The film lacks the more controversial themes of the play, such as criticism of celibacy[3] and of the attitude of the Church to suicide and divorce;[4] instead, it takes a more positive outlook,[5] which is characteristic of the Heimatfilme of the period.
A rival West German film version of Anzengruber's play was released two months before Das Mädchen vom Pfarrhof.
Synopsis
Annerl, a beautiful and recently orphaned girl, comes to stay with the young parish priest, Hell, and his housekeeper, Brigitte. Soon, Annerl and the priest find themselves becoming the target of rumors, fuelled by a local named Sepp who is bitter at the Church; this places the priest in a difficult position, and makes Annerl's suitor Michel jealous.
^Horwith, Gordon (January 1995). "Adi Wimmer, ed. Die Heimat wurde ihnen fremd, die Fremde nicht zur Heimat. Erinnerungen österreichischer Juden aus·dem Exil. Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, 1993. Pp. 236". Austrian History Yearbook. 26: 308–310. doi:10.1017/s0067237800004781. ISSN0067-2378.
Steiner, Gertraud (1987). Die Heimat-Macher. Kino in Österreich 1946–1966. Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik. pp. 195–198. ISBN978-3-900351-60-1.
Eppenberger, Benedikt; Stapfer, Daniel (2006). Mädchen, Machos und Moneten – Die unglaubliche Geschichte des Schweizer Kinounternehmers Erwin C. Dietrich. Zürich: Verlag Scharfe Stiefel. ISBN978-3-033-00960-8.