Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

highnemonkey I do not remember the last time I was so positively surprised by a movie as I have been with "Das Wirtshaus im Spessart". When I went to the cinema to see it, my expectations were low. But actually this one is a fantastic adventure film! The story drags you in right aways and is told in a fast pace, held together by good camera work and jump edits. The colours have this irresistable look of 50s german cinema with colours brighter then reality, especially in the brand new digitalised version I saw, looks fresh after all these decades. Some of the jokes work even 60 years later, such a silly feel good-humour it catches you by surprise at times because as a modern viewer you're not used to it anymore - but refreshed each time. The love story is corny to a likable degree. The songs are rare, short and memorable which makes them enhance the story instead of interrupting it. The acting is what you'd expect - in the best way possible. If you get a chance to see this, at the movies or on a lazy afternoon zapping - catch it. Won't change your life but guaranteed to give a good time!

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Das Wirtshaus im Spessart" or "The Spessart Inn" is a West German color film from 1958, so it will have its 60th birthday soon. And it should not be taken for granted as there are many German films from the 1960s that are still in black-and-white. And maybe this use of color is one reason why this this (slightly under) 100-minute movie is still somewhat known today, more than most other 1950s films for sure. And another reason may be that this is just the beginning from a whole series of "Spessart" films. However, I myself must say that this one would have been enough. It was not a failure and there were no really bad moments in here, but as a whole I found it fairly forgettable and it did not have enough fascinating scenes and interesting moments. The director is Kurt Hoffmann and returned for future films as well. The entire film is based on a fairy-tale by Wilhelm Hauff, a writer from the early 19th century who died at a very young age, but still wrote some pieces that are still known today. His stories are usually darker, but this one here really isn't. Yes there is a story about an abducted girl, but it is really all about the comedy, romance and music. Sadly, in these areas it does not stand out compared to all the mediocrity Germany delivered in the 1950s. That's why I give it a thumbs-down. Lead actress Lilo Pulver could not win me over either. Watch something else instead.

dlee2012 Arguably Liselotte Pulver's finest film, Das Wirtshaus im Spessart is like a German fairytale come to life. Like the real fairy tales in their original forms, it is not solely aimed at children but contains moral lessons and warnings for all, young and old.The colours and atmosphere of the film are warm and there is delightful comedy throughout from Liselotte as the Contesse disguised as a boy, from the inept highwaymen and from the other hostages.As the other reviewer, Robert Lander, noted, the film can be read as an allegory of life in post-war West Germany with women returning to their traditional roles and the men, so many of whom formerly supported the Nazi regime, continuing in their crooked ways unpunished.Perhaps the fairy tale nature of the story, then, is a way to turn the volkisch ideals back against the Nazis who promoted them. With their true morals restored, they end up condemning the gangsters who ran the regime.Despite these serious moral issues, the film has a lightness and charm, reinforced by delightful musical numbers and slapstick that make the message all the more palatable. This is also a return to a more innocent age where villains can be out-thought and out-charmed and a nostalgic view of a Germanic fiefdom long before the troubles brought about by the Second and Third Reichs. A lovely film.

Fimma "Das Wirtshaus im Spessart" is one of my favourite movies since childhood. It still interesting as fun adaptation fairy tale to modern life. Script writers joke about clergy, army, society. Otto Stor as Reverend trying to escape responsibility by quotation from the Bible. Liselotte Pulver as Contesse von Sandau - the best choice. She is very expressive and imitate male's behavior so hilarious! If you like Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann in "Pirates of the Caribbean", you must see Liselotte Pulver's performance. She's the One.Everything changes in 50 years: it was movie about highwaymen want to be honest, but now is more usual about "how good is to be robber".