Drei Männer im Schnee (1955)

Drei Männer im Schnee: Directed by Kurt Hoffmann. With Paul Dahlke, Günther Lüders, Claus Biederstaedt, Nicole Heesters. A rich man wins a vacation at a hotel but takes it in the disguise of a poor man under the supervision of his butler. The hotel manager gets tipped off about the plot, but misidentifies a money-less doctor as the eccentric.

“Having watched back to back the two versions – Paradise For Three (1938) and this, the mother-tongue but later version (1955), I am not sure which is the better version. In having not read the actual story, I canu0026#39;t say which is nearer to the literature. The basic skeleton has been maintained same in both version,nA Millionaire wins a prize in a slogan competition – sponsored by his own empire – and accepts the prize – a fortnight in a ski resort. Thatu0026#39;s where the snow comes in – not because of getting marooned in some snow storm (for example as in Il tempo si è fermato) – so that way both the names are a bit misnomer, but this one is nearer to the right one.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe three (in either case) – are the First Prize winner young man, the second prize winner (the millionaire) and his trusted valet. The reason of his going is his childishness – which had been shown in different way in the two versions (in the Holly version, the bargaining with a young boy – for his stamps) whereas here those were not resorted to. Some u0026quot;Narratoru0026quot; statement in the beginning smoothed the field for the Hero to step on.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBoth the versions had obvious flaws, but in none of them had been really too noticeable to be irritating. Unfortunately – as it is reported, the German director wasnu0026#39;t even aware that a movie had already been made on the story- so he really couldnu0026#39;t take advantage of the better parts of that. May be had he seen that, or some one makes a hybrid, that would be perfect.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the Hollywood version, the daughter is a society girl, whereas here she is a professional, the crown princess is in fact ready and capable of taking over the empire from the baby-father. The father in both case is child, but in Holly the daughter too is as frolicky as the father, but here the father is blessed with two mothers – the daughter and the old governess. In fact in Holly version, one could suspect whether there was some other feeling Mrs Kunkel had, in fact almost feel it, but here there is absolutely no doubt.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe second positive part of this version is – the lead up to the excursion – in Holly he has gone by deception, (in fact I couldnu0026#39;t get how they came to know of it). But here, it was known, and they have decided to humour the child to go for a stroll in the park, of course with the guardian (the valet) to keep a strict eye. In fact here I had a strong suspicion, whether the Princess managed the award for her father (playing Santa) ? It seemed quite possible – and that would have taken the chance element off.nUpto half way of the movie this was a definitely far superior version, but then a small, but major flaw surfaced. In both the version, the mistaken-millionare was treated as a servant – but Holly had made it convincing – the destruction of cutlery and the pay-back by manual work. Here it was just ordered, without reason. That is simply not palatable.nIn Holly version, the gold digging divorcee had very quickly changed her target, when she realised who was who. But here she didnu0026#39;t and focused on the wrong one (she didnu0026#39;t get enlightened of the reality). In either case – it was just a bit too fast to be palatable – the change of target would have warned the target in Holly, and the open seduction in this version was more as one would expect from a street-walker than one who hobnobs with Barons and others. This should have been kept a bit more sublime – since after all (though mistakenly), she is trying to catch a rich man as husband.nThe finale too here was much sweeter than the Holly version. But in Holly the young man couldnu0026#39;t afford to have a mother, hence this solution was out.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs I said, I have a mixed feeling about the superiority – I would give this just a small edge – and that too because, I will take the Director at his words, that he hasnu0026#39;t seen the other one, and hence this isnu0026#39;t a remake, but stand-alone. In remakes, I am much more brutal, when plus points of one version become minus in later one.”