Agent 505 - Beirut Death Trap

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Movie
German title Agent 505 - Beirut Death Trap
Original title Agent 505 - Beirut death trap / La trappola scatta a Beirut / Baroud à Beyrouth pour FBI 505
Agent 505 - Death Trap Beirut Logo 001.svg
Country of production Germany , Italy , France
original language German
Publishing year 1966
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Manfred R. Koehler
script Manfred R. Koehler ,
Mario Siciliano
production Rapid-Film ( Wolf C. Hartwig ),
Metheus Film ( Mario Siciliano ),
Compagnie Lyonnaise de Cinéma
music Ennio Morricone
camera Rolf Kästel
cut Waltraut Lindenau
occupation
synchronization

Agent 505 - Todesfalle Beirut is a German-Italian-French co-produced agent film from 1966. The color film in Franscope was directed by the director Manfred R. Köhler . Lead producers were Wolf C. Hartwig and Mario Siciliano , who wanted to share in the success of the James Bond films , which began in 1962 . The German theatrical release took place on April 22, 1966. Later the film was also released under the title Rififi in Beirut .

action

In broad daylight, two women are murdered on the sun terrace of a hotel in Beirut . Shortly before their murderer dies too, he can give Inspector Bernard a few more pointers: He was acting on behalf of a man who calls himself “the Sheik ” and has only four fingers on one hand. In addition, the criminal plans to destroy all of Beirut in two days. The police are faced with a mystery and turn on Interpol agent 505 Richard Blake. Shortly after his entry into the country, a trap was set in which he let an unsuspecting tourist from Liverpool fall into .

In Beirut, Blake is already expected by his colleague Robert O'Toole, who searches the underworld for clues to the criminal organization. Blake, on the other hand, stays at the luxury hotel Phenicia , where the charming journalist Denise happens to save his life. Inspector Bertrand shares his findings with the agent so far. Some of the murdered were members of an association for the reform of former professional criminals, whose boss Omar Abdullah is also the founder of an institute for science and research. Robert O'Toole has since found out that Abdullah's club members meet in the "Black Elephant" nightclub.

In the hotel, Blake meets the artist Monique Ferrara, who, on behalf of a certain Anthony Leandros, wiretaps his room and stole his prepared suitcase. The agent learns from the maid that Monique is married to the fugitive murderer and safe-cracker Fred Köhler. Meanwhile, O'Toole succeeds in winning the trust of some criminals and their boss in the "Black Elephant". He learns that the ship “Thessalia” is to be broken into at night in order to steal part of the cargo. Blake meets suspect Omar Abdullah after a spectacular car chase. He received a large amount of mercury , but claims to be using it to research desert irrigation in his institute. Since Abdullah himself is too sick to pursue the research, he has hired Anthony Leandros to do it.

In the evening Blake meets Leandros, a scientist who also owns a nightspot. There the agent almost falls victim to another murder attempt. It turns out that Leandros is the man with the four fingers. However, he can flee. At the same time, the criminals cracked into a lead safe on the “Thessalia” to steal a highly radioactive element. Blake and O'Toole trace the thieves. This leads to the research laboratory of Omar Abdullah, who actually knows nothing about the criminal activities of his employees. Leandros had teamed up with the "Sheik" to build a radioactive mercury bomb with which they want to destroy the people of Beirut. Then they want to clear the vaults of the banks there. Blake and O'Toole can prevent the rocket launch and bring the "Sheik" down. This is the volatile Fred Koehler, who disguised himself as a clumsy tourist from Liverpool. At the last moment, Blake and O'Toole are able to leave the underground laboratory before it is destroyed by a huge explosion.

History of origin

prehistory

Agent 505 - Death Trap Beirut was made in the course of a whole series of so-called Eurospy films, with which various producers wanted to participate in the success of the James Bond films . Wolf C. Hartwig already had a lot of experience in the production of internationally co-produced adventure films and worked on this production with Mario Sicilianos Metheus Film in Rome and the Compagnie Lyonnaise de Cinéma in Lyon . Frederick Stafford , who had played the secret agent OSS 117 in 1965 , could be won for the main role .

production

The outdoor shots were taken at the original locations in Beirut , in the temples of Baalbek and at Gibelet Castle . The film architects Max Mellin and Maurice Labbaye-Finicovi were responsible for the film construction. Assistant director was Walter Boos . Ludwig Spitaler acted as production manager .

Film music

The soundtrack was composed and arranged by Ennio Morricone . The orchestra was conducted by Bruno Nicolai . 14 tracks on the soundtrack were released on CD in 2007 .

synchronization

Since it was a co-production with actors who were partly foreign languages, they had to be dubbed . The known voice actors were:

role actor Voice actor
Richard Blake, Agent 505 Frederick Stafford Horst Naumann
Denise Letienne Geneviève Cluny Maria Koerber
Monique Ferrara Gisella Arden Margot Leonard
Inspector Bernard Pierre Richard Jan Hendriks
Anthony Leandros Renato Lupi Alf Marholm
the boss Carla Calò Eva Vaitl

reception

publication

The FSK released the film on March 22, 1966 for ages 18 and over. The film opened in German cinemas on April 22nd of the same year.

Agent 505 - Death Trap Beirut was also released on videotape with a different aspect ratio and was occasionally shown on television. In 2013 the film was released on DVD in its original aspect ratio .

Reviews

"A cliché product with a cynical attitude, the elaborate equipment of which cannot cover up the sloppy staging."

“The pleasurable accumulation of imaginative sadisms makes it impossible to see the film as just a fantastic adventure. Definitely not to advise. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. German version: 93 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 90 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2551 meters
  2. Agent 505 - Beirut Death Trap at soundtrackcollector.com
  3. ^ Agent 505 - Beirut death trap in the cinema-italiano database of Italian films (accessed on 23 September 2013).
  4. ^ Agent 505 - Beirut death trap on www.synchrondatenbank.de; accessed on May 26, 2019
  5. Agent 505 - Beirut Death Trap. Movie jewels. 2013. Order no. 6414382
  6. Agent 505 - Beirut Death Trap. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 163/1966