) with a beautiful kid. She does get a letter from her ex-beau.

I don't know how the Black-mailer concept came in, he isn't. He is a philanderer, but is infatuated with the heroine, though she isn't, at least any more. And infatuated, he may be, but he isn't going to commit for a permanent relationship.

Once he, unintentionally, causes the break-up of her marriage, she goes through several self-sacrificing roles - first as an intern, after getting the medical degree, which gets revoked due to her insubordination, then night-club singer, and then, thanks to chance-meeting with the ex-beau again, back to her profession, at least almost (as nurse) and with a luck, she got a chance to impersonate a doctor.

There were only two skills, singing and medical, and both, in the beginning itself had been shown in her possession, so it was not so preposterous that one would wonder - how could she...? As I am forced to do, in most of the soaps. The man kept in touch, despite cold shoulder from the heroine, till the justice caught up with all of the members family and the friend. He did keep his philandering ways, but to the heroine, he had been of beneficial effect, despite the semi-rebuffs.

The reviewer mentioned concentration camp - no it was a quarantine and that has nothing to do with the SS. At those times, to prevent infectious diseases, this was an universal feature, now of course there is no chance, due to air travel, else probably the spread of infections would have been less. Anyway, what has been shown was a normal quarantine scene, and has nothing to do with Germany or SS or Hitler. Similar quarantine areas - as closely guarded as jails used to be at every international sea-port.

Nothing new, in today's time, but for Zarah, who can in most of the cases keep one on the seat till the end.

Since most of the story is through vignettes of flash-backs, the usual errors that almost all the directors make is there. The characters whose flash-back is on, isn't supposed to know of the things that happened, especially dialogues, when they were not there. But to avoid these and keep the story from missing vital information needs a genius, and those are rare and hence I will not harp on that angle. But way of story telling has been good.

Zarah Leander's greatest film.

[Charles Herrin · 9/10 · 26 March 2002]

This is the best film Zarah Leander ever made. It is free of Nazi propaganda unlike Heimat and Grosse Lieb. Frau Leander is allowed to use all of her talents including singing and dancing. It is a shame that this was her last film for several years. She would have been wonderful in "The Merry Widow".

Damals does have propaganda but it can be ignored

[cynthiahost · 10/10 · 7 November 2008]

Damals is about a singer doctor , played by Zara Leander,who is arrested for allegedly murdering her black mailer ex lover. As the police ask her question flashbacks start to occur on how she got into the mess. As those who knew her read about her trouble in the news paper, who knew her one time , a doctor,a hair dresser , played by anti Nazi actor Hans Brauswetter, a professional bike rider , played by Rossano Brazzi, his film debut, her grown up daughter , it flashes back to her past life. From being a retired doctor, now housewife, her little girl helping her to prevent black mail messages from getting into her husbands hands to having to go back to her profession when her husband finds out and having to do some singing to pay off her ex lover continuously black mail. Zara really puts her acting skill to work than any other of her picture's. She financed the picture her self so for one time only she was a Kay Frances. The budget was limited because not all flash backs could be produced and you didn't see what happen when she went out of her hotel room. Her now grown up daughter explanation to her dad could only be expressed in words. Yes there is some Nazi propaganda in it, she is in an internments camp to look after the health of the victims. there's's one patient who's problem is purely in the mind she tries to help her but since she's a medical doctor she is unable to help this concentration camp victim.They get mad at her and try to make her help that victim. All this was an excuse. she might have been under pressure by Goebels to put a scene like this on or she might of did it out of fear of reprimand from the third Reich. This and her last film of world war 2 might have been the reason that she was accused of supporting Adolph Hilter rather than using him. Inspite of this it can be overlooked as plane melodrama these days. It is one of her best. It was available form Raredvd.com in amazon.Com's market place in all region pal . another market place in U. S. A. of amazon also had a copy.Up date as of 11/07/08 Made some mistakes. Zara did not produced it her self it was her studio that did.she was not an a concentration camp but at a immigration center waiting to enter the country she went to. no Nazi propaganda at all. available at warfilm.com in Digital d.v.d.