A dramatization of the melodramatic story that inspired the popular opera, Pagliacci.German language version of a film simultaneously shot in an Italian version.

It’s 1910 and we’re in the duchy of Lauffenburg. Everybody is celebrating the 600th birthday of the local hero, Otto the Ironman, who in his time saved the duchy from annexation and beat the enemy so badly, that he fled ... well, that’s what it says in the history books, at least. Local gossip asserts, however, that Otto wasn’t even part of the battle and was spending his time having fun with a pretty girl. When one day a piece is introduced at the court theatre, which tells the heroic story of Otto, the director rejects the mediocre story.

1950 film by Paul May

1938 film by Josef von Báky

1949 film

1949 film by Hans Bertram

Wanting a lavish production to mark the 25th anniversary of UFA, the German film studio, Joseph Goebbels, director of the Nazi propaganda machine, commissioned an adaptation of Baron von Münchhausen‘s “autobiographical” stories. Baron von Münchhausen (1720-97) was an eccentric figure in European history, whose tall tales about his adventures rival anything to be found in the legends of Paul Bunyan or classic figures like Odysseus. This film recounts some of the episodes from the Baron’s sensational stories, which are set in the world of the 18th century.