The Uncle from America (1953)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The uncle from America |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 98 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Carl Boese |
| script |
Curth Flatow Peter Paulsen |
| production |
Artur Brauner Heinz Laaser for CCC-Film |
| music | Lotar Olias |
| camera | Albert Benitz |
| cut | Johanna Meisel |
| occupation | |
| |
The Uncle from America is a German comedy film directed by Carl Boese from 1953 . It is based on the stage play You don't need money by Ferdinand Altenkirch .
action
The Hartung family - Gertrud Hartung, her brother Hermann and his daughter Elisabeth - are deeply in debt. In the small town of Groditzkirchen, Hermann Hartung began to drill for oil, borrowing money from the industrial bank, which was financially involved in the oil company and which in turn acquired oil shares. However, no oil was found, so that not only the Hartung family, but also the bank of director Brenner are facing bankruptcy. Bodo Schmidt, the only bank employee, has received his wages in oil stocks for some time and now finally wants to quit, but is not allowed to. The only hope lies in Thomas Theodor Hoffmann, the Hartungs' uncle. Thomas has lived in Texas for 40 years and once sent the family a postcard with a factory on which he wrote “Small, but mine”. Since then he has been considered a wealthy man in the small town. Gertrud Hartung invited her uncle to Groditzkirchen and Uncle Thomas promised to come.
One day the family received a telegram that Thomas would appear in Groditzkirchen that same day. She wants to borrow money from the industrial bank, but Bodo Schmidt takes over the administration of the required 500 marks, which come from his own wallet. He organizes the reception, which goes wrong because the family thinks another gentleman is their uncle. Thomas arrives at the family home alone. It soon becomes clear that Thomas has invested all of his fortune in the trip to Groditzkirchen. He owned a small workshop that can be seen on the postcard in front of the factory. The Hartungs and Bodo Schmidt almost want to give up when a statement by Brenner opens Bodo's eyes: It doesn't matter whether Thomas has money. The bill is much more important here. Bodo puts Thomas in the best hotel in town, has generous tips distributed and faked a conversation with London in which he orders oil drills for Groditzkirchen. Soon the previously worthless oil stocks rise in price and a number of wealthy citizens join forces to form the Allgemeine Groditzer Ölaktiengesellschaft, of which Thomas becomes president. The city itself is now supporting the oil drilling with several hundred thousand marks and work begins. As a result, the economy in Groditzkirchen flourished, new houses and schools were built and Thomas was soon seen as the great benefactor.
For Thomas, the hustle and bustle around himself will soon be too much and he wants to leave. If Bodo had previously entered into an engagement with Elisabeth Hartung to “protect family interests”, which enabled him to become co-director of the industrial bank, Elisabeth is now announcing her marriage to Bodo so that Thomas will be kept in the small town. He agrees to attend the wedding as a guest. In the meantime, the unveiling of a bust of the great benefactor Thomas is being prepared in Groditzkirchen. To this end, the members of the Allgemeine Groditzer Ölaktiengesellschaft obtain information about Thomas' life directly from Texas. While Bodo marries Elisabeth and after an initial dispute they both spend a quiet wedding night in a modern apartment, the members of the Allgemeine Groditzer Ölaktiengesellschaft from Texas learn that Thomas is neither a factory director nor wealthy. The next morning, when the unveiling of the bust is planned, the members confront Bodo and he warns against destroying the illusion around Thomas. Nobody experienced a disadvantage because of the cheating. If it came out that Thomas is not rich, Groditzkirchen would have to repay all the loans and in the end it would be worse off than at the beginning. The members agree to keep confidentiality. Shortly before the bust is revealed, it becomes clear that Thomas has packed his things again and fled. While Bodo prepares to give an improvised speech that Thomas was supposed to give, Thomas appears, who two police officers have intercepted at the train station and brought to his own honorary event. Resigned, he surrenders to his fate and wistfully thinks back to his quiet years in Texas.
production
The uncle from America is based on the stage play You do not need money from Ferdinand Altenkirch , under the title It takes no money has been filmed for the first time 1,931th Carl Boese also directed, with the uncle from America being played by Hans Moser as early as 1931 .
The shooting took place from November 27 to December 20, 1952 in the CCC studios in Berlin-Spandau. Erich Grave and Walter Kutz created the production design . In the film, the Sunshine Quartet and Horst Winter sing the hit You don't need money . Hans Moser sings When I see the skyscrapers .
The uncle from America had its German film premiere on January 26, 1953 in the Astor in Berlin and was also shown in GDR cinemas in 1956.
criticism
“In a narrow, but luxuriously (and in some cases even parodistically) furnished studio space, a kind of chamber wobble arose, a more instructive than hearty - and at least still current - spoof of a flourishing business with invented capital. Hans Moser without mumbling, very despondent and honorable, is more touching than amusing, ”wrote Der Spiegel in 1953.
The film service called The Uncle from America a “musical comedy that targets the glorified American image of the 50s. The story [...] certainly contains elements of a time-related satire, which, however, is so covered with gossip that at best the main actors are attractive. "
Web links
- The uncle from America in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The uncle from America at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ New in Germany: The Uncle from America . In: Der Spiegel , No. 6, 1953, p. 33.
- ↑ The uncle from America. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .