The last roll call
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The last roll call |
| Country of production | German Empire |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1939 (year of production, as not listed) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Max W. Kimmich |
| script |
Curt J. Braun Hans Leip |
| production | Emil Jannings for the Tobis |
| music | Herbert Windt (planned) |
| camera | Fritz Arno Wagner |
| occupation | |
and in alphabetical order Frank Berlin , Gerhard Bienert , Helmut Brasch , Jochen Braun , Mary Dietrich , Peter Elsholtz , Adolf Fischer , Clemens Hasse , Erich Hecking , Fritz Hoopts , Richard Lustig , Günther Markert , Wolf Mittler , Arthur Reinhardt , Gösta Richter , Hans Richter , Ernst G. Schiffner , Theo Shall , Josef Sieber , Jack Trevor , Thomas H. Webb and units of the German Navy. | |
The last roll call is a German sea and world war film drama with propaganda undertones by Max W. Kimmich that remained incomplete due to the outbreak of war in 1939 . The main roles are played by Emil Jannings and Werner Krauss . The film, made for the fame of the German navy during its war operation against England in 1914, is based on the play "Fahrt nach Orplid" (1936) by Bernd Hofmann .
action
Europe 1914. Captain Brodersen was once a naval officer and was dismissed from his service for carelessness. Now, as captain, he leads Queen Luise , a bath ship. His daughter is happily married to John Barnett, an officer in the British Navy. Only Brodersen's son Walter, an artist who prefers to be a bohemian in Parisian pacifist circles, worries Brodersen, who is strictly national and military.
When the First World War broke out, the situation changed suddenly for everyone involved. The Queen Louise becomes an auxiliary cruiser rebuilt, and Captain Brodersen is commanded his ship to the Thames Estuary break to where a mine belt, which is to prevent the British warships from sailing in the North Sea to relocate. Entrusted with this "patriotic" task, the previously frustrated bath steamer captain really blossoms. His son also appears to be “purified”. The lottery life in the enemy capital Paris has come to an end, and Walter volunteers to take up arms. On Queen Luise , father and son stand side by side to stand up to the British.
But the English navy did not remain idle, the captain of the cruiser Amphion left with his ship immediately and confronted his opponent in front of the Thames. The Queen Louise is sunk, fished out the Germans. On board the enemy ship, Brodersen and his English son-in-law meet again. He informs him that Brodersen's daughter, i.e. John's wife, is pregnant and that he, Brodersen, will soon become a grandpa. Otherwise Barnett advises his father-in-law to behave loyally on board so that nothing will happen to him. In return, the Briton also expects Brodersen to tell him exactly where he let the mine belt into the water. But the German patriot, despite tough interrogation methods, steadfastly refuses to divulge his knowledge and prefers to watch the Amphion drive towards the mine belt. There is a huge explosion in which everyone on the cruiser lost their lives.
Production notes
The last roll call was filmed on July 14, 1939, beginning with exterior shots in the port of Kiel . Further recordings were made in the Baltic Sea off Swinoujscie . However, the shooting had to be stopped at the beginning of September 1939, because the units of the German navy involved in this large-scale production were needed for the attack on Poland. By the time filming was stopped, the film had already devoured around one million Reichsmarks in around seven weeks.
Jannings not only took on the main role and production, he was also responsible as artistic director. Herbert Ploberger designed the costumes.
The two stars of the film, Emil Jannings and Werner Krauss, had filmed together from time to time since their early careers over twenty years earlier. It was not until June 1939, just a few weeks before the start of filming The Last Appeal , that the two top stars of German film ended their last collaboration: it was the large-scale production Robert Koch, The Fighter of Death .
Interesting facts and backgrounds
Originally, at the time of production planning in the winter of 1938/39, Karl Anton was the intended director. Instead, however, the brother-in-law of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels , Max Kimmich , was ultimately elected . The steamer Reiher was historically transformed into the former bathing ship Queen Luise , and the artillery training ship Bremse was transformed into the historic British cruiser Amphion accordingly .
During the shooting on July 28, 1939, a serious incident occurred: A bomb exploded close to the steamer Heron , "caused a large hole under the waterline, and the 2400-ton steamer immediately tilted to one side. The entire film expedition was on board the steamer ”. However, no one was injured. The ship was pulled into a dock and the film team received a replacement ship in the form of the commercial training ship "Deutschland".
It was originally planned to continue filming in March 1940, but this did not materialize, and the last roll call remained a fragment . The finished footage is considered lost.
reception
Since this film was never finished and therefore never shown, there are no reviews.
Individual evidence
- ↑ In a thank you telegram to Adolf Hitler , main actor Jannings wrote on August 18, 1939 that The Last Appeal should be “a hero song of the German Navy”.
- ↑ Ulrich J. Klaus: Deutsche Tonfilme 10th year 1939. P. 118 f. (062.39), Berlin 1999
- ↑ a b c d Boguslaw Drewniak: The German Film 1938-1945 . A complete overview. Düsseldorf 1987, p. 363 f.
Web links
- The last appeal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The last roll call at filmportal.de