Deadly limit
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Deadly limit |
| Original title | Border incident |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1949 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Anthony Mann |
| script | John C. Higgins |
| production | Nicholas Nayfack |
| music | André Previn |
| camera | John Alton |
| cut | Conrad A. Annoying |
| occupation | |
| |
Deadly Frontier (Original title: Border Incident ) is an American crime film from 1949. The film, the screenplay of which is based on a story by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman, belongs to the film noir genre .
action
On the All-American Canal on the California-Mexico border, Mexican farm workers, the "Braceros", wait to cross the border as they do every day. Some of them enter the US legally, but most of them cross illegally. Several of the Mexicans fell victim to robbers and murderers. The American and Mexican governments are working together to prevent these attacks on poor workers.
The Mexican Pablo Rodriguez and the American Jack Bearnes are sent as investigators to report to their respective governments. Rodriguez mingles with the workers, Bearnes is supposed to follow him and document the contacts made. Rodriguez finds out that the rancher Owen Parkson is organizing the border crossings. Rodriguez tries to win his trust by posing as someone who is being pursued by the police. Parkson agrees to smuggle him across the border. He is supposed to get into a truck that is full of braceros. Bearnes loses track and falls into the hands of the ranchers. Rodriguez sees his captured partner but cannot help him without exposing his cover.
Parkson intercepts a telegram that Bearnes sent to his superiors and realizes the trap. Parkson orders that Bearnes be killed. Realizing that he is the target of an investigation, he wants to destroy the evidence. The Braceros are to be brought back to Mexico. Rodriguez can stir up his people. A bloody fight ensues, in which Parkson and many of his men are killed. A border patrol arrives at the battlefield and arrests the remaining people smugglers.
background
The world premiere took place on October 28, 1949. In Germany, the film was released on November 12, 1988 as a TV premiere in the third WDR program .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films judged: “A film staged according to facts, which is characterized by realism and social commitment; the somewhat clumsy staging combines Western elements with essential features of the classic 'film noir'. "For the film magazine Cinema it was an" intelligent film noir with social relevance ".
At the time, Variety criticized the script for turning the important material into a naive robber-and-gendarme story. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times described the film as a seasoned adventure film, the wonderful scenery of which is impressive.
Web links
- Deadly border in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Deadly Frontier. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 26, 2019 .
- ↑ See cinema.de
- ^ Border Incident . In: Variety , 1949.
- ^ 'Border Incident,' Adventure Film About US Immigration, Service, Opens at Globe . In: The New York Times , November 21, 1949.