De Robinson Crusoë Show

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Television broadcast
Original title De Robinson Crusoë Show
Country of production Netherlands
original language Dutch
year 1964
length 40 minutes
Episodes 1
Director Dick Harris
idea Rudi Carrell
music Frans de Kok orchestra
Moderation Rudi Carrell
First broadcast May 1st, 1964 on VARA

Rudi Carrell created De Robinson Crusoë Show especially for the Rose d'Or competition in Montreux in 1964 . The Silver Rose award made him internationally known and led to an offer from Germany, whereupon he lived and worked in this country with short interruptions from 1965 until his death.

The competition

In the spring, Swiss television invited television professionals to Montreux to spend a week discussing entertainment programs. A jury made up of members from ten countries selected the best from the entries submitted. The main prizes were the Golden, the Silver and the Bronze Rose. Rudi Carrell decided to take part with his own contribution. He saw it as a demanding task, as the USA in particular had lavishly staged shows. Carrell was able to convince his broadcaster VARA of the project and it was agreed to cancel the Rudi Carrell Show for the 1963/64 season in order to deliver a perfect contribution. It should be something unusual in order to have a chance at a grand prize, although the difference to the other shows was that it should be something simple .

idea

Each Rudi Carrell show had a single decoration; it was not altered during the show. These were preferably places where many people met, such as a train station or market square. In contrast to this, Carrell was looking for a place for the competition entry where no people would ever meet, and came across a lonely island, four meters long and four meters wide, with two palm trees and a small hut.

The plot stipulated that Rudi had lived there for a year, leaving it in the dark how he got there. His daily routine is shown, as he searches the island for washed up beach debris and plays a card game. That was enough for a quarter of an hour at most, but not the planned running time of 40 minutes. So further ideas were needed:

On the island, Rudi found a treasure chest with gold and jewels. This gave the opportunity for a song in which he praised the uselessness of these valuables on an island. In the hut, next to Rudi, lived a chimpanzee called Friday, analogous to Robinson Crusoe , who performed some tricks. The highlight was a mermaid who played the still rather unknown Esther Ofarim . In the end Rudi saw a large ship whose fog horn could be heard, and a sailor came to the island in a small boat to pick him up. The mermaid disappeared and the monkey stayed on the island.

Carrell needed three months for this conception. As with all of his television appearances, he also paid attention to optical gags, this was important because the contribution was presented with English subtitles in the competition.

realization

For a lake with a height of 80 centimeters made of plastic sheeting, there was no studio that could withstand the immense weight. The show should definitely take place in front of an audience. Therefore a permanent circus building with a clay floor was chosen in Scheveningen . This old building had no central heating and could hardly be heated with radiant heaters.

Since wireless microphones were not yet fully developed, several fixed microphones were used and their cables were run through the water. There were areas that were not recorded. Carrell had to be careful when walking around the island that he didn't speak there.

Recording the image turned out to be problem-free. The cameras were in front of the lake and could still produce close-ups with their telephoto lenses.

The six-year-old chimpanzee used came from the Amersfoort Zoo . Carrell went there every morning for seven weeks to practice the tricks: the monkey was supposed to perform card tricks, put on some of the jewelry from the treasure chest and dance a tango. The innate fear of water was beneficial, so that the chimpanzee could not run away during the show. The cold in the building was problematic for a chimpanzee.

Esther Ofarim perfectly memorized the Dutch text for her six-minute stay. She got a fish underneath studded with rhinestones and sequins and was carried to the island by an employee while it was foggy. The necessary smoke machine had to be procured from Hamburg , as there were no sufficiently powerful machines in the Netherlands.

After discovering the ship, Carrell jumped into the water for joy and then sing a song. He practiced how to show up and then sing with water in his ears with a tape recorder in an indoor swimming pool in Hilversum . The show also included a "game of poker" in which five cards had to be held in the hands and another five with the left foot. Every evening Carrell practiced taking out a card from the latter with his right foot and turning it over.

Like the Rudi Carrell Show, Dick Harris directed the film. He was also only mentioned here in the credits under "camera direction", since Carrell himself spoke so much that he considered the term "direction" to be inappropriate. Carrell chose Dick Schallies, who had already created his title for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 , as composer . Frans de Kok's orchestra played , as well as in the Rudi Carrell show.

The show

Before the audience admitted, Carrell hid in the hut, so that his surprising appearance provoked great applause. The recording of the show went perfectly, including the farewell scene with a sad waving monkey. It was broadcast on May 1st by VARA and previously unannounced after the regular program that night, as only broadcasts were allowed for the competition. After the award, it was shown in 14 countries, in Germany on Thursday, August 20, 1964 at 9:30 p.m. on ZDF . It had the greatest success in Great Britain, which is why Carrell even temporarily considered presenting shows there.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h i The world is a show. Chapter My favorite show
  2. Hamburger Abendblatt. Edition August 20, 1964.

Web links