This is the sixth and final film in the historical comedy series about Susanne
Delburg. The first five films were made in quick succession from 1967 to 1970.
This film was made in 1973, and it can be considered an afterthought. It
contains brief flashbacks to the previous films. It's the only film in the
series that doesn't refer to any historical events, apart from the content of
the flashbacks.
The title isn't easy to translate because of the German word "toll", already
used in the title of
the fifth film. It means "good" or "great", but it has subtle sexual nuances that are
difficult to express in words. My personal translation is "The innkeeper's
saucy little daughters". When the film was released in America they didn't
bother translating it and just called it "Devils in the Convent".
The film takes place in 1831, 13 years after the previous film. A lot has
happened since then. Susanne married Count Süderland, an old man who died within a year
of the wedding. She was obviously too much for him to handle. Since then she's been
living in luxury. The film begins with her writing her Will, but she dies
before completing it. She tells her lawyer that she has a daughter in a
convent school, but she dies before she can name her.
The lawyer visits the convent to find the daughter. There are five young girls
for whom there are no records of their parents: Anselma, Clarissa, Piroschka,
Susanne and Francoise. Flashbacks to the five previous films show which man is
possibly the father of each child. The oldest girl is Anselma. She's 20,
possibly the daughter of Anselm, who was Susanne's lover in
the first film. We're not told the ages of the other girls, but based on the films we can
can work out that they would have to be 19, 18, 16 and 13. Thirteen? Do any of
them look that young to you?
Jacques Herlin, reprising his role as the former Governor of Giessen, is the
only one who knows the answer: all five girls are Susanne's daughters. How
this rogue, Susanne's adversary, could know her deepest secret, is a mystery
to me. So they jointly inherit their mother's wealth and live happily ever
after.
This film is a weak ending to the series. The only positive aspect is that it
features more nudity than any of the previous films.
|
| Anselma |
|
| Clarissa |
|
| Piroschka |
You'll have to take my word for it that Francoise and Susanne are just as
beautiful. It's not always easy to make good screenshots of old films.
After watching all six films in the series, I can say that I'm glad I've seen
them, but I don't feel the need to watch them again. I know they're considered
to be cult films (the first five at least), and I can understand their appeal,
but to me they're nothing special.
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