Harry wird Millionär

Harry would like to marry his Grete on the spot, but first he has to get the approval of his future father-in-law, Councillor Goldfish. And poor Harry has to meet an important condition set by Goldfish: he has to prove that he is able to provide for his future wife. So the poor guy comes up with various ideas to make money - which, of course, doesn't happen without complications.

There are only two copies of the film in the world - both incomplete - one in Dutch at the German Film Institute - DIF and one in German at the Danish Film Institute. In 2013, a reconstruction of the complete film with German intertitles was created from these two versions and can be watched here. The version shown here is the incomplete, color-tinted original German version of the film as preserved in the collection of the Danish Film Institute.

"Harry Becomes a Millionaire" is one of a series of everyday comedies starring Harry Lamberts-Paulsen. This forgotten series was produced by Emil Albes at Decla-Film, mainly during the last year of World War I. In these films, Harry's naivety puts him at odds with his surroundings and their ideas of decency and morality. Unlike other installments in the series, "Harry Becomes a Millionaire" explicitly addresses social conflicts: because he is too poor to marry a millionaire's daughter, Harry must take creative and morally questionable paths. The screenplay was written by Julius Sternheim, a largely forgotten filmmaker of Jewish descent from Hanover.

"Harry Becomes a Millionaire" is an example of German cinema entertainment during the years of World War I. Strikingly, the character of the work-shy anti-hero Harry lacks all the qualities that were considered symbols of masculinity at the time. As a husband and son-in-law, Harry proves hardly suitable in the movie, and as a front-line soldier, he seems equally unsuitable to the audience.