''Seven Slaps'' (German: ''Sieben Ohrfeigen'') is a 1937 German

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

and starring

Lilian Harvey Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was a British-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (Wilhelm Egon Fritz, 27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theatre and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz ...

and Alfred Abel. Like the earlier ''

Lucky Kids ''Lucky Kids'' () is a 1936 German romantic comedy film directed by Paul Martin and starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, and Paul Kemp. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director ...

'', which had the same director and stars, it was an attempt to create a German version of

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a film subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary charact ...

. While the previous film had a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

setting, this takes place in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

.Rentschler p.118 It was shot at the

Babelsberg Studios Babelsberg Film Studio () (also known as Studio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about and a studio area of a ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Erich Kettelhut Erich Karl Heinrich Kettelhut (1 November 1893 – 13 March 1979) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. Kettelhut is considered one of the most important artists in the history of early German cinema, mainly for his s ...

. It was loosely remade in 1970 as '' Slap in the Face''.

Synopsis

After he loses some money on the

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

, a young man seeks revenge on the speculator responsible by slapping him. He intends to slap him once every day for a week as retribution, but things become complicated when he becomes entangled with the speculator's attractive daughter.

Cast

as Daisy Terbanks - Astor's Daughter *

as William Tenson MacPhab * Alfred Abel as Astor Terbanks - sein Finanzgewaltiger *

Oskar Sima Oskar Sima (31 July 1896 – 24 June 1969) was an Austrian actor who is best remembered for appearing in supporting roles in countless comedy films from the 1930s to the 1960s. Born in Hohenau an der March, Lower Austria, Sima attended high sc ...

as Wennington Laskett - Reporter *

Erich Fiedler Erich Fiedler (15 March 1901 – 19 May 1981) was a German film actor. He was the German dubbing voice of Robert Morley. Selected filmography * '' The Escape to Nice'' (1932) * '' Overnight Sensation'' (1932) * '' Marion, That's Not Nice'' (193 ...

as Ernie Earl of Wigglebottom *

Ernst Legal Ernst Otto Eduard Legal (2 May 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German actor and opera director of Berlin State Opera. Born on 2 May 1881 in Schlieben in the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Saxony, he was the father of the actress Marga Leg ...

as Mr. Strawman *

Otz Tollen Otz Tollen (9 April 1882 – 19 July 1965) was a German actor and film director. Born in Berlin, he made his film debut in the 1912 Joe May directed film ''In der Tiefe des Schachtes''. His last film role was an appearance in the 1960 Nadja Tille ...

as Balthasar Adula Flanelli - Verwandlungskünstler *

Ernst Behmer Ernst Behmer (22 December 1875 – 26 February 1938) was a prolific German stage and film actor who appeared in more than a hundred films during the silent and early sound eras. Behmer was born in Königsberg, East-Prussia, Germany (now Kali ...

as Bankangestellter * Erwin Biegel as Aufgeregter bankkunde *

Erich Dunskus Erich Adolf Dunskus (27 July 1890 – 25 November 1967) was a German film actor. He appeared in 170 films between 1927 and 1966. He was born in Pillkallen, East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom o ...

as Schmiedegeselle in Gretna Green * Max Hiller as 1. Zuschauer beim Fußballspiel *

Horst Birr Horst Birr (17 February 1912 – 8 October 1943) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1934 and 1941. Birr was a member of the Nazi Party. There are different accounts about his death. Some sources state that he comm ...

as Schmiedegeselle in Gretna Green * Jac Diehl as Schutzmann *

Karl Harbacher Karl Harbacher (1879–1943) was an Austrian actor. Selected filmography * '' Miss Piccolo'' (1914) * '' No Sin on the Alpine Pastures'' (1915) * '' Fanny Elssler'' (1920) * '' Das blaue Duell'' (1920) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) ...

as Sekretär Charly * Hanns Waschatko as Butler Leslie * Rudolf Klicks as 1. Bankdirektor * F.W. Schröder-Schrom as 2. Bankdirektor *

Otto Stoeckel Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

as 3. Bankdirektor *

Josef Reithofer Josef Reithofer (1883–1950) was an Austrian stage and film actor. Selected filmography * '' In the Line of Duty'' (1917) * '' Without Witnesses'' (1919) * '' The Dancer from Tanagra'' (1920) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * '' Fanny Els ...

as Detektiv *

Georg H. Schnell Georg Heinrich Schnell (11 April 1878 – 31 March 1951) was a German actor who remains perhaps best-known for his role as shipowner Harding in ''Nosferatu, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens'' (1922). Georg appeared in over one hundred fi ...

as Dr. Lorenz * Walter Steinweg as Chauffeur von Dr. Lorenz * Max Wilmsen as Conférencier im Rostigen Nagel * Charles Francois as Ein Mitarbeiter von Astor Terbanks * Paul Ludwig Frey as Ein Gast im Kabarett 'Rostiger Nagel' * Eric Harden as Ein Zeitung lesendes Klubmitglied * Albert Karchow as 2. Zuschauer beim Fußballspiel *

Gustav Püttjer Gustav Püttjer (15 May 1886 – 11 August 1959) was a German film actor who appeared in around 150 feature films between 1927 and 1959. He largely played character actor, character parts. After the Second World War he settled in East Germany appe ...

as 3. Zuschauer beim Fußballspiel * Paul Schwed as Detektiv *

Egon Stief Egon is a Danish variant of the male given name Egino. It is most commonly found in Central and Northern Europe. Egon may refer to: People * Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (1588–1635), Imperial Count of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (1 ...

as Starker Mann beim Fußballspiel * Alfred Stratmann as Büroangestellter

References

Bibliography

* Eric Rentschler. ''The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife''. Harvard University Press, 1996.

External links

* 1937 films Films of Nazi Germany German comedy films 1937 comedy films 1930s German-language films Films directed by Paul Martin Films set in London UFA GmbH films German black-and-white films Films based on Hungarian novels 1930s German films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Films scored by Kurt Schröder {{1930s-Germany-comedy-film-stub