Sonnenstrahl (1933)
Directed by Pál Fejös

Film Review

Sonnenstrahl (a.k.a. Ray of Sunshine) exemplifies the work of Pál Fejös, a Hungarian born filmmaker who, in the 1920s and '30s, was internationally well-regarded for his distinctive brand of humanist cinema.   Having made several films in his native Hungary, Fejös emigrated to the United States where he directed two of his best-known films, Lonesome (1928) and Broadway (1929).  He returned to Europe in the 1930s and made films in a number of countries, including France (where he directed the 1932 remake of Fantômas).  In the mid-1930s, Fejös devoted himself to making documentaries as he forged a new career for himself, as a dedicated anthropologist.

Sonnenstrahl was made in Austria, in two versions with the same cast; the French version, titled Gardez le sourire, was co-directed with René Sti.  The film features two prominent actors of the period: Annabella, a star of French cinema who had previously taken the lead role in Fejös's Marie, légende hongroise (1933); and Gustav Fröhlich, a popular German actor and filmmaker, best known for playing the hero Freder Fredersen in Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927).  Annabella and Fröhlich both have a rare aptitude for playing characters that are as fragile as they are tough and resourceful, and so they are suitably paired in a film that plays on these qualities.  We can see that their characters are doing their best to put on a brave face as they deal with the adversities that come their way, but we also see the anxiety and desperation that are not too far beneath the surface.  Fejös emphasises the rapport between the two characters by getting them to communicate mainly by gestures, as in a silent film.  There is hardly any dialogue in the film, yet we seem not to notice that.

There are some striking similarities between Fejös's cinema and that of his contemporary Frank Borzage.  As in much of Borzage's work, Sonnenstrahl is a heartfelt celebration of the resilience of the human spirit and the redeeming power of love.  It is a film which, despite its grim Depression era setting and some horribly bleak moments, is relentlessly optimistic.  No matter what misfortune fate throws at the feet of our two enterprising heroes, we know they will find a way through, that the sun will soon come out from behind the clouds.  (The sequence in which the couple take their honeymoon in a travel agent's shop is worthy of Chaplin.)  Made at a time of extraordinary human suffering, Sonnenstrahl was a film that brought its own ray of sunshine.  With its exhilarating bursts of humour and poetry, it reminded audiences then, as it does today, that life's challenges are ultimately what make life worth living.

Film Synopsis

In the 1930s, Europe is caught in the grip of the Great Depression.  Across the entire continent ordinary men and women are struggling to support themselves and their families in the face of an ever riding tide of unemployment.  In Vienna, Hans has decided that the struggle is no longer worth it.  He has lost his job as a taxi driver and now he sees there is no future for himself.  Penniless and hopeless, he is ready to throw himself into the river when he sees a young woman about to perform the same desperate act.  Without a moment's hesitation, Hans comes to the woman's rescue and does what he can to comfort her.  She is Anna, an 18-year-old who, like Hans, has given up the will to live.  For his bravery, the city's authorities reward Hans with a small sum of money, which he uses to buy some soap to sell at a profit.

In this way, the young man soon has enough money to pay for a room for Anna, although he is happy to go on sleeping on park benches. Their spirits restored, the two young people take on an assortment of odd jobs and thereby raise the deposit they need to buy themselves a concierge post.  This job requires them to be married, so they duly go ahead and tie the matrimonial knot.  This turns out to be another false hope, but the couple refuse to be beaten.  Hans soon has a steady income as a bank courier, and within next to no time he has saved enough money to fulfil his dream of buying his own taxi.  Just when everything seems to have turned out for the best disaster strikes.  Hans' dreams of financial independence appear to be cruelly shattered when he succumbs to a terrible accident...