The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven
1968 film by Rolf Thiele

The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven (German: Die Ente klingelt um halb acht) is a 1968 Italian-West German comedy film directed by Rolf Thiele and starring Heinz Rühmann, Hertha Feiler and Graziella Granata. It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Wolf Englert and Herbert Strabel.
Synopsis
Computer engineer Doctor Alexander collides with an elephant and when he excitedly explains this to a police patrol he finds himself sent to a mental institution where he sets about disrupting the routines.
Cast
Heinz Rühmann as Dr. Alexander
Hertha Feiler as Adele
Graziella Granata as Dr Jaspers
Charles Regnier as Professor Sauermann
John van Dreelen as Rechtsanwalt Kellermann
Balduin Baas as Lesender
Rudolf Schündler as Staatsanwalt
Alexander Allerson as Tommy
Monica Teuber as Ulrike
Inge Marschall as Krankenschwester
Angela Hillebrecht as Ilse
Hans Epskamp as Polizeiarzt
Herbert Bötticher as Verkäufer
Sammy Drechsel as Reporter
References
Bibliography
Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books, 2009..
Rabkin, Leslie Y. The Celluloid Couch: An Annotated International Filmography of the Mental Health Professional in the Movies and Television, from the Beginning to 1990.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven” as 1968 film by Rolf Thiele. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1968 film by Rolf Thiele. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1212157. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1968, 2009 and 1990.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven primary sources, The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven archive and Duck research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Duck Rings at Half Past Seven” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.