The German cinema had her glory days with the German Expressionism of the '20s and '30s and became relevant again not earlier than with the "Neue Deutsche Welle" in the '70s. At least that is the general opinion in film history. In my opinion there were also made worthwhile films in the meantime. In this respect I have a guilty pleasure for the films of Helmut Käutner and Wolfgang Staudte. Maybe not all of them classics but pleasant entertainment nevertheless.
"Montpi" (abbreviation for "Mon Petit") is no exception.
Special attraction are the lead actors, who were still at the beginning of their careers.
Horst Buchholz would become, at least for my generation, synonymous with inspector Derrick form the TV series in later years.
Romy Schneider is in "Montpi" not so demure as in the "Sissi" trilogy (1955, 1956, 1957, Ernst Marischka) but certainly not so worldly and cynical as in "La piscine" (1969, Jacques Deray). In fact she is beautiful and for 1957 standards very sexy.
At the beginning of the movie Buchholz plays a very clumsy boy. For a moment I was afraid of a slapstick kind of movie like "They're a weird mob" (1966, Michael Powell), the film I saw before this one and that disappointed me very much. Happily this phase doesn't last very long. At the end of the film you even wish for a more happy ending.
In between the film is a very pleasant romance. Paris is portrayed as it often is in films of the '50s: the romantic capital created for young people who live in shabby attics but are lucky in love. See for example also the opening scene of "An American in Paris" (1951, Vincente Minnelli).
As comic counterpoint to the Buchholz / Schneider romantic couple there is also a rich, bored and cheating couple.
In the appartment building of the Buchholz character we see various little sideplots through the windows of his neighbours. A feauture Käutner has copied from "Rear window" (1954, Alfred Hitchcock).
