Warum hat der Napoleon .... Adalbert Lutter Tanzorchester (Berlin, December 1938 / 4K / Colorized)

Today's video features the song 'Warum hat der Napoleon..." (Why did Napoleon...) from the 1938 comedy "Napoleon ist an allem Schuld" (Lit. Napoleon is to blame for it all) in a very enjoyable version by veteran bandleader Adalbert Lutter (1896-1970) and his orchestra. Composed by Franz Grothe and Willy Dehmel, the song is best known in the rendition by Kirsten Heiberg (1907-1976), Grothe's Norwegian born wife who made her debut in German movies in "Napoleon ist an allem Schuld".

A further video featuring Die Goldene Sieben and two songs from "Napoleon ist an allem Schuld" can be found here :    • Die Goldene Sieben ... "Warum hat der...   .

In this Video:

0:00 Opening Credits
0:50 Kirsten Heiberg
1:02 Musical Number "Warum hat der Napoleon"
2:03 Napoleon is alive!
2:53 Kirsten Heiberg

"Napoleon ist an allem Schuld" was a screwball comedy written and directed by Curt Goetz. In the movie he plays a researcher and admirer of Napoleon - Lord Arthur Cavershoot - who travels to Paris to attend a congress. Cavershoot - who is married - meets Madeleine (Else von Möllendorf) - a young dancer in a musical revue. Somehow their picture ends up on the cover of the Daily Mail in which Madeleine is mistaken for his daughter. Fearing repercussions from his wife (played by Goetz's real life wife Valerie von Martens), Cavershoot decides to take Madeleine to England with him and introduces her as his illegitimate daughter. Much to his chagrin, Lady Cavershoot receives Madeleine with open arms which leads to further complications.

This very funny movie was banned in 1939 and Curt Goetz (who also a Swiss citizen via his father) and Valérie von Martens left Germany for Switzerland that same year. Since they were in Hollywood when the Second World War broke out, they decided to stay there until 1946.

In "Napoleon ist an allem Schuld" Kirsten Heiberg made her first appearance in a German movie. After making a number of movies in her native Norway and Sweden she starred in the musical "Pam-Pam" in Vienna where she met Franz Grothe. They married in 1938 and Grothe suggested Heiberg for the small but showy part of Fifi - the headliner of the Napoléon revue in Paris. Heiberg introduced "Warum hat der Napoleon eines Tages..." which she and Franz Grothe recorded with Die Goldene Sieben in October 1938 - marking the start of Heiberg's recording career in Germany.

The video features sequences from "Napoleon ist an allem Schuld" which have been restored and upscaled to a 4K resolution. They were then colorized mostly manually and purely for entertainment purposes. The colorization is NOT historically correct but it tries to recreate the warm colors of early Agfacolor movies and does give an impression of what the sets and costumes may have looked like.

About the record:

"Warum hat der Napoleon..."
Adalbert Lutter mit seinem grossen Tanzorchester

Telefunken
A 2768 / mx. 023728
Berlin, December 1938

The record which is in average condition was transferred using a Graham Slee Revelation M Phono Preamp (bass Turnover 375 Hz - Rolloff 0) in combination with a Klark Teknik Tube Equalizer. The cartridge and stylus used is an Ortofon Om78. Editing was done in Adobe Audition