Sadly Over-hyped

Fantastic!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

"Das Wirtshaus im Spessart" or "The Spessart Inn" is a West German color film from 1958, so it will have its 60th birthday soon. And it should not be taken for granted as there are many German films from the 1960s that are still in black-and-white. And maybe this use of color is one reason why this this (slightly under) 100-minute movie is still somewhat known today, more than most other 1950s films for sure. And another reason may be that this is just the beginning from a whole series of "Spessart" films. However, I myself must say that this one would have been enough. It was not a failure and there were no really bad moments in here, but as a whole I found it fairly forgettable and it did not have enough fascinating scenes and interesting moments. The director is Kurt Hoffmann and returned for future films as well. The entire film is based on a fairy-tale by Wilhelm Hauff, a writer from the early 19th century who died at a very young age, but still wrote some pieces that are still known today. His stories are usually darker, but this one here really isn't. Yes there is a story about an abducted girl, but it is really all about the comedy, romance and music. Sadly, in these areas it does not stand out compared to all the mediocrity Germany delivered in the 1950s. That's why I give it a thumbs-down. Lead actress Lilo Pulver could not win me over either. Watch something else instead.

For the first time I saw The Spessart Inn when I was a child, and it made a huge impression on me, especially the charming "Räuberhauptmann" :) and the song sang by Paruccio and the Count. And I just recently saw it again for the second time - and still enjoyed it very much - I had such a pleasant feeling, all the troubles seemed to be blown away. It's a very pleasant and lovely and romantic film, done with a good sense of humour, with wonderful leading actors, the best of the three "Spessart-series" from my point of view - a mixture of adventure and a true-German-Spirit fairy-tale, a film that will put you in high spirits and lovely mood:) The best of the three, I promise you!

"Das Wirtshaus im Spessart" is one of my favourite movies since childhood. It still interesting as fun adaptation fairy tale to modern life. Script writers joke about clergy, army, society. Otto Stor as Reverend trying to escape responsibility by quotation from the Bible. Liselotte Pulver as Contesse von Sandau - the best choice. She is very expressive and imitate male's behavior so hilarious! If you like Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann in "Pirates of the Caribbean", you must see Liselotte Pulver's performance. She's the One.Everything changes in 50 years: it was movie about highwaymen want to be honest, but now is more usual about "how good is to be robber".

Its comical nature notwithstanding, this movie is of historical interest in its implicit portrayal of the West German society: The men are either crooks or completely inept or imprisoned, so the women have to take over the men's jobs. But once the men return from detention the women have no choice but to resume their traditional role as house wife. Furthermore, you have the mobsters who hope to get away with their committed crimes and dream about spending the rest of their lifes with gardening (Gardening of course being one of the things Himmler wanted the Germans to do in the 'Lebensraum im Osten').