#569: SIODMAK, Robert & ULMER, Edgar G.: People On Sunday (1930)

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SIODMAK, Robert & ULMER, Edgar G. (Germany)
People On Sunday [1930]
Spine #569
Blu-ray


Years before they became major players in Hollywood, a group of young German filmmakers — including eventual noir masters Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer and future Oscar winners Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann — worked together on the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag). This effervescent, sunlit silent, about a handful of city dwellers (a charming cast of nonprofessionals) enjoying a weekend outing, offers a rare glimpse of Weimer-era Berlin. A unique hybrid of documentary and fictional storytelling, People on Sunday was both an experiment and a mainstream hit that would influence generations of film artists around the world.

73 minutes
Black & White
Silent
German Intertitles
1:33:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2011
Director/Writers



From a reportage by Kurt Siodmak.
Script by Billie Wilder.
Robert Siodmak was 30 and Edgar G. Ulmer was 26 when they directed People on Sunday.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras
The Booklet

Thirty-two page booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Noah Isenberg and reprints by scriptwriter Wilder and director Siodmak.

Commentary

None.

Two scores

A silent-era-style one by the Mont Alto Orchestra and a modern one by Elena Kals-Chernin, performed by the Czech Film Orchestra — both presented as uncompressed stereo soundtracks.
Weekend am Wannsee

Gerald Koll’s 2000 documentary about the film, featuring interviews with star Borchert and writer Curt Siodmak.
Ins Blaue hinein

A thirty-six-minute short film from 1931 by People on Sunday cinematographer Eugen Schüfftan.
Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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