Berlin Express (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Berlin Express |
| Original title | Berlin Express |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 82 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jacques Tourneur |
| script | Harold Medford |
| production | Bert Granet |
| music | Friedrich Hollaender |
| camera | Lucien Ballard |
| cut | Sherman Todd |
| occupation | |
| |
Berlin Express is in black and white twisted American thriller from the year 1948 . Jacques Tourneur directed the film for RKO Pictures , the screenplay was written by Harold Medford based on a story by Curt Siodmak .
action
Shortly after the end of the war, a train travels through occupied Germany to Berlin. Among the passengers are u. a. the well-known German scientist and peace activist Dr. Bernhardt, the French Lucienne and her compatriot Perrot, the American agricultural expert Lindley, the British teacher Sterling, the German businessman Franzen and the Soviet lieutenant Kiroshilov.
During the trip, Dr. Bernhardt to get to know his fellow travelers. But as a German, he is not well respected by the others. When he returned to his compartment, he was killed by a bomb. At the next stop in Frankfurt / Main, the fellow travelers will be interrogated. It turns out that the dead man wasn't Dr. Bernhardt is, but his bodyguard. Bernhardt pretended to be another passenger. Lucienne is his secretary.
After Bernhardt says goodbye to his old friend Walther, he is kidnapped in the train station. The US troops search the city while Lucienne asks the other passengers for help, as they all know what he looks like. At first they refuse, but soon they help Lucienne, who suggests going to Walther. Lucienne does not know that Walther betrayed his old friend in order to trigger his missing wife. When Lucienne and the others arrive, they find Walther's body, who has hanged himself after learning that his wife has been dead for a while.
The group splits up in search of Bernhardt. Lucienne and Lindley go to various illegal nightclubs. In one of these clubs, Lindley sees a woman who smokes the same unusually long cigarettes that Bernhardt smoked. Lindley picks up one of the stubs and draws Lucienne's attention to the engraved B. The woman appears as a medium who can supposedly answer all questions from the audience. When Lindley asks about Bernhardt, she is interrupted by her assistant, a clown, and is able to leave the stage. Lindley and Lucienne ask for help from the American sergeant Sergeant Barnes, who is attending the demonstration. Barnes agrees to take her to the artist's apartment.
It turns out that Barnes is working for the kidnappers. Lucienne and Lindley are captured. However, a secret agent has taken the place of the clown and can guide the others to the hiding place. The real clown shows up and shoots the agent down. The injured man makes it back to the club, where he informs the authorities of Bernhardt's whereabouts. When Bernhardt and Lucienne are about to be shot, American soldiers break into the hiding place and free both of them and Lindley. Kessler, the leader of the kidnap gang, is killed by Perrot.
The group goes back on board the train. Perrot suggests that Bernhardt be watched one by one by everyone in the group. Perrot is the first on watch with Bernhardt. Lindley ponders and, based on various statements by Perrot, comes to the conclusion that Perrot is playing a double game. So Perrot knew the bomb was a grenade. The reflection in the window of an oncoming train shows Lindley that Perrot is trying to strangle Bernhardt. Lindley rushes into the compartment and can save the scientist. The fleeing Perrot is shot.
background
Filming locations were Paris (including the Boulevard de Clichy, the Marsfeld , Notre Dame , the Ostbahnhof , the Palais de Justice and the Place du Trocadéro ), Frankfurt / Main (including the main train station and the administration building of IG Farben ) and Berlin (including the Reich Chancellery and the Hotel Adlon ).
Filming began at the end of 1946 with outdoor shots in Berlin and Paris. It was the first time that a film team was allowed to shoot in the Soviet sector of Berlin. The recordings in Europe ended in September 1947. However, the shooting had to be interrupted for several weeks. Director Tourneur struggled to find a plane to the United States while lead actress Merle Oberon suffered from a broken jaw.
In the post-war period it was difficult for film teams to shoot in Europe, especially in occupied Germany. Producer Granet, who asked the US Army for support, was able to shoot the first US feature film in post-war Europe. Because it was difficult to get film equipment, Billy Wilder had to wait until filming was finished before he could start his work An Foreign Affair .
The film structures were designed by Albert S. D'Agostino , the equipment by Darrell Silvera . Max Mellin was responsible for the film decorations created on site in Germany .
For the German and Austrian actors Fritz Kortner , Reinhold Schünzel and Otto Waldis who fled Hitler's Germany , the Berlin Express marked the first return from exile to their old homeland.
The film premiered on May 1, 1948 in the United States. In Germany it was released in cinemas on April 2, 1954 in a version that was cut by five minutes and falsified by the synchronization . A newly dubbed version was broadcast on German television on November 7, 2001.
criticism
The lexicon of international films judged: “A well-trained and densely staged film that starts exciting, but is increasingly difficult to follow due to several cuts and changes in the German version. The film was significantly resynchronized for the German theatrical release: Originally, the art dealer was a prominent German (who was clearly modeled after Thomas Mann), whom a National Socialist underground organization wants to kidnap because of his collaboration with the Allies. "
Cinema magazine described the film as "a well-cast drama and piece of history."
Awards
Harold Medford was nominated for the 1949 Writers Guild of America WGA Award for Best Written American Drama .
Web links
- Berlin-Express in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Berlin Express - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved October 23, 2019 .
- ^ Stephanie Thames: Berlin Express - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved October 23, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Berlin Express. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 23, 2019 . .
- ^ Berlin Express. In: Cinema . Hubert Burda Media , accessed on October 23, 2019 .