The hangman is on his way

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Movie
German title The hangman is on his way
Original title The lineup
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1958
length 85 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Don Siegel
script Stirling Silliphant
production Jaime De Valle
camera Hal Mohr
cut Al Clark
occupation

The executioner is on the way (Original title: The Lineup ) is in black and white twisted American crime film by Don Siegel from the year 1958th

action

After a passenger ship docked in San Francisco , a porter steals a traveller's baggage, throws it into a waiting taxi, and disappears into the crowd. During the subsequent escape, the taxi driver and a policeman are killed. The port authorities later recover the body of the murdered porter. The stolen suitcase is examined in the police laboratory and heroin is discovered in a doll that the owner, Mr. Dressler , bought in Hong Kong . Investigating officers Guthrie and Quine first suspect Dressler, until a customs officer suspects that Dressler was ignorantly abused as a courier. In the dead taxi driver's apartment, Guthrie and Quine find a calendar that allows the conclusion that a new drug delivery could be due for the next day.

The psychopathic hit man Dancer and his cynical mentor Julian arrive by plane in San Francisco. Her driver McLain takes her to the harbor, where her contact Dancer shows the three couriers whose luggage contains smuggled heroin: the sailor Warner, the Sanders family and Dorothy Bradshaw, who is traveling alone with her daughter. After collecting the contraband, Dancer should hide it at an agreed location in an amusement park, where it will be picked up by the client at 4 p.m. sharp. Dancer first visits Warner in the steam room of his hotel. Warner has discovered the heroin in his load and offers Dancer a deal, whereupon he shoots him. At the scene of the crime, two customers Guthrie and Quine can give an accurate description of Julian's, who then initiate a manhunt. Meanwhile, the gangsters have reached their next destination, the Sanders family home. Since the house servant does not want to give out the cutlery set in whose handles the heroin was hidden, he too is shot. Then Dancer and Julian visit the third courier, Mrs. Bradshaw and her daughter Cindy. Cindy admits that she discovered a white powder in her doll and used it as “powder” for the doll. Fearing that their employer will accuse them of embezzlement, Dancer and Julian kidnap mother and daughter to the place of delivery in the hope that they will be believed if the ignorant courier declares Cindy himself that the heroin has been lost. Julian humiliates the weeping Mrs. Bradshaw by stating that women have no place in society because of their “weakness”, and that both crime and the law are aggressive.

Without knowing that the police are watching the building, Dancer meets with his client. This, a man in a wheelchair, ignores Dancer's explanation for the incomplete delivery, slaps him and explains that he is already a dead man. Dancer murders him and rushes back to the car. McLain manages to break through the police line, but the gangsters are caught on a highway bridge that is under construction. The escaping Julian is shot by Dancer, who in turn, hit by a police bullet, falls into the depths.

background

The Executioner Is On The Way based on a radio show broadcast in 1950–1953 and a television series broadcast in 1954–1960 called The Lineup . Warner Anderson repeated his role from the TV series. Instead of a specially composed film music, the film used archive music recorded by the unnamed Mischa Bakaleinikoff .

The executioner is on the move started on June 11, 1958 in American cinemas and on February 19, 1960 in the FRG .

Despite its late date of creation and its pictures bathed in glaring sunlight, The Executioner Is On the Road was attributed to the classic film noir (approx. 1941–1958) by some film historians such as Alain Silver / Elizabeth Ward and Foster Hirsch .

criticism

“A delightful combination of an initially factual police report and later a tough gangster film . Especially interesting is the strict formal structure of the film, which is particularly evident in the repetition of similar processes and processes. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Dunning: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, New York 1998, pp. 401-402.
  2. ^ TV series The Lineup in the Internet Movie Database .
  3. ↑ The executioner is on the move in the Internet Movie Database .
  4. ↑ a b Alain Silver, Elizabeth Ward (Ed.): Film Noir. An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Edition. Overlook / Duckworth, New York / Woodstock / London 1992, ISBN 978-0-87951-479-2 , pp. 171-173.
  5. ↑ a b The executioner is on the move in the lexicon of international filmTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used .
  6. ^ Foster Hirsch: The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir. Da Capo Press, New York 2001, ISBN 0-306-81039-5 , pp. 86, pp. 136-137.