The Beaver Coat

Heinrich George has come to town to take over as district administrator. As he is a stupid, pompous minor aristocrat, he blusters loudly at the good guys and toadies to the local Duke in this monotonous screen version of Gerhardt Hauptmann's satirical play.

Most of the other characters are no better. The only exceptions are Duke and his son, who are much above all this, Sabine Peters and her lover. It's a loudly played farce, expanded from its stage settings, but clearly showing them. Herr George is spot on in his characterization, but all the characters are written and performed as so one note, they might as well have stepped out of a George Grosz or David Low cartoon. Those were one-panel affairs that could be absorbed in seconds. Spending an hour and a half with them becomes tiresome.