90 nights and one day

Movie
Original title	90 nights and one day
Country of production	Germany , Italy
original language	English
Publishing year	1964
length	102 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Edgar G. Ulmer
script	Michael Pertwee ; Jack Davies
production	Ernst Neubach for Neubach-Filmproduktion GmbH (Munich), Cine Doris (Rome)
music	Carlo Rustichelli
camera	Gabor Pogany
cut	Renato Cinquini
occupation
	Rosanna Schiaffino : Anna; John Saxon : Private Joe Kramer, driver; Hans von Borsody : Hans Beck, first lieutenant; Brian Aherne : General Braithwaite; Nino Castelnuovo : Mario Scognamiglio; Larry Hagman : Captain Wilson; Joachim Hansen : German driver; Peter L. Marshall : Ltnt. Peter “Pip” Carter, Canadian aviator;

90 Nights and One Day is a German-Italian war drama from 1964 by Edgar G. Ulmer . The film was shown in co-producing Italy under the title Sette contra il morte .

action

Second World War , Italy in autumn 1944. An Allied jeep with three people drives up a mountain slope. Driven by Private Joe Kramer, whose immediate superior Captain Wilson sits behind him, is with the British General a. D. Braithwaite, a senior officer who works as a war correspondent, in the passenger seat. A little later, a presumably civilian car comes towards them from the mountain top. The Allied soldiers realized too late that there were two Germans in them. During a brief exchange of fire, the German driver injured Joe slightly with an MP volley on his left arm, while Wilson, leaping over a barrier, tried in vain to hide. The three men are taken prisoner by the German Lieutenant Hans Beck. Not far from them is the Italian soldier Mario Scognamiglio, who has made himself comfortable on the edge of the rock and is visited by Anna, a friend.

Soon all the protagonists will be fatefully brought together. When an American military machine begins to attack the group from the air, the Germans and their allied prisoners seek protection in a spacious cave. This is where Mario and Anna as well as the downed Canadian aviator Peter Carter saved themselves. When the entrance to the cave is buried in an explosion in which the German driver dies, friend and foe are now dependent on each other for better or for worse. Massive tensions quickly arise, with almost everyone revolting against everyone over time. Even the calm, but a little blasé and condescending British general has to listen to a lot when he tries to give instructions to the spirited Anna. The question of who will take command now threatens to divide the group. The sarcastic Captain Wilson, who likes to boss others around, turns out to be an incompetent alcoholic; by him tracked Cognac Reserves he tries to hide from the others.

In the three months ahead, the victims get to know their forced accommodation better and better. An underground brook provides enough drinking water, in addition to boxes of ammunition, the cave also houses plenty of food. Anna has in the meantime fallen in love with Wilson's driver Joe, but the circumstances for a quiet happiness for the two are extremely unfavorable. When one is still locked in at Christmas, the men and the woman try to organize a kind of conciliatory peace festival - gifts included. Things come to a head when Captain Wilson drowns in a drunkenness, Anna reacts more and more irritably and the old general suffers a fit of weakness. After all, it is the opponents of the war, Beck and Carter, who after 90 days worked together to dig a path to freedom.

Production notes

90 Nights and One Day was premiered on June 26, 1964 in Germany, in Italy it was released on New Year's Eve of the same year. It was the last directorial work of the then 60-year-old from Ulm. The film premiered in the USA on Christmas Eve 1965. Occasionally it is also led under the lurid secondary title Heroes - Heaven and Hell . The title song "In den Bergen" in the German version is sung by Jochen Schröder .

criticism

The online presence of Cinema says: “The gripping little anti-war parable is B-Filmer Ulmer's last directorial work. Conclusion: Incredible? Yes, but exciting! "

Leonard Maltin wrote: "Plot contrivance isn't handled badly in above-average programmer".

Halliwell's Film Guide found: "Enervating psychological drama, glum to look at and listen to."

"Attempt of a psychological study on the behavior of people in an exceptional situation."

- Lexicon of international film

Howard Thompson wrote in the New York Times on December 25, 1965 about the film, which ran in the USA under the title "The Cavern": "Taken as a whole, they're a fairly interesting lot - or would be if we knew them better. Unfortunately, the script, with sparse dialogue, barely examines them individually. There are clashes along the way and a couple of scroungy fights in the cave, which also happens to be a cache of ammunition and supplies. And Mr. Ulmer, as director, perks up the final stretch with two bluntly dramatic episodes as the German and the Canadian burrow toward the outside world. But the picture lapses short as a smoking keg of drama and a microcosm of war, if such was the purpose. "The Cavern" remains small, respectable and forgettable. "

Web links

90 nights and one day in the Internet Movie Database (English)
90 nights and one day at filmportal.de

Individual evidence

↑ unlike what can be read several times, the USA was not involved in the production of this film
↑ 90 nights and a day in cinema
↑ Movie & Video Guide , 1996 edition, p. 210. Translation: The storyline was not badly implemented in this above-average standard film.
↑ Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 185. Translation: Nerve-wrenching, psychological drama, gloomy to look at and listen to.
↑ 90 nights and one day. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
^ The Cavern in The New York Times . Translation: “Taken as a whole, there's a lot of interesting here - or there would be if we [the protagonists] knew them better. Unfortunately, the script, which is only sparsely equipped with dialogues, barely sheds light on the individual characters. There are constant clashes and a number of dirty fights in the cave, which also turns out to be an ammunition and supply hiding place. And Mr. Ulmer spices up the finale with two bluntly dramatic episodes in which the Germans and Canadians try to dig their way out into freedom. But the film comes to nothing where it tries to merge drama with the microcosm of war into a unit, if that should have been the intention. "The Cavern" seems small, respectable and easy to forget. "

[1] unlike what can be read several times, the USA was not involved in the production of this film

[2] 90 nights and a day in cinema

[3] Movie & Video Guide , 1996 edition, p. 210. Translation: The storyline was not badly implemented in this above-average standard film.

[4] Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 185. Translation: Nerve-wrenching, psychological drama, gloomy to look at and listen to.

[5] 90 nights and one day. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .

[6] The Cavern in The New York Times . Translation: “Taken as a whole, there's a lot of interesting here - or there would be if we [the protagonists] knew them better. Unfortunately, the script, which is only sparsely equipped with dialogues, barely sheds light on the individual characters. There are constant clashes and a number of dirty fights in the cave, which also turns out to be an ammunition and supply hiding place. And Mr. Ulmer spices up the finale with two bluntly dramatic episodes in which the Germans and Canadians try to dig their way out into freedom. But the film comes to nothing where it tries to merge drama with the microcosm of war into a unit, if that should have been the intention. "The Cavern" seems small, respectable and easy to forget. "