The hero of the day
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The hero of the day |
| Original title | The Kid from Brooklyn |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1946 |
| length | 109 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Norman Z. McLeod |
| script |
Don Hartman Melville Shavelson |
| production | Samuel Goldwyn |
| music | Carmen Dragon |
| camera | Gregg Toland |
| cut | Daniel Mandell |
| occupation | |
| |
The hero of the day (original title: The Kid from Brooklyn ), alternatively also The Boy from Brooklyn , is an American comedy film by director Norman Z. McLeod from 1946. The film is a remake of the 1936 World Champion with Harold Lloyd , of all things . Don Hartman and Melville Shavelson adapted the original script by Grover Jones , Frank Butler and Richard Connell , which in turn was based on the play The Milky Way by Lynn Root and Harry Clork. Danny Kaye starred in the remake .
action
The good-natured Burleigh Sullivan works as a milkman and meets the unemployed singer Polly Pringle on his early morning tour. He offers her to speak to his sister Susie, who works as a dancer in a nightclub. When Burleigh visits his sister in the evening, Susie is molested by two men. Susie escapes and wants to get the police, but cannot find an officer. So she returns and finds Burleigh, at whose feet the two men are knocked out. She recognizes the middleweight boxer Speed McFarlane and his trainer Spider Schultz in the two. The press found out and published the story the next morning, much to the chagrin of McFarlane's manager Gabby Sloane.
Sloane lets Burleigh come to and is surprised at Burleigh's not particularly impressive stature. Speed and Spider are also present. Burleigh admits he didn't knock out Speed. Rather, he ducked under a blow from Spider, who instead hit Speed and knocked him down. Burleigh imitates what happened and Speed goes down again. At that very moment, press reporters appear and believe that Burleigh Speed knocked out a second time. Sloane comes up with the idea of introducing Burleigh as the new professional boxer. He is supposed to fight against Spider, who can restore his battered reputation by winning.
Meanwhile, Burleigh has lost his job. This is because of his constant early morning calls to his boss, Wilbur Austin, to get Polly a job. Sloane is able to convince Burleigh of his plan and lets him practice in his training camp. Burleigh learned a few techniques, but limited himself to ducking and prancing. Sloane hands Burleigh an expensive ring and lies to him that Polly has agreed to a wedding if he wins the championship against Speed. Burleigh makes a proposal to Polly, which she accepts, but on the condition that Burleigh hang up the boxing gloves. Burleigh cannot, however, as he owes Sloane the money for the ring.
Burleigh completes his first fight and wins. Polly finds out the fight has been agreed and tries to convince Burleigh to quit. But Burleigh is intoxicated with his victory and can also make the following fights, now sponsored by Austin, victorious. With his airs he embarrassed Polly at a party, which then gave him the ring back. Susie learns that the fight against Burleigh has been faked in Speed's favor. Speed, who has fallen in love with Susie, offers to purposely lose the fight. But Susie is also disgusted by Burleigh's behavior, Speed should give him a lesson and win the fight.
On the evening of the fight, Burleigh appears on a pony that Speed accidentally knocks down. In addition, Spider accidentally gives him a dose of sleep medication. Burleigh can beat the almost unconscious speed in battle. When Burleigh is declared world middleweight champion, he realizes the lie and accepts Austin's offer to partner with his company. At the end of the film, Burleigh explains that the whole story is a commercial for his company and that he is training his employees, Sloane and Speed.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films describes the work as “mostly silly burlesque with a few tragicomic accents. The film suffers most from its unbearable German synchronization ”. The New York Times' Bosley Crowther said the film slows down if Danny Kaye is not on screen. Neither Abel, Arden, nor Stander could keep up the cheerful spirit of the movie without Kaye. The TV Guide certified that the film overcomes its maudlin plot with great songs and style. The result is a happy mixture of nonsense and laughter. The critics of the American Catholic Bishops' Conference found the film to be a bumpy musical comedy. It is less funny than the original and Danny Kaye is more irritating than amusing.
background
The premiere took place on March 21, 1946. In Germany, the film was released in cinemas on September 15, 1952 in a version shortened by five minutes.
Brooks Benedict , Betty Blythe , George Chandler , Dick Elliott , Franklyn Farnum , Bess Flowers , Tom Kennedy , Torben Meyer and Snub Pollard are seen in small supporting roles .
John P. Fulton was responsible for the special effects, Miles White for the costume design, for which Jean Louis designed the costumes. Production designer was Howard Bristol .
Lionel Stander played the same role in the original film. Director Norman Z. McLeod represented the sick director Leo McCarey in the original .
Lead actor Danny Kaye had been with Samuel Goldwyn since 1943. In his third Goldwyn film, he was committed to the role of the unfortunate man who innocently finds himself in an unheard of or challenging situation. It was his second collaboration with Virginia Mayo and Vera-Ellen after Der Wundermann . Kaye later made other films with both of them. Kaye's wife Sylvia Fine composed the song Pavlova with Max Liebman , which Kaye performed in the film.
Other songs in the film were composed by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn . Virginia Mayo's singing voice came from Betty Russell, Vera-Ellen's voice from Suzanne Ellers. In the song Hey! What's your name? , performed by Vera-Ellen and Suzanne Ellers, Frankie Laine took over the leading voice of the male choir.
The film was dubbed by the RKO dubbing department in Berlin. Danny Kaye's role was voiced by Georg Thomalla .
Web links
- The hero of the day in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The hero of the day. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 11, 2017 .
- ↑ New York Times, April 19, 1946 (Eng.)
- ↑ TV Guide (Eng.)
- ↑ Critique of the USCCB (Eng.)
- ↑ The hero of the day. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on November 16, 2018 .