The violin virtuoso Ferdinand Lohner is lonely and depressed after the death of his wife. But then he gets to know the much younger Irene and forgets all about his dead wife, marrying the young tart soon after. Irene moves into the house in the mountains, where Ferdinand, his son Heinz and his former mother-in-law Mrs. Leuthoff live. The bitter Mrs. Leuthoff makes life difficult for Irene, since she had no way of preventing Ferdinand from re-marrying after her daughter bit the dust. When Ferdinand conveniently goes out on tour once again, Irene has to sit at home with the bitter woman. One day, Irene’s cousin Gustl comes on a visit and Mrs. Leuthoff takes the opportunity to “accidentally” let slip to Ferdinand, that his current wife is a whore. As if living with your current mother-in-law isn’t enough to deal with!
Acting
Hilde Krahl's trapped-bird fragility against maternal malice
Direction
Forst's elegant frames masking rot beneath
Director
Willi Forst
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Forst was Austria's answer to Hollywood glamour, and this 1937 film subtly critiques the very social conventions it appears to uphold — a tension that would collapse entirely under Nazi cultural policy within two years.
The mountain house setting isn't picturesque escape — it's a pressure cooker. Forst uses vertical space to trap Irene between the ex-mother-in-law above and the returning husband below, with nowhere to run.
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