Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Er kanns nicht lassen" is a West German German-language movie from 1962 and the sequel to "Das schwarze Schaf" ("The Black Sheep"). Both films run for pretty much exactly 90 minutes and star German acting legend Heinz Rühmann as G.K. Chesterton's "Father Braun", a priest who keeps getting involved in crimes and solving them of course. This is a black-and-white film, but even if it was made over 50 years ago, it has sound. The silent era was long gone by 1962. Here Rühmann's character has to do with missing painting and a whole gang of criminals as we find out towards the end. And while solving these crimes he also keeps helping the innocent who are suspected of crimes they did not do.I personally did not think this was a good watch, but I am fairly certain you cannot really blame anybody working on this film, such as director Axel von Ambesser and especially not lead actor Rühmann. In my opinion, the base material is just too weak or if not, then they really messed up with the adaptation. At times, this felt like a weaker Edgar Wallace movie and the soundtrack is also way over the top. The stories and solution rarely feel authentic, especially towards the end when so many are guilty all of a sudden. The very few comedy moments help Rühmann a lot in his attempts to carry this movie on his shoulders.But he is basically left alone. In my opinion, he is too good of an actor for the role of the main character. he gives it his best to elevate the material, but the story here, just like in the first, is simply too weak I'm afraid. The priest is written in a very forgettable fashion taking into account that he is the uncontested main character. Of course, he is very much in the center like in the end, but for really large parts of the film, he is just an observer who has to do nothing more than Fuchsberger in the Edgar Wallace films for example. Good for Rühmann that he won a German Film Award for the first film as I'm sure without him, these two films would have been pretty much entirely forgettable. Too bad they do not give him the comedic or dramatic material that would do his talent justice. As a whole, the story is the main, maybe the only, reason why this sequel turned out a disappointment. I cannot recommend watching it and I am glad no further films were made.
jan onderwater
This second film with Heinz Rühmann as G.K. Chesterton's creation Father Brown at least tries to tell a comprehensive detective story, but the writers forgot to make it into a logical plot, let alone into an interesting and amusing one. Maybe they had a good idea, but that never surfaces. The film just moves from A to B. A good director could have made it into a passable film, director Von Ambesser seemed to have been glad he was able to shoot more or less adequately each scene. It is as with the first Rühmann as Father Brown film (Das schwarze Schaf 1960): it may look all very English, but it desperately lacks the charm of Chesterton's stories.(5/10)
