The Seventh Cross (1944)

Movie
German title	The seventh cross
Original title	The Seventh Cross
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1944
length	110 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Fred Zinnemann
script	Helen German
production	Pandro S. Berman
music	Roy Webb
camera	Karl friend
cut	Thomas Richards
occupation
	Spencer Tracy : Georg Heisler; Hume Cronyn : Paul Roeder; Jessica Tandy : Liesl Roeder; Signe Hasso : Toni; Agnes Moorehead : Madame Marelli; Ray Collins : Wallau; Herbert Rudley : Franz Marnet; George Macready : Bruno Sauer; Katherine Locke : Hedy Sauer; Steven Geray : Löwenstein; Konstantin Shayne : Filling Grave; George Suzanne : Bellani; John Wengraf : Overkamp; Martin Berliner : Beutler; Paul E. Burns : Pelzer; William Edmunds : Aldinger; Alexander Granach : Zillich; Felix Bressart : Poldi Schlamm; Eily Malyon : Miss Bachmann; George Zucco : Fahrenburg;

The Seventh Cross (originally The Seventh Cross ) is an American drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann from 1944. The screenplay is based on the novel The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers . The German premiere took place on German television ( ZDF ) on January 10, 1972 in the program series “The Special Film”.

action

In 1936 seven prisoners were able to flee from a concentration camp ( Osthofen ) near the Rhine . The refugees are the teacher Pelzer, the farmer Aldinger, the circus artist Bellani, the writer Füllgrabe, the Jewish merchant Beutler and two political activists, Heisler and Wallau. For each escaped prisoner, the camp commandant Fahrenberg places a cross on which he wants to hang the escaped prisoners. The first to be caught is Wallau. Wallau dies on the cross intended for him without revealing anything about the other refugees.

Heisler fled with the remaining group. When he steals clothes, he has to flee from the police , who catch Pelzer. Heisler fled to his hometown Mainz , but his former activist friend Schenck was also arrested. Since his family is being monitored, he cannot go to her. Another friend, Franz Marnet, is persuaded by the leader of the local underground group to help Heisler. He wants to get him money and a passport , but cannot contact the refugee. The Jewish doctor, Doctor Löwenstein, treats Heisler's hand, which he injured on a wall covered with broken glass during his escape.

In the meantime, Heisler visits his childhood friend Leni, but she is married and refuses to help him. Back on the street, Heisler notices the artist Bellani trying to escape an angry crowd over the roofs. Bellani is shot and plunges himself into the depths. Heisler enters a shop run by Madame Marelli. Bellani wanted to get clothes here. He notices that Overkamp put photos of him in the newspapers. Füllgrabe wants to surrender, but Heisler does not want to give up. He turns to his apolitical friend Paul Roeder, who is married to Liesl and has children. The next day, Paul seeks out Bruno Sauer, who at first refuses to help. But his wife Hedy persuades Sauer to visit Marnet and Löwenstein. Now Marnet knows where Heisler is.

At home, Liesl tells us that she was interviewed by a stranger at the market. Paul takes the worried Heisler into a back room of a pub . Paul now wants to bring Marnet to Heisler, but is arrested by the Gestapo . He will be released that night, but Marnet saw the arrest and now wants to get Heisler out of Germany quickly . Heisler receives the passport and instructions. The waitress Toni, with whom he has since fallen in love, warns him about the Gestapo, whose people are in the restaurant. Toni hides Heisler in her room until the Gestapo men disappear. On this occasion she confesses to him that she loves him too. Toni knows that she will never see him again and asks him about his plans. In Holland, Heisler wants to repay his debt to the people who helped him escape. He kisses Toni goodbye. The former cynic is impressed by the courage and humanity of his compatriots.

background

Fred Zinnemann, later known for his western classic 12 noon , filmed Helen Deutsch's first film script.

Many Germans who fled the Nazis played in supporting roles in this MGM production, such as Helene Weigel , Bertolt Brecht's wife , Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach , who died a year later. For Helene Weigel it was the only film role in the USA, she took on the small and silent role of a caretaker. Cinematographer Karl Freund (Oscar winner from 1938) immigrated to the USA in 1929.

Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy had been married for two years. Here they played together in a film for the first time. Robert Blake as a boy and Charles McGraw as Mr. Allbright are seen in a minor supporting role .

The set of the film came from the multiple Oscar winners Cedric Gibbons and Edwin B. Willis. The director of the second unit was Andrew Marton, who later directed Under Water Around the World and several TV episodes from Daktari and Flipper . Douglas Shearer was responsible for the sound .

Reviews

"An extraordinary document about the Nazi era, which, unlike other anti-fascist propaganda films, remains largely unsentimental and tries to be differentiated in terms of milieu descriptions and figure drawings."

- Lexicon of international film

"Shattering political thriller."

- Cinema

“An impressive film. Zinnemann's third American production is a wonderfully played, coherent anti-fascist film adaptation of the novel of the same name. The focus is on the humanistic message. "

- Rheinische Post