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The Kaiser's Lackey (1951) [N/A]

Release Date:
August 31, 1951

Original Title:
Der Untertan

Alternate Titles:
De onderdaan van zijne majesteit
Le sujet de l'empereur
Le sujet de sa majesté
Man of Straw
Pour le roi de Prusse
The Subject

Genres:
Comedy | Drama | History

Production Companies:
DEFA

Production Countries:
East Germany

Ratings / Certifications:
DE: 12  XG: 12 

Runtime: 109

Overview from TheMovieDB

Diederich Heßling is scared of everything and everyone. But as he grows up, he comes to realize that he has to offer his services to the powers-that-be if he wants to wield power himself. His life motto now runs: bow to those at the top and tread on those below. In this way, he always succeeds: as a student in a duel-fighting student fraternity and as a businessman in a paper factory. He cajoles the obese district administrative president Von Wulkow and wins his favor. He slanders his financial rivals and hatches a plot with the social democrats in the town council. On his honeymoon with his rich wife Guste, he finally finds a chance to do his beloved Kaiser a favor. And when a memorial to the Kaiser is unveiled in the town where Diederich lives and works, he delivers the address. He stands behind the lectern in the pouring rain, saluting his Kaiser. The crowd is dispersed. Everything is laid in ruins...

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Production

Director:
Wolfgang Staudte

Director of Photography:
Robert Baberske

Editor:
Johanna Rosinski

Music:
Horst Hans Sieber

Novel:
Heinrich Mann

Screenplay:
Fritz Staudte
Wolfgang Staudte

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