Satan beckons with love

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Movie
Original title Satan beckons with love
Country of production Germany
original language German
English
Publishing year 1960
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Rudolf Jugert
script Ilse Lotz-Dupont
production Wolf C. Hartwig for Rapid-Film, Munich
music Werner Scharfenberger
camera Georg Krause
cut Herbert Taschner
occupation

Satan lures with love is a German detective melodrama with strong film noir elements from 1960. Directed by Rudolf Jugert , Belinda Lee plays a woman between two men, a ruthless villain ( Ivan Desny ) and an enthusiastic, naive lover ( Joachim Hansen ).

action

Somewhere in France. The criminal Carlos has broken out of prison and escapes on a train that takes him to a port city. In the compartment in which he settles there is the young Robert, a simple, clearly structured, little bank clerk who dreams of saying goodbye to his boring life and daring to do something completely new. His dream: he would like to travel to distant countries and his ship to South America is already waiting in the port of destination. Robert is traveling with a considerable sum of money, as the interested gangster immediately notices, because his wallet, peeking out of his jacket, is bulging with banknotes. Carlos thinks briefly whether and how he could remove the simpleton sitting across from him, but quickly rejects this plan. When they arrive at the destination of the train journey, the two men split up at first, but they agree to meet at midnight in the “Colibri-Bar”. Carlos continues to speculate on being able to take the money from Robert at a more favorable moment than before, as his escape will certainly cost him a large sum. The police are already present at the train station because the trains are being searched for the fugitive. Carlos is able to escape state power, even though a graze shot on his right arm injured him by grabbing a toddler hostage and possibly a bullet trap. He is hiding in the harbor on a ship, the "Lolita", which is supposed to bring him to Australia. The captain of the freighter is a certain Philipp, whom Carlos knows from before and who owes the criminal a favor.

In the meantime it has started raining, and Robert with the thick wallet wanders a little aimlessly through the night streets of the demolished port city. Accidentally meets the beautiful, feline Evelyn, with whom he shares a taxi. The young man is blown away from the start when he sees the young woman and languishes bluntly at her. When the two young people took shelter in a shabby kiosk when they had a flat tire, Robert had already drawn up wildly sprouting plans for the future in which he always thought Evelyn was by his side. He does not know that Evelyn is a gangster bride and that she is, of all people, the mistress of his train acquaintance, the fugitive criminal Carlos. Evelyn is a hardy and disaffected girl who is marked by the hardship of life and who shakes her head and does not understand the rapt romanticism of the naive Robert. She tries hard to slow Robert down in his plans for the future, which in her eyes have no sense of reality. When they arrive at the port, the two separate and Evelyn goes on board the “Lolita” as agreed to meet Carlos there. They also know Captain Philipp very well. He kind of likes the bad girl girl.

Members of the ship's crew have meanwhile noticed that a mysterious guest has gone on board and quickly understand that this man must have something wrong with him. Under the leadership of the Chinese Li Fang, they then try to blackmail Carlos and the captain: they want to shut up for US $ 20,000, otherwise the seafarers would like to give the police a hint. Carlos, who had almost forgotten Robert and the appointment in the "Colibri-Bar", immediately remembered his travel acquaintance in this predicament. His bulging wallet is also more interesting than ever in view of the blackmail by the ship's crew in the room. The gangster then sends Evelyn, who happens to be a singer in said bar, back to her workplace. She should look for Robert around midnight, seduce him after her appearance and rob him of cash. Evelyn doesn't really want this, especially since Carlos treats her like his property, but finally lets herself be beaten. Both Carlos and Evelyn do not know at this point that the other Robert has already met. Robert is punctually in the tavern and literally melts away when Evelyn starts her vocals with her erotic dark timbre as requested. After her introduction, he looks for the beautiful siren in her cloakroom to confess his love to her again and to ask her to accompany him on his journey around the world. For Evelyn, however, Robert is just the nice boy from the taxi, because she still doesn't know that this is exactly the guy that Carlos asked her to steal from. Finally she recognizes him by the ring that Carlos described to her and takes him back to her apartment.

Evelyn gradually begins to see the stark differences in the traits of Robert and Carlos. Roberts sincerity, his openness and his enthusiasm stand in drastic contrast to the ice-cold rip-off, unscrupulousness and brutality that make up the character of Carlos. And as much as she is still hanging on Carlos' lips and trying to help him escape, she touches the almost angelic nature of the youthful innocence of Robert. Would it really be so absurd to go on a journey into the big, wide world with this boy? The bar singer asks herself secretly. What does the other person have to offer her who even wants to tempt her to sleep with the rich young man just to get hold of his money? The moment of pausing and questioning does not last long. After sex, Robert falls asleep happily, Evelyn takes his money and steals away. Captain Philipp takes the banknotes and uses them to pay for his own blackmailers. Evelyn, however, is soon plagued by remorse. She has learned that Robert is by no means as wealthy as everyone previously believed. Rather, he stole the money from the bank branch in order to fulfill his dreams of the big, wide world. Should he not repay the money, his future life path could be similar to that of Carlos. Evelyn returns to the "Lolita" captain and asks for the bundle of banknotes she has handed over. Contrary to expectations, the aging fur seal, who ate a fool on Evelyn, accepts this demand in a moment of awakening decency. But now things are in motion. Carlos intervenes, there is a scuffle with Philipp, whom Carlos shoots, and another exchange of fire. Evelyn collapses, fatally hit by a misdirected bullet from Carlos' revolver. Robert is already on his way home with the cash he has recovered to return the stolen money to “his” bank. Now, he believes, nothing stands in the way of a future together with dream woman Evelyn.

Production notes

Satan beckons with love , like Rudolf Jugert's first film noir staging Night on the Streets from 1951, a black and white drama that played mostly at night with no happy ending, was created in the winter of 1959/60 in the Munich-Türkenstrasse studio and was Belinda Lee's last German film. It passed the FSK exam on March 28, 1960 and was premiered on March 31, 1960 in Nuremberg (Admiral).

Ludwig Spitaler took over production management . The buildings were designed by Max Seefelder , whose last German cinema production was this. Supporting actress Dorothee Parker was the partner (and later wife) of producer Wolf C. Hartwig .

A few months earlier, director Jugert had also shot the melodrama The Truth About Rosemary with Belinda Lee . Lee's vocal insert with lip movements in German was obviously sung by a trained singer (with German as her mother tongue).

Some passages were shot in German, some in English (dubbed in German).

criticism

“In the southern port city, a prisoner who has broken out is trying to win the bottom of the ship in order to steam off. How he thoroughly fails is the content and tension of this neatly unwinding crime film by Rudolf Jugert. Between a friend from the Tingeltangel (Belinda Lee, racy and beautiful), a perfectly good captain (Heinz Engelmann, very personable) and a young fool of a lover (Joachim Hansen, pleasantly discreet), the gangster Ivan Desny has an easy time sweeping out Satan and to give the title at least some justification. Remarkable the end. He's without a happy ending. "

- Hamburger Abendblatt from September 3, 1960

In Films 1959/61 the following can be read: "Unpleasant gangster story with an attached tendency to purification."

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Films 1959/61. Handbook VI of the Catholic film criticism. P. 146

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