People on Sunday (1930)

People on Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag)
Directed by Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer
Written by Billy Wilder from reportage of Curt Siodmak
1930/Germany
Film Studio 1929/Film Studio Berlin
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. — Susan Ertz

Future Hollywood greats teamed up to make this silent film about young people enjoying a day of leisure in the fading glow of pre-Hitler Berlin.

Two friends, Edwin and Wolf, want to take a break from the everyday grind and decide to pick up a couple of girls for a day of fun.  Lothario Wolf picks up Cristl, who invites her best friend Brigitte to make up a foursome.  But Wolf decides he likes Brigitte best and seduces her.

As they tire of the two girls, the men starting flirting with new ones.  The girls not only don’t get the boyfriends they are looking for, they are left to pay for a paddle boat the two ingrates rented.  Monday morning dawns and all Berlin waits for Sunday to come around again.

This is a charming film made with amateur actors.  The amateur acting does not slow down the proceedings at all, perhaps because they don’t need to speak.  Aside from the main plot, we get delightful portraits of happy Berliners and the city they live in.