“A Foreign Affair,” September 9

Wednesday, September 9, 6 p.m.

The Last Picture House, 325 East Second Street, Davenport IA

With the second offering in its series a double Oscar nominee directed and co-written by seven-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder, the German American Heritage Center continues its “The Lost Years of German Cinema: 1948-1963" film screenings with A Foreign Affair, which enjoys a September 9 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House.

In the wrecked post-war Berlin of A Foreign Affair, a congressional committee from the United States comes to the occupied city to investigate the moral of the American troops. The conservative republican Congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur) from Iowa brings a birthday cake to Captain John Pringle (John Lund) from his girlfriend, who's also from Iowa. Later she splits from the other congressmen and decides to investigate the decadence of the military on her own, and not in accordance with the official speech and visit promoted by Colonel Rufus J. Plummer (Millard Mitchell). Phoebe consequently meets two American privates that believe she is German, and they take her to the night-club Lorelei, where the lead attraction is the singer Erika Von Schluetow (Marlene Dietrich), who is the secret mistress of Captain Pringle. Phoebe overhears that Erika belonged to the Nazi Party and is protected by a senior officer, and enlists her fellow countryman Captain Pringle to help her in the investigation of Erika. The officer seduces Frost to protect Erika and himself from martial court, but the jealous former lover of Erika, the Nazi Hans Otto Birgel (Peter von Zerneck), is seeking revenge against his competitor.

Though a comedy, A Foreign Affair has a serious and cynical political tone, attesting to the fascination of both Wilder and American audiences with the multiple legacies of Berlin. Writing for the New York Times upon the film's 1948 debut, Bosley Crowther wrote: "Maybe you think there's nothing funny about the current situation of American troops in the ticklish area of Berlin. And it's serious enough, heaven knows, what with the Russians pushing and shoving and the natives putting on their own type squeeze. But, at least, Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder have been happily disinclined to wax morose about the problems presented by occupation – and by 'fraternization,' specifically. Rather these two bright filmmakers have been wryly disposed to smile upon the conflicts in self and national interests which proximities inevitably provoke. ... Particularly, their interest is in how human beings behave when confronted by other human beings – especially those of the opposite sex. And their logical conclusion is that, granted attractions back and forth, most people – despite regulations and even differences in language and politics – are likely to do toward one another that which comes naturally."

A Foreign Affair will be shown at Davenport's The Last Picture House on September 9 at 6 p.m., the screening followed by a post-film discussion with Quad-City Times reviewer Linda Cook, and guests are asked to check in at the German American Heritage Center table in the lobby. Admission is $12-15, guests will choose their seats upon arrival, and proceeds from ticket sales will go to Heritage Center programming For more information, call (563)322-8844 and visit GAHC.org.