Watch We Make Music For Free

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

"Wir machen Musik" (means "we make music") is a German movie from 1942, so this one has its 75th anniversary this year and it runs for roughly 1.5 hours. It is an early career effort by director Helmut Käutner, who is also one of the writers here. Looking at the year when this was made, nobody can really be surprised that it is a black-and-white film, but of course it is also not old enough to be without sound still. The only cast members I have heard of before are lead actress Ilse Werner and Georg Thomalla. This film is from the years of Nazi Germany / World War II and for that it is fairly unpolitical. This is obviously not a propaganda movie and it is somewhat interesting that Käutner during the war did not focus on the war, but several of his most known works afterward are about this subject. The plot is mostly about an aspiring musician who does not realize his biggest talent/strength until the very end. So yeah music is a core component during these 90 minutes, but sadly I cannot say I was too impressed by the music (also the one that was not intended to be bad) or the story. The general story was fine, but the attention to detail here was not on a level that impressed me, which is why I believe the film could have been 15 minutes shorter actually. Werner and de Kowa, especially the former, give good performances and I think they elevate the material at times, but not to an extent where it makes the film really worth seeing or even memorable. Kinda shocking to see so many writers and such an underwhelming outcome nonetheless. Talk about too many cooks spoiling the broth. I have to give it a thumbs-down here. Not recommended.

This is like some of the German film classics made under the third Reich that had subtle pro Nazi propaganda. This one has just as the other Ilsa Werner film,"Wunchkonzert. Near the end when has finished the his tale on how he meet Anni,both played by Victor De Kowa and Ilsa Werner, you discover that it was during an air raid. The bus sequence where Karl is looking off some bus change notice one of the extras that go by the camera with a particular uniform.The plot victor is a frustrated opera writer who works as a pianist at a night club.Grethe Weiser plays an admirer of him.When they go to night club thats when he sees Annie and her swing orchestra. the music is the then stuck old style swing due to Adolph invading Poland.He later gets a letter that he's been excepted as a classic music teacher that he had applied for. When he starts the job he discovers that Anni is one of the students she's interested in classic music. She later makes a deal with Karl if she cleans his house in return he could teach her more about classic music. They eventually fall in love. He frustratingly writes his opera and convinces some investor about putting on his opera but it bombs. While Anni's swing band succeeds. He later realizes that he's better at making arrangements for her band. Ilsa was not only a good actress but she was also noted for being a pop singer and a whistler too. This film is a very good collectible .As of 05/24/09 it wasn't a bus but a street car.

This is almost a flawless film, the minor setbacks being the musical numbers - even though the songs are very good, the dances are not well staged and during the final revue the male dancers actually look as if they have no choreography at all! Probably the good choreographers were busy staging some Marika Rökk musical in another studio... And the ladies' orchestra with their instruments of glass don't seem to have any idea how to hold a trumpet or clarinet in their hands! The poor girl who is required to portray the trumpet player probably hadn't seen this instrument blown in real life and looks more as if she is trying to suck the music out of the horn. If you are willing to turn a blind eye, you'll have a well written and directed film with very fresh actors. Some of the dialog between the two leads is really heartwarming. A good film indeed.