The Bat

Overview

The delightful Johann Strauss comic opera Die Fledermaus was mercilessly lampooned in this truly bizarre production. For starters, a framing device has been added: After appearing in 300 consecutive appearances of Fledermaus (which translates as The Bat) the lead tenor (Georg Alexander) imagines that he's seeing bats everywhere. Driven a bit over the edge by all this, he falls asleep and has a nightmare about the opera, with a group of non-singers cast in the leading roles. The original libretto about romantic assignations, political imprisonments and mistaken identity is burlesqued to the hilt: at one point, the hero finds out that his prison cell is surrounded by rubber tubes!

Details

Status

Released

Release date

October 30, 1937

Original language

German

Spoken languages

german

Countries

Germany

Production

Tobis Filmkunst,Imagoton,Imagoton, Tobis Filmkunst

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0028878