DAVID BIANCULLI

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NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
THE 3 PENNY OPERA
April 27, 2016  | By David Bianculli

TCM, 2:00 a.m. ET

 
Directed in 1931 by G.W. Pabst, this was a movie version of the Kurt Weill musical, the original German production of which, when translated, gave us “Mack the Knife,” as sung by Bobby Darin. (It also gave us, from the original German-language version, the blackout theme used by Ernie Kovacs in his still-amazing 1950s TV specials.) And when Darin was singing of “Mack the Knife,” he was referring to the killer character of Mackie Messer, played in this film by Rudolph Forster. And when Darin was singing of “Lotte Lenya,” he was name-checking the actress who, in this film, plays Jenny (pictured here).
 
 
 
 
 
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