Neighbors (1937 film)

The film tells the story of two neighbors in a tenement house at 13 Szczęśliwa Street: the older Hipolit Pączek (who lives below) and the younger Henryk Pączek (a tenant living one floor above). Apart from their last names, they have almost nothing in common. The former is a classical music lover, while the latter is a well-known radio announcer and jazzman. They wage constant war with each other, as the owner of the tenement cannot remove the troublesome tenant. The situation is further complicated by the arrival of Hipolit's young relative named Lodzia, with whom (with reciprocity) Henryk falls in love.

In addition to situational comedy and witty dialogues, the success of the film was also ensured by songs performed by Eugeniusz Bodo, that all turned out to be hits.

{{Cast listing|

• Eugeniusz Bodo - Henryk Pączek{{refn|Yiddish version: "Pompek"|group=lower-alpha|name=note_a}}
• Jozef Orwid - Hipolit Pączek
• Helena Grossówna - Lodzia
• Ludwik Sempoliński - Kulka-Kulkiewicz
• Stanisław Woliński - Protazy
• Czesław Skonieczny - Damazy
• Alina Zeliska - Alicja Bonecka
• Feliks Chmurkowski - Stefan Bonecki
• Julian Krzewinski - director of Polish Radio
• Ludwik Perski - musician
• Stefan Laskowski - musician
• Wincenty Łoskot - musician
• Mieczyslaw Bil-Bilażewski - announcer at the masked ball
• Aleksander Suchcicki - radio employee

}}

alt=Eugeniusz Bodo as [[Mae West|thumb|Eugeniusz Bodo as actress Mae West]]

Neighbors was produced by the studio Urania-Film under the direction of Witold Dybowski. The direction of the film was assigned to Leon Trystan, while the script for it was written by Emanuel Schlechter, Ludwik Starski and the film's star – Eugeniusz Bodo. The latter also took artistic direction of the film. Seweryn Steinwurzel was responsible for the film's cinematography.

The score for the film and its songs were composed by Henryk Wars, with Schlechter writing the words.{{Cite web |title=Muzyka w filmie "Piętro wyżej" |url=https://staremelodie.pl/przedstawienia/5/film_Pietro_wyzej |website=staremelodie.pl |access-date=2023-06-03}} Three songs appeared in Neighbors in total:

• "Dziś ta i jutro ta" (foxtrot)
• "Sex appeal" (foxtrot)
• "Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą" (tango)

In the trade weekly illustrated magazine Kino, there was a positive review of Neighbors: "...at last a very good Polish film comedy (...) a step up in film development".{{Cite book |last=Kurz |first=Iwona |title=Trędowata albo qui pro quo, czyli ciało w kulturze filmowej dwudziestolecia międzywojennego. W: Ciało i seksualność w kinie polskim. Sebastian Jagielski, Agnieszka Morstin-Popławska |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego |year=2009 |isbn=978-83-233-2642-7 |location=Kraków |pages=13–23 |language=Polish}} A review in Nasz Przegląd praised the comedy for the fact that "the humor derived from moral motifs transforms with the development of the plot into comedy reminiscent of the Marx Brothers' [Marx] surrealist humor".{{Cite journal |last=Lewicki |first=Arkadiusz |date=2020-12-30 |title=Transgender/transvestitism/cross-dressing in Polish cinema |url=http://wuwr.pl/dzm/article/view/1961 |journal=Dziennikarstwo I Media |volume=11 |pages=49–56 |doi=10.19195/2082-8322.11.5 |s2cid=212701029 |issn=2082-8322|doi-access=free }} On the other hand, Neighbors was heavily criticized in right-wing circles. Mieczyslaw Hoszowski wrote the following about the film:

They found people who showed shamelessness on the screen to the masses and made them believe it was the height of artistry. Then they defined stupidity as humor, wit or comedy, and the uncritical masses went along with it because it suited their low instincts. Combining both, they created a revue film and a film comedy, and with the help of appropriate advertising, they won over not only the masses, but also - "the intelligentsia".{{Cite journal |last=Jagielski |first=Sebastian |title=Teoria queer a kino polskie |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=95225 |journal=Przegląd Kulturoznawczy |volume=13 |pages=256–272 |issn=1895-975X}}

{{notelist}}

• Hoberman, J. (1991). Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds. Museum of Modern Art. ISBN 0805241078.
• Paula Apanowicz: "Neighbors" - An unforgettable comedy of pre-war Poland. OldCamera.pl, 2020-04-20 [accessed 2020-11-18]. (Polish).
• Łukasz Budnik: Neighbors. 80 years since the premiere. Film.org.pl, 2017-02-18. [Accessed 2020-11-18].
• Marek Hendrykowski. Around the definition of film parody. "Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication." 14 (23), pp. 29–38, 2014. {{ISSN|1731-450X}}
• Sebastian Jagielski. Queer theory and Polish cinema. "Cultural Studies Review." 13 (3), pp. 256–272, 2012. {{ISSN|1895-975X}}
• Iwona Kurz: Leprechaun or qui pro quo, or the body in the film culture of the interwar period. In: The body and sexuality in Polish cinema. Sebastian Jagielski, Agnieszka Morstin-Popławska (eds.). Kraków: Jagiellonian University Publishing House, 2009, pp. 13–23. {{ISBN|978-83-233-2642-7}}
• Arkadiusz Lewicki. Transgender/transvestitism/cross-dressing in Polish cinema. "Journalism and Media." 11, pp. 49–56, 2020. {{doi|10.19195/2082-8322.11.5}} {{ISSN|2082-8322}}. [accessed 2020-12-30].
• Film reviews, "Our Review" (63), 1937, p. 6.
• Wandering through the cinemas. "The Apartment Above," "Gazeta Polska" (66), 1937, p. 13.

Category:1937 films

Category:Polish comedy films

Category:1930s Polish-language films

Category:Polish black-and-white films

Category:1937 musical comedy films

Category:Polish romantic comedy films

Category:Films set in Poland