Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach

For some reason, after making "The Moon is Blue", the film was remade immediately after as "Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach". The cast is a bit different but the stars of the American version make a cameo in this German language one...and vice-versa. Having Otto Preminger as director helped, as he was born in Germany and spoke both English and German. Fortunately, I was able to find the film with English captions on YouTube.

"The Moon is Blue" is a sex comedy where two guys are intent on bedding a virgin. It's not much of a story...and that is why I felt a bit confused that the movie would be remade the way it was. It's not a bad film...just not a particularly good one starring William Holden and Maggie McNamara.

In this version, Hardy Kruger and Johanna Matz star as the same characters and using the same sets. It also has pretty much the same dialog. As a result, there are no surprises and if you've seen one version, you've seen them all. Overall, like the American version, I'd give this one a 6. It's decent but nothing about it begs you to watch both versions.

I am very familiar and very fond of the English-speaking version of the film, with the trio Holden-McNamara-Niven... I probably saw it close to 10 times (I even saw the French-dubbed version). I love the witty and sharp dialogue !

So I was very keen on seeing the German version and I finally did.

I was flabbergasted to hear & see that it is exactly the same movie, only in German & with a different cast: The dialogue is translated almost word for word... the acting, down to the minutest voice inflection or gesture is the same... I am almost certain that it was rehearsed thoroughly prior to shooting.

The German cast is good too: Even though I am not a big fan of Johannes Heersters, he was perfectly cast as the middle-aged roué.

Johanna Matz is a bit more restrained than Maggie McNamara: She did not have that cookie verging on the zany quality that McNamara had.

Saying that, I enjoyed it a lot!

I don't know anything about European film censorship, but I did study the American Production Code, whose first chink in its armor was Otto Preminger's The Moon Is Blue. What most filmgoers might not know is that Preminger filmed two versions at the same time using the same sets; the German version was entitled Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (literally "The Virgin on the Roof"). In America, it was a huge barrier-buster to discuss virginity in a movie (or even say the word), and for a girl to contemplate going to bed with a man she just met mere hours ago - in what was supposedly a light comedy.

The biggest difference between the two versions is the age of the main love interest. In the American version, William Holden is significantly older than Maggie McNamara. In the German version, Hardy Kruger is only six years older than the young Johanna Matz. When the "other man" shows up and conducts his own "counter seduction" plan with the girl, in the German film, he's immediately a father figure to her. In the American one, since Bill is also older, when David Niven arrives, it's not as clear-cut as to who she'll pick. It's more of a love triangle rather than a regular romance with a helpful older fellow providing some perspective and gentle nudges.

I'm just not a fan of this story and screenplay. I can't stand Johanna Matz's character. She's supposed to be twenty years old, but she has the maturity of a child half her age. Her personality is so off-putting, it's hard to believe the ridiculously cute (and experienced) Hardy wants anything to do with her. She's annoying, immature, strange, nosy, inappropriate, controlling, self-centered, and unrealistic. Plus, she won't stop talking! This is a very wordy flick, so you've got to read those subtitles fast. It's not my cup of tea, but then again, I've never been one to find "kooky" charming. The best part of the film was seeing the adorable cameo in the end of William Holden and Maggie McNamara (and in The Moon Is Blue, Hardy and Johanna give the cameo).