The Sniffer (1983)

Movie
Original title	The snoop
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1983
length	89 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Ottokar Runze
script	Christian Rateuke Hartmann Schmige
production	Wolf Bauer
music	Wilhelm Dieter Siebert
camera	Michael Epp
cut	Gela-Marina Runne
occupation
Dieter Hallervorden : Herbert Böckmann, Herbie Melbourne Catherine Alric : Anna Tilo Prückner : Fred - CIA Anton Diffring : Colonel Henderson Siegfried Wischnewski : Colonel Protopopov Peter Kuiper : Dimitri Nikolaus Dutsch : Great Klaus Charles Regnier : Mr. X Siegfried Kernen : Professor Praetorius Gustl Bayrhammer : Mr. Huber Martha Mödl : Ms. Huber Utz Richter : Major Mahlke Joachim Wichmann : Commissioner Runge Eddie Constantine : Gregori Ustinov Gerd Vespermann : restaurant manager Carsta Löck : Mrs. Prietschke Heinz Giese : Head of HR Manfred Lehmann : Jack - CIA Christian Toberentz : Mr. Fritsche Siegfried Unruh : Mr. Becker Carlheinz Heitmann : Neighbor Carl Duering : Dr. Lohmeyer Horst Poenichen : antique dealer HH Jochmann : Porter Nicolai Rhein : singer Ruth Nimbach : Mrs. Runge

Der Schnüffler is a German film comedy from 1983 with Dieter Hallervorden .

action

In divided Berlin in the 1980s, West Berlin taxi driver Herbert Böckmann got caught between the fronts of the rival secret services CIA and KGB and involuntarily became a double agent .

Böckmann is an innocent and apolitical taxi driver who would simply like to have a quiet life and would like to raise sheep in Australia one day . When he delivers the KGB agent Boris Stravinski lifeless to the East Berlin headquarters of the KGB, a turbulent hunt begins with the KGB, the CIA and the German police.

Only in the mental hospital of Professor Praetorius Böckmann finds help from the assistant doctor Anna. She tries to do something about his broken self-confidence and supports him in finding the real killer of Boris Stravinski. Anna orders Böckmann fitness training to make him a real agent, but this fails because of Böckmann's self-doubt and his low self-confidence .

As a last resort, she uses a psychological trick: She tells him there is a new drug that boosts self-confidence and gives the feeling that you are invincible if you “sniff” it. She hands him a bottle of nail polish , and after an initial test, Böckmann feels as strong as a bear, which Anna's neighbor and his dog feel.

The placebo effect of the nail polish allows Böckmann - who now calls himself Herbie Melbourne - to endure all the stresses and strains of the new agent life, from the impromptu performance to violent shootings. When the bottle of nail polish is hit by a bullet, Anna has to explain to him that it was only nail polish and that his apparent superpowers are actually his own.

The film ends in Australia on a sheep farm, which was what Böckmann had longed for. When he opens a closet in the bedroom, a corpse falls out. The waiter, who is bringing two sundaes into the room, sees the corpse and also the knife that Böckmann is holding in his hands. The waiter (“Get the police!”) And Anna are scared to death, while Böckmann simply coolly states: “Just a corpse”.

Reviews

“Hallervorden comedy; initially funny and entertaining, later the film loses its parodic momentum. "

- Lexicon of international film

Trivia

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

• In the scene of the accident with the taxi, Hallervorden was himself in the car because the actual stuntman was five hours late and was therefore not at the location on time. In the scene also shown in the film, it compresses the roof of the Ford Granada . It is easy to see how Hallervorden injured his head. It was no longer shown that Hallervorden suffered a large laceration and had to be treated.
• According to Hallervordens testimony, he was drunk when he turned the toilet scene. After filming the scene, director Runze is said to have praised him with the fact that the best way to play a scene with him is drunk.
• The film was released on the American market under the title Nonstop Trouble with the Spies . The poster was specially designed for this market with Russian and American motifs and included a. also motifs that did not appear in the film at all or not in this form (helicopters, rockets, American taxis).
• During the interrogation in East Berlin, Hallervorden, as Herbert Böckmann, gave Colonel Protopopov his real date of birth, "born on September 5th, 1935 in Dessau / Anhalt".
• The film parodies the agent film , such as James Bond .

DVD release

The film was released on DVD on November 25, 2005 by Turbine Medien . A special edition (10,000 copies) of the DVD (silver writing) and the DVD edition of the "Dieter Hallervorden Collection" contain the following bonus material:

• Audio commentary by Dieter Hallervorden, Wolf Bauer, Hartmut Schmige and Stefan Boltz
• Documentary about the audio commentary
• Creation of the special effects
• Dieter Hallervorden reading the Stasi files
• Press photos and international artworks
• Biographies
• Original cinema trailer
• Trailer of further Hallervorden films
• Complete soundtrack by Willy Siebert on additional audio CD

Cinema history

The film opened in German cinemas on February 18, 1983.

Web links

• Moonlighting in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The snoop at Filmportal.de
• The snoop in the online film database
• Screenwriter Hartmann Schmige

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Sniffer. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .