Co-directed by Siodmak and Ulmer, who would both go on to acclaimed careers as film noir directors in Hollywood, and scripted by a young Billy Wilder, this bright, cheery silent film, which feels very much like a documentary, captures the familiar, timeless experience of seemingly carefree young people enjoying a lazy Sunday. Shooting on the fly with a group of charming non-actors playing themselves, the filmmakers take regular opportunities to break from their protagonists’ romps and tour pre-war Berlin’s beautiful recreational haunts. It’s a rich, powerfully evocative portrait of a long-ago time and place, whose haunting quality comes from our knowledge of what lay on the near horizon. See this one any day of the week: it’s magic.