Klein-Rogge in the role of Michele
This is probably the only movie in which you will see Rudy play a mentally-challenged character: Michele is not too bright and many of the people in his town are afraid of him, but he means well and has a good heart...most of the time. He has both a playfulness as well as a mean streak in regards to his caretaker, Thomas, who also happens to be the organ instructor for the practicing nun, Elisabeth. Elisabeth is one of only two people who treat Michele like a normal human being, the other being Herr Waldorf the painter.
Thomas, having one of Waldorf's paintings of Elisabeth in his house, always has run-ins with Michele, who keeps insisting that the picture belongs to him. Michele has a sort of innocent crush on Elisabeth and wants to have her image all to himself, but Thomas catches him every time and makes him put the picture back on the wall. Elisabeth thinks that Thomas should stop treating Michele so harshly, but he reminds her that Michele is not as innocent as he looks; Elisabeth never sees how difficult Michele is to handle when he's agitated. It will take a tragedy and the death of Elisabeth's father before she realizes the true nature of her ardent admirer.
The film's writer and director, Thea von Harbou, was obviously trying to give Rudolf more decent roles since he was getting mostly forgettable bit parts in films during the late '30s. Though the film itself leaves something to be desired, 'Michele' is one of the better roles Klein-Rogge had during this hard time, proof of how von Harbou was trying to help him when hardly anyone was taking full advantage of his acting potential.
