The 27th floor
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The 27th floor |
| Original title | Mirage |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1965 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Edward Dmytryk |
| script | Peter Stone |
| production | Harry Keller for Universal Pictures |
| music | Quincy Jones |
| camera | Joseph MacDonald |
| cut | Ted J. Kent |
| occupation | |
| |
The 27th floor is an American feature film by Edward Dmytryk from the year 1965 . The novel The 27th Floor (Fallen Angel) , published in 1952 by Howard Fast under the pseudonym Walter Ericson , served as a template .
action
A power failure occurs in a New York skyscraper. David Stillwell is among the people fleeing down the unlit stairwell from the 27th floor. A woman recognizes him in the crowd and disappears without a trace when he followed her to the fourth basement. On leaving the building, he notices a crowd of people around the body of a man who fell from one of the upper windows. Stillwell returns to the stairwell and is surprised to find that there is only a basement, but no basement. On the subway, he reads a newspaper report that a certain Charles Calvin committed suicide at the Unidyne Corporation headquarters. Stillwell is certain that the dead man was Calvin in front of the building.
When Stillwell is in his apartment, a man named Lester threatens him with a gun and tells him to contact a so-called "major". Stillwell knocks Lester out with his briefcase and locks him in a broom closet, from which he can later free himself. The television provides more details on the recent events. According to this, Charles Calvin was a lawyer, a famous fighter for world peace and apparently also friends with Crawford Gilcuttie, the director general of Unidyne.
The next morning Stillwell wants to report Lester to the police. When asked for his personal details, he cannot remember his telephone number, his date of birth or his place of birth and leaves the police station again. Shortly afterwards, in Central Park , he sees the woman he met in the stairwell the night before. She introduces herself as Shela, allegedly also works for Unidyne and seems to know him very well.
Stillwell cannot make a verse about his situation. He believes he worked as an accountant for Garrison Limited at the Unidyne high-rise and was employed by a man named Sylvester Josephson. Sporadically, memories come to him in the form of individual pictures, in which he is with Calvin in a park near a large building under a tree. In his helplessness he looks for the psychiatrist Dr. Augustus J. Broden. When the latter hears that Stillwell cannot remember the past two years, the psychiatrist accuses him of lying that there is no such thing as amnesia over such a long period and throws him out.
Stillwell turns to detective Ted Caselle, who runs the AAA Detective Agency . Caselle is far more capable than it first appears. In this way he finds out that Stillwell believes he is a cost calculator, but has no idea what one would do. Together they go to the basement of the Unidyne Corporation, where they are harassed by an armed man. Stillwell overwhelms the attacker with a blow with a wooden plank. Back in the park, he meets Shela again, who has followed him. She reveals to him that two years ago they were lovers and that the "major" was the mastermind of a conspiracy that Stillwell tried with all his might to prevent from finding out something about his past.
Meanwhile, Caselle discovers that an organization called Garrison Laboratories has ties to the Calvin Peace Foundation. Garrison is led by Sylvester Josephson, who allegedly hired Stillwell. Josephson was previously the head of the physicochemical division at Unidyne Corporation. Caselle is shot dead by a hit man. Stillwell then turns to Dr. Broden and tells him that he remembers working in a radiation laboratory in the fourth basement of Garrison Laboratories . Broden diagnosed his patient with severe amnesia as a result of repressing a previous traumatic event.
During a visit to Calvin's widow, it turns out that Calvin and Gilcuttie served together in the army, so Gilcuttie must be the "major". Stillwell remembers that he has a key to a private elevator at Unidyne. He drives to the 65th floor and finds Josephson, Willard and Gilcuttie in an elaborately decorated room. Little by little, more details come back to his memory: As a chemist at Garrison, Stillwell had discovered a method of neutralizing atomic radiation . A dispute arose between Calvin and Gilcuttie as to whether this groundbreaking invention should be used for military purposes or to keep the peace. After Gilcuttie prevailed, Stillwell tried to burn the slip of paper with the formula on it. Trying to stop him, Calvin lost his balance and fell into the depths. This traumatic sight caused Stillwell to lose his memory.
When Willard makes another attempt to kill Stillwell, Shela enters the room and shoots Willard with the pistol on Gilcuttie's desk. She was the mistress of the "Major" and only changed her attitude when she recognized his true character. Josephson, who snatches the gun from her, can be persuaded to give up by Stillwell.
Reviews
“The plot of interlocking thriller, which only reveals the context of its mosaic at the very end, is ingenious. In the exciting film, the game by Gregory Peck, who gives seriousness to the problem of identity, is particularly impressive. "
“Almost 50 years later, the 27th floor has lost none of its fascination and proves that an intelligent game of truth and deception can be built without computer effects. The film doesn't quite manage to save its class and suspense over the finish line. Still a must for friends of confusion games. "
Awards
The film received the Golden Seashell ("Golden Shell") at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1965 together with Zlatá Reneta .
DVD release
- The 27th floor - Mirage , KSM, February 2013, 104 minutes, picture format 1.85: 1 (16: 9), sound formats German and English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
literature
- Howard Fast : The 27th floor. Roman (original title: Fallen Angel) . German by Helmut Degner . Droemer / Knaur, Munich and Zurich 1965, 156 pp.
Web links
- The 27th floor in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The 27th floor in the online film database
- The 27th floor in the German dubbing file
- The 27th floor at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for the 27th floor . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2012 (PDF; test number: 34 097 V).
- ^ The 27th floor in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on July 14, 2011
- ↑ The 27th floor on film-rezensions.de