Munchhausen (1943)

The descendant of the famous Baron Munchhausen (Hans Albers) regales his guests with the tales of his illustrious ancestor. His adventures at the court of Catherine The Great where he was her lover, his days as a slave in the palace of a Turkish king, his doomed love affair in Venice and a trip to the moon in a balloon. Filmed in Germany at the height of the Third Reich, this colorful (shot in Agfacolor) fantasy is surprising in that it somehow avoids Nazi propaganda (even though the production itself was ordered by the Propaganda Minister, the notorious Joseph Goebbels) and delivers a stylish entertainment along the lines of THE WIZARD OF OZ or Michael Powell's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD though I'm surprised that a line against invading Poland got through! I was also surprised that such a family friendly film had such copious nudity. That aside, it's really a wonderful fantasy that holds its own with Terry Gilliam's much admired 1988 Munchhausen film. The humor is often bizarrely amusing as when a rabid dog bites someone's jacket and when the jacket is put back in the closet, it infects the other clothing in the closet and the clothes go crazy and have to be shot! Directed by Josef von Baky. Quite delightful.