The last chord
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last chord |
| Original title | Interlude |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1957 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Douglas Sirk |
| script |
Daniel Fuchs Franklin Coen |
| production | Ross Hunter |
| music | Frank Skinner |
| camera | William H. Daniels |
| cut | Russell F. Schoengarth |
| occupation | |
| |
The last chord is a 1956 American film melodrama by Douglas Sirk with June Allyson , Rossano Brazzi and Marianne Koch in the leading roles.
action
The film is set in the German-Austrian border area, with Munich and Salzburg but also Lake Starnberg as a specific area of action. The American Helen Banning, a middle-aged woman, has traveled to the Bavarian capital to take up a new job at a cultural agency. There she meets a doctor, Dr. Morley Dwyer, who shows a private interest in her. But Helen is currently not ready for a relationship and wants to concentrate fully on her new job. Through her boss Prue Stubbins, Helen Banning met the attractive conductor Tonio Fischer, a volatile artist. Prue asks Helen to watch out for the sometimes unpredictable music. When the latter follows one of his spontaneous and initially incomprehensible inspirations and leaves the concert hall head over heels, Helen follows him. Tonio Fischer drives to the villa of a certain Countess Reinhart, a lady of advanced age. There Helen sees Tonio playing the piano for a very young woman. Helen can't figure it out at first, but doesn't know that the lady is Reni Fischer, Tonio's mentally ill wife.
Tonio is desperate about Reni's ongoing condition, especially since no improvement is in sight. But he remains loyal to his wife, even if he and Helen gradually become closer emotionally. On a trip to Salzburg together, Helen and Tonio realize how they both feel for each other. When Helen, who up to now did not know about Tonio's relationship status to this unknown woman at the piano, is downright angry when she learns that it is the conductor's wife. Dr. Meanwhile, Dwyer sees his chance to end up with Helen and proposes to her. Reni Fischer, realizing that Helen could relax her husband, begs the American not to do so, she has no one else. Back at the Countess's estate, Reni attempts suicide. At the last moment, Helen saves Reni from going into the (sea) water. Only now does the American really realize how important it is that Tonio stays with his wife Reni and magnanimously renounces the love of her life. She decides to return to the States.
Production notes
The last chord was created in the summer / autumn of 1956 in Munich (exterior and interior shots), Salzburg (exterior shots) and Universal Studios (interior shots) and was premiered on September 18, 1957 in Los Angeles. The German premiere took place on February 18, 1958.
Alexander Golitzen and Robert E. Smith were responsible for the film construction, Joseph Gershenson took over the musical direction. Jay A. Morley junior was responsible for the costumes, makeup artist Bud Westmore for the makeup.
For Marianne Koch this film was one of her two Hollywood productions in 1956 (in which she both appeared under the slightly Americanized pseudonym Marianne Cook). Immediately beforehand she had turned off the story about four girls who want to make a career in Hollywood for Whom the Stars Shine.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Helen Banning | June Allyson | Gisela Trowe |
| Tonio Fischer | Rossano Brazzi | Curt Ackermann |
| Reni Fischer | Marianne Koch | herself |
| Countess Irena Reinhart | Françoise Rosay | Ursula War |
| Dr. Morley Dwyer | Keith Andes | Horst Niendorf |
| Gertrude Kirk | Frances Bergen | Sigrid Lagemann |
| Hennig | Herman Schwedt | Walter Tappe |
| Prue | Jane Wyatt | Ruth Piepho |
Reviews
This film is considered one of the weaker works of Douglas Sirk, the master of the 1950s film melodrama, and accordingly received poor reviews from the critics. Here are a few examples:
In its issue of January 8, 1958, Der Spiegel wrote: “The exquisite boredom of relationships, viewed with strange emotional values, will finally come to an astonishing end: the suicide attempt of the mentally disturbed wife in Lake Starnberg is similar in design and location to the death of the romantically confused Bavarian King Ludwig II. "
"Satisfactory teardrop."
"Romantic melodrama that presses the lacrimal glands effectively, but staged too smoothly and routinely."
"Boring remake of When Tomorrow Comes with a weak script and appearances."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Last Chord . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2008 (PDF; test number: 14 771 DVD).
- ↑ The last chord in the German synchronous card index
- ↑ Der Spiegel , Issue No. 2/1958
- ↑ The last chord. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 1, 2018 .
Web links
- The last chord in the Internet Movie Database (English)