Der König der Mittelstürmer

Directed by Fritz Freisler

König der Mittelstürmer / King of the Centre Forwards refers with the name of its hero to the German soccer legend of the twenties: Tull Harder, star of the Hamburger Sport Verein (HSV). But the story itself is completely fictitious: The son of a trade company's director falls in love with the daughter of a big American oil magnat. But she suspects him to be only interested in her money. So she buys his father's company to take revenge on him. The son's true love is soccer, and from the very first moment the soccer fever is present throughout the film. It starts with pictures of a soccer game and even an apple or a crumpled up paper must serve as substitute for a ball. Whereas Die elf Teufel promotes soccer as "the sport of the century", König der Mittelstürmer shows the hero's father who still has to be convinced from its importance. He hates soccer and blames everybody to be "soccer crazy".