After the premiere of Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera in 1928, the work seemed destined for the silver screen: Brecht wanted to make a film, and a studio was eager to capitalize. But Brecht clashed with producers over his desire to make a socially conscious adaptation, while the studio wanted a crowd-pleaser. After a court battle Brecht and Weill were forced off the project, which was released in 1931 with another director. Joachim Lang’s high-sheen dramatization of Brecht’s attempts to make the film is itself a frenzied satire, resplendent with historically accurate gems such as Brecht saying to his antagonists, “In the realm of art, you and your people have the mind of an oyster.” U.S. Premiere