When the wife of Sebastian Schumann left her family, he told his little daughter that her mother has died, because he thought that this was the easiest way for her to accept that her mother is now gone. But this was only the beginning of a lot of lies he tells her continuously, mostly about himself and his job. This way he also tries to hide away from her the fact that he had to quit his job as a traveler and is now paid much less than before.
Acting
Heinz Rühmann's nervous energy sells every absurd lie
Direction
Vajda balances farce with genuine father-daughter tenderness
Director
Ladislao Vajda
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Heinz Rühmann was West Germany's most bankable star, famous for playing lovable everymen — this role subverts that image with a dad who's basically committing emotional fraud.
Director Ladislao Vajda fled Hungary during the 1956 revolution; this German comedy was part of his prolific second act making accessible crowd-pleasers across Europe.
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