The Last Man (1955)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The last man |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 105, 99 (present version) minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harald Braun |
| script |
Georg Hurdalek Herbert Witt based on motifs from the 1924 film of the same name |
| production |
NDF , Munich (Harald Braun) |
| music | Werner Eisbrenner |
| camera | Richard fear |
| cut | Hilwa from Boro |
| occupation | |
| |
The Last Man is a German feature film from 1955 with Hans Albers , Romy Schneider and Joachim Fuchsberger in the leading roles. This remake of the famous silent film classic of the same name from 1924 was directed by Harald Braun .
action
Badenau in southwest Germany. Head waiter Karl Knesebeck is already in his sixties; He has served the Hotel Hövelmann loyally throughout his life, and is practically part of the living inventory. But now the long-time owner Sabine Hövelmann is seriously ill, and Knesebeck is practically moving up to the boss of the company, as the boss's 17-year-old daughter, Niddy, whom he loves like his own child, is still too inexperienced. Niddy trusts the old man unconditionally and always asks him for advice and action. Only with her first love does she go her own way. The chosen one is called Helmuth Bühler, is doing a traineeship at Hövelmann and comes from the same trade as her: "Helle", as he is usually called, is the son of a hotelier. But the budding couple is having a bit of a hard time because Helle is really shy and head waiter Karl also makes sure that nothing happens to his wards with hawk eyes.
As every year, the traditional waiter's run takes place this summer for the fun of the spectators. The participating waiters have to carry a glass filled with champagne on a tray without spilling a drop. Karl Knesebeck has been unbeaten for nine years, but this time can only just win against the much younger Helle. Little does Karl know that Niddy helped a little with this "victory" and urged Helle to let the old man win again, so that Karl does not feel challenged in his authority and the business mood in the house does not sink to freezing point. While he leads a tough regiment as the “boss” and does not tolerate objections from the waiters who are subordinate to him, Knesebeck is extremely servile towards the guests. For example, old Mr. Claassen, himself a hotelier and a regular customer, has just recovered from a serious illness and is being brought back to life by Knesebeck with a lot of optimism and encouragement and the request to do more exercise and regular squats every day.
One day things will turn out to be sticky for Karl. Sabine Hövelmann has died and the new owners, all of them hunchbacked relatives, are the heirs. With a two-thirds majority, Uncle Max, Uncle Udo and their calculating cousin Alwin, a lawyer, are now in charge. The urbane Alwin is as smooth as he is unscrupulous and quickly turns the head of the inexperienced Niddy. Soon the always a little awkward but thoroughly honest Helle is signed off with the girl. Little does Niddy suspect that Alwin's strategy is to get married into the hotel business. Karl immediately recognizes that cousin Alwin is an oily hallodri, but loses more and more of his influence on Niddy. Alwin, in turn, immediately realizes that he has to get rid of the bulky head waiter who is very hostile to him as soon as possible. Since Sabine Hövelmann has decreed in her will that Knesebeck cannot be terminated, the windy lawyer has a plan. Nowhere in the will does it say in which position Karl must continue to be employed, and so begins the social decline of the head waiter to the toilet man, who hits Alwin twice in the face in an outburst of anger. Karl's attempts to find accommodation elsewhere fail. The old man is too much a bossy, authoritarian bone in the restaurant and hotel industry. In this way, Knesebeck can finally be degraded to the “last man” and disappears into the washroom catacomb.
Knesebeck begins to reflect on his life and also has to admit that his behavior was not always appropriate. Then his salvation appears in the person of Mr. Claassen, who feels that he has an obligation to bring him back. At this point the “Hövelmann” is upside down; the marriage between Niddy and Alwin is being prepared. But Niddy begins to doubt more and more whether the windy Alwin is really the right one. Claassen, appalled and outraged by the way Knesebeck is treated, buys the two-thirds majority from the two uncles and integrates the "Hövelmann" into his hotel empire. Karl is freed from his pathetic toilet attendant existence and rises in no time to the new hotel manager. At the last moment, the two old gentlemen are able to prevent Niddy's mesalliance wedding with cousin Alwin. With a sideways glance at Helle, Knesebeck makes it clear that he would be genuinely happy about a wedding between Niddy and Helmuth.
Production notes
The film was shot in mid-1955 and premiered on October 14 of the same year in Düsseldorf. The studio photos were taken in the Bavaria studio in Munich - Geiselgasteig , the outdoor photos in Baden-Baden .
The buildings come from the hands of the brothers Robert and Kurt Herlth , Gudrun Rabente had the costume advice. Georg Richter was production manager, Hermann Höhn production manager.
For Joachim Fuchsberger, the role of Alwin Radlayers was one of his extremely rare forays into the subject of a negative character.
Reviews
In its November 16, 1955 edition, Der Spiegel found: “Without 'concerns' and without 'statement', and with what is called a light hand in this country, Harald Braun staged the old Jannings melodrama from the head waiter in the men's room as pleasing Evening entertainment. There is moderate weeping (by Romy Schneider, who, according to the distribution announcement, is 'strolling through the first delightful stage of a love spring'), suffering male (from a relaxed Hans Albers) and a little loved and intrigued. A film whose wellbeing is mildly boring. "
“Not just a remake of the famous Murnau-Jannings film by the proud hotel porter who has been demoted to toilet attendant. At Albers it's a waiter, and the crash, like the inner refinement, is easier, more lively, more popular. "
"With two remakes of two Emil Jannings classics, ' The Last Man ' and Before Sunset , which were too sentimentally slipping , Albers proved himself to be a respectable character actor."
“Drama designed as a sentimental entertainment film with a convincing leading actor; In terms of staging, the film never comes close to Murnau's silent film of the same name with Emil Jannings, the subject matter of which has been smoothed out and the plot moved to the economic boom around 1950. "
In Filmarchiv Austria it says: “Romy Schneider's fifth film is, like its two predecessors, a remake. The German post-war film relies on promising material that has proven itself in the past, set in historical distant or temporally indefinable. This time it's DER LETZTE MANN, the original of which from 1924, directed by FW Murnau, included a star role for Emil Jannings. For Schneider it is the first part that she perceives as "modern". Little has remained of the cynical worldview of the screenwriter Carl Mayers in the original silent film, although the main character, after being demoted to toilet man, has to disgracefully recognize that “his” world works without him, but ultimately a deus ex machina saves him from his situation. ›You get used to the good, not the bad,‹ is what they say to the post-war audience in the beginning economic miracle. ›Part of the fairytale ending is that the humiliated person is even rehabilitated as a hotel manager.‹ "
literature
- Ulrike Weckel: Reform or Restoration of Paternal Authority? The last man (1955) as a remake with Hans Albers . In: WerkstattGeschichte 35, 2004, pp. 114–129 ( online ).
Web links
- The last man in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The last man at filmportal.de
Remarks
- ↑ The Last Man In: Der Spiegel 47/1955
- ↑ Heinrich Fraenkel: Immortal Film: From the first sound to the colored wide screen , Munich 1957, p. 438
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 1: A - C. Erik Aaes - Jack Carson. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 50.
- ↑ The last man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The Last Man on film.at