1928. Director: Karel Lamac. Runtime: 90min.

A joyous jazz-age comedy of errors about two girlfriends chasing very different dreams.

Susy is a chorus girl who longs to pursue her education, but instead finds herself reluctantly enrolled at Tiller’s Dance School in London. Anni yearns for a life in showbiz, but her father thinks the best place for his wayward daughter is at a strict English boarding school. En route to their mismatched destinations, the girls hatch a bold plan: they will trade places! Anni’s enthusiasm more than makes up for her lack of training, and it’s not long before her eccentric dancing is taking London by storm.

Czech film star Anny Ondra shines as Anni, the good-time gal whose infectious vivacity is more than a match for mere men

Dir. Karel Lamač | Germany | 1928 N/C PG | b&w | German & French intertitles with English surtitles | 1h 23h

With: Anny Ondra, Mary Parker, Olga Limburg

Original title: Saxophon Susy

Performing live: Jane Gardner (piano), Hazel Morrison (percussion), John Burgess (saxophone, clarinet)

Online programme notes: Pamela Hutchinson

Screening material courtesy of Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt.