The Priest of St. Pauli | Der Pfarrer von St. Pauli:

“Curd Jürgens is once again assisted by Heinz Reincke (“Wenn es Nacht wird auf der Reeperbahn”) as the sacristan Titus Kleinwiehe, who guarantees the comedic aspect of the film in his usual grandiose manner with his broad Hamburger Schnack and much wordplay and acts as a contrast to the grumpy, resolute Jürgens. Of course, “Der Pfarrer von St. Pauli” is not a promotional film for the Catholic Church. Quoted biblical passages are rather of an ethical nature and unproblematic; moreover, it is made clear that Johannsen (Jürgens) is an exceptional figure who also has to endure conflicts with his superiors. In this context, bigotry and bourgeois stuffiness are accused. Nevertheless, director and screenwriter Olsen obviously did not want to mess too much with the Catholic Church – de facto the world’s largest mafia organisation; it is this conciliation that deprives the film of a higher rating or scandalousness.” (ofdb review)

After the end of the war, he became artistic director of the theatre in Straubing. Curd Jürgens then applied to the Burgtheater in Vienna and was accepted. In order to join a tour to Switzerland, he took Austrian citizenship, because Germans were not allowed to enter Switzerland from Austria. In the 60s and 70s he was a supporter of the German Chancellor Willy Brandt, whom he also knew well personally and met often. Curd Jürgens was married five times, among others to the well-known actress Eva Bartok. He was considered one of the most attractive men in Germany. Brigitte Bardot called him a “Norman cupboard”. The tabloid Bild voted him second among men “with the greatest sex appeal”. Curd Jürgens earned very well in his acting life. He afforded himself several residences – wherever it was beautiful, sunny and expensive. He once said that he could not do without luxury. His hobby of driving expensive luxury cars also proved this statement. Curd Jürgens was a bon vivant. He loved to eat, drink and smoke well and lavishly. The consequence of this lifestyle was several heart operations. In 1981 he played his last big role as a rich lawyer in the big Russian film production “Tehran 43“. Shortly after the end of filming, Curd Jürgens died of multiple organ failure in Vienna on 18 June 1982. He was unable to complete the German version of the film, in which he had been scheduled to do his own dubbing.

Dieter Borsche, however, felt too set in the role of the radiant lover. That’s why he mainly played villains in the 1960s and 70s. He took part in several Edgar Wallace adaptations. But he also appeared in major television thrillers. For example, in the television six-parter “Das Halstuch“, which became a street sweeper in 1962, or in the TV film “Gaslicht“, which received much attention in 1960. In the 1970s he had to take a break due to illness. Dieter Borsche suffered from osteoporosis. The disease had already been diagnosed in 1930, but now it forced him into a wheelchair. He now only worked for television. From the mid-1970s he only had a few short appearances in various television series, but major roles were no longer possible for him. He now worked a lot for radio and recorded radio plays. In 1970 he married the actress Ulla Willick, with whom he lived in Nuremberg until his death on 5 August 1982.

Posting pictures

For the theatrical release in 1970, Constantin, the distributor at the time, printed many poster pictures that were displayed in the showcases of the cinemas in front of the entrance nationwide. On these you could read scenes from the film as well as advertising messages. Below are a few of these motifs and texts (to enlarge, simply click on the desired image):

Material processing 

Walter Potganski was able to realise the “elaborate digitisation” together with Cristos Pateludis, an expert in film restoration who himself developed some tools for the respective processing stages. Together with Reno Bornkamm, he is the owner of the company Pateludis Video Transfer and was responsible for the 4K scan, light determination and colour correction, among other things.

Usually, these steps are done in the presence of the cinematographer and the director, which of course was no longer possible in this case. The experience in the technical field of film restoration goes back over 40 years and so in this case Walter Potganski and Cristos Pateludis were now themselves responsible for what is called the “film look”.

Der Pfarrer von S. Pauli | Trailer [2022] (German) ᴴᴰ

Comments & Feedback

“Colourful 70s trash with harmless neighbourhood eroticism” (Cinema.de).

“Routinely made entertainment with elements of drama, comedy and gangster film”. (Dictionary of International Film)

“The bottom line (oops, how ambiguous…) is that Der Pfarrer von St. Pauli is an intelligently made entertainment film that manages the balancing act between a superficially pro-clerical initial situation and a progressive mindset wonderfully.” (ofdb review)

“A very unholy “saint”: Curd Jürgens shines as a thuggish priest.” (fernsehserien.de)

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