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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 March 2023
THE FATE OF THE FAMILY DEUTSCH was already sealed at the movies once. This was when Herr Deutsch saw a film, a form still in its infancy, and pondered what could become of an encircled “Fort Germany.”
This next time, in front of his family, he flew into empty-headed forgetfulness.
Today, the entire family, except for Elsa and Helmut, have also decided to escape themselves by fleeing into the cinema. Susi was able to engineer this by means of some discount tickets she’d come across. Even though it's a third-run theater, the program is interesting, varied, and long — a bit of something for everybody. Herr Deutsch can feast on a film full of beer, potato salad, and parades, chock full of the delights of the military life.
Max, on the other hand, finds himself annoyed by a one-act short that's nothing but a poor variation of the brilliant Mickey Mouse. Italian airplane maneuvers and a parade of American warships are enough to stoke Jürgen's enthusiasm. Now it's time (finally! think Klara and Susi) for the feature film. Fair enough, it's not a first-run film. But it's so Hungarian, full of brokenhearted romance, beautiful cinematography, and sweet, almost bird-like singing. Well, Max isn't quite sure. He finds the peeping to be more like squeaking, and it gets on his nerves. To be frank, he's secretly annoyed that he cut short his evening with Maria to have to sit through such nonsense. For Klara, though, the voices are like Stradivarius’s, while Susi is simply delighted by the diva's dresses and four-poster bed. It occurs to Jürgen that the star shouldn't be so silly as to sit in the bathtub and make a telephone call. Why, the silly cow could electrocute herself! Peter, playing the teacher, instructs his brother that the charge is too weak for that. He's only half paying attention, though. His concentration is on his first solution to the LACAID problem, and he's already developing a second to try tomorrow. Finally, Max looks over at Susi, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and can't help but tease her. Finally, the people behind the family Deutsch can't take their yammering anymore: “SHUSH!”
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