May Spils zum 85.: "Aktion Schmetterling" (aka "Mit mir nicht, du Knallkopp")

Werner Enke, the resident wisecracker, in May Spils’s last film (“Zur Sache, Schätzchen”)—a movie that hardly anyone has ever seen! A real gem:

AKTION SCHMETTERLING

GER 1983. Dir: May Spils. Starring: Werner Enke, Beatrice Richter, Henry van Lyck, Michael Gahr. 83 min. Rating: 12

Espionage! The dog Wurstl swims across the Saale River into East Germany; at the same time, East German agent Charlotte is sent to Munich. Caught between the fronts: former students Charly and Henry—the latter being Wurstl’s owner and a down-and-out heartbreaker, the former a notorious slacker and work-shy ne’er-do-well. He falls in love with Charlotte. And he gets caught up in a spy farce involving a rifle that can shoot around corners and feuding identical twins in the East and West.
Lead actor Werner Enke sets off a fireworks display of one-liners, gags, and pseudo-philosophical wisdom, while director May Spils (ZUR SACHE, SCHÄTZCHEN) stages slapstick at its finest with perfect timing—yet hardly anyone has ever seen the film: Under the title “Mit mir nicht, du Knallkopp,” it was released in theaters without any advertising after long production delays; Spils and Enke pulled their film from theaters after just a few days. Now the film can be rediscovered.

May Spils turns 85 on July 29.

Supporting film: *DAS PORTRÄT* (The Portrait), 10 minutes, dir. May Spils—awarded the International Jury Diploma at the 1966 Mannheim Film Week

Introduction: Harald Mühlbeyer