The Berliner
1948 · 89 MIN · IMDB 7.2 · 249 VOTES · DIR. Robert A. Stemmle
Overview
Long before he played the corpulent Goldfinger, German actor Gert Froebe was a scarecrow-skinny comedian. In Berliner Ballade, Froebe makes his screen debut as Otto, a feckless Everyman who tries to adjust to the postwar travails of his defeated nation. Stymied by black-market profiteers and government bureaucrats, Otto begins fantasizing about a happier life at the end of that ever-elusive rainbow. Director R. A. Stemmle doesn't have to strive for pathos: he merely places his gangly star amidst the ruins of a bombed-out Berlin, and the point is made for him. Filmed in 1948, Berliner Ballade was later released in the U.S. as The Berliner.
Dialogue Timeline — 862 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:16 BERLINER BALLADE
00:03:46 Because pictures like that were shown every day.
00:08:29 These are my demobilization papers, and my name is on the door.
00:11:42 hiding Thomas Mann.
00:14:22 Where could I get that, please?
00:19:46 Listen, I'm not a retailer.
00:22:34 You shouldn't forget to pay!
00:25:35 I'll write it down!
00:30:23 Resting turbines are getting rusty
00:33:39 Night porter maybe? That wasn't so bad.
00:38:15 Tell your daddy I'll be back the day after tomorrow.
00:40:38 - Forgive me. - You should know what I'm going through
00:43:08 I can tell you exactly!
00:45:46 You have to be lucky!
00:48:41 - Now that's it. - That's it.
00:51:37 Come in! - Oh, Mr. Normalverbraucher, I'm honored.
00:54:41 I am cold, I am hot, I am sorry.
00:58:55 We have discipline, but you want anarchy!
01:02:13 Me? I didn't eat here at all! Look!
01:09:02 Extra rations.
01:14:12 In the meantime the sky was darkening even more.
01:17:02 Would you mind getting me a beer in return?
01:20:52 The coffin of unity hadn't been nailed well
100:19:04 old days, things looked quite different.