Ferdinand Bonn

This is a very early feature by Rolf Raffé concerning the supposedly "mad" King of Bavaria, Ludwig II, probably the first feature film concerning the life of that King. In the piece, which is for the most part a straightforwards historical biopic from the DW Griffith school of narrative filmmaking, Ludwig is portrayed as an Idealist who cannot fit into the world of his contemporaries.

This movie, directed by Richard Oswald, is based on the operetta "Les contes de Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880), which is a genial musical potpourri from various short stories and novels by the Prussian writer, composer, painter, lawyer and judge E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822).

The manufacturer Florian Pieper, who comes from vinegar and cucumber, invented the insect powder Pieperlin. He believes that he can use it to conquer the German market and therefore goes to the metropolis of Berlin. But the naive country egg is here on a pavement that it cannot cope with: everything is bigger, everything is faster and brighter, and dangers lurk everywhere for a straw widower, a single "sinful" temptation.