A typical Nazi-era melodrama, The Comedians features a strong-willed female protagonist who refuses to live according to the rules of society. Naturally, such revolutionary behavior must be punished by death and the film's Karoline suffers the fate of so many heroines of the Third Reich. That this heavy-handed nonsense was directed by the same genius who gave the world Pandora's Box (1928) is nearly incomprehensible but, if nothing else, The Comedians offered employment for Henny Porten, a silent screen star otherwise more or less blacklisted by the regime. To her eternal credit, Porten delivers a finely tuned performance despite what must have been extremely difficult circumstances.