Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Plumpe) is one of the most known filmmakers (maybe the number 2 behind Lang) from the glory days of German silent cinema and here we have a film from him that came out in 1924, so it's less than 10 years until this 80-minute movie will have its 100th anniversary. Murnau is mostly known for his take on dramatic films with a large number of scary horror elements. But this one here is a completely different film, be it in terms of story, tone or plot development. Yes there is a scene when some people want to kill somebody else, but this is nonetheless a really light movie with a couple (somewhat) funny moments during its entire runtime. So can Murnau deliver in terms of comedy too? Sadly, I must say no. Even for a film that stays easily under the 90-minute mark i must say that there just weren't enough entertaining moments and the entire story was not particularly interesting either. This is especially disappointing as the Frank Heller novel this film is based on was adapted by Fritz Lang's longtime collaborator Thea von Harbou. I am not saying this is a bad film and it is probably even better than most comedies from that era (not a prolific genre in the 1920s in Germany), but by today's standards "The Grand Duke's Finances" has not aged very well and that's why my final verdict is a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
