Reviewer:
Dave Campbell from Red Bluff, CA United States
First of all, the quality of the print of this 1944 film: it's clear and well-defined and the sound is excellent. As far as the content, i know this is a beloved movie in Germany, showing during holidays much as It's A Wonderful Life is shown here, The Punch Bowl being much less melancholy; an older man drinking with pals, recalls missing out on high school which sounds like fun, and so returns, mixing easily with youth and becoming a sort of class clown. I suspect there are a good many comic cultural overtones I am missing, as the overall impression is muted in comparison to other reviews I have read, but with its history of being successfully created under a Nazi regime, the film has an underlying and rather strange agenda.