Merci mon ami, es war wunderschön! ... Rudi Schuricke & Hans Bund T.O.(Berlin, 1937/4K/Colorized)

Today's video features "Merci mon ami" - a signature Zarah Leander song - in a very uptempo version by Hans Bund (1898-1982) and his orchestra with vocals by Rudi Schuricke. I believe this to be the most danceable version of this classic song.

After her phenomenal success in the musical comedy "Axel an der Himmelstür" (Lit. Axel at Heaven's Gate), Zarah Leander starred in the Austrian movie "Premiere" which combined a murder mystery with opulent musical numbers. It showed Leander - who had been the star of many revues in Sweden - in her natural habitat. Soon afterwards she left for Berlin and the UFA studios where she starred in melodramas. - with the exception of the comedy "Der Blaufuchs".

The video features sequences from "Premiere" which have been restored and upscaled to a 4K resolution. They were then colorized (mostly manually) using A.I. software. This is purely for entertainment purposes. The colorization is NOT historically correct but it is interesting to see Zarah Leander in color and the video tries to give an impression of what the sets and costumes may have looked like.

0:00 - Opening Credits
0:18 - Stars of "Premiere"
1:14 - "Merci mon ami " Musical Number
1:28 - Zarah Leander and Zarah Leander
1:42 - Zarah Leander and Karl Günther
1:50 - Maria Bard, Walter Steinbeck and Karl Günther
2:00 - Zarah Leander in "Ich hab' vielleicht noch nie geliebt"
2:04 - Murder!
2:19 - Disbelief
2:25 - Interrogation
2:40 - End Credits

Software used includes:

Topaz Video Enhance
Premiere Pro
Neat Video Plug-in for Premiere Pro
Adobe Photoshop

Fun fact: "Premiere" was remade in the UK bearing the same title. It starred Judy Kelly in the Leander role and featured the same songs. In fact, the English movie which was a so called "quota quicky" featured all the musical numbers from the Austrian version. It even featured Zarah Leander in the long shots and Judy Kelly - who wore the same outfits - in close-ups. Neither Leander nor the Austrian version are credited in the opening sequences. The singing was dubbed but it is unclear whether Judy Kelly dubbed the songs herself.

About the record:

Merci mon ami, es war wunderschön!
Hans Bund mit seinem Tanzorchester
Gesang: Rudi Schuricke

Imperial
17711 / C9993
Berlin, 1937

The record which is in good condition was transferred using a Graham Slee Revelation M Phono Preamp (bass Turnover 250 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