The Marked (1948)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The drawn |
| Original title | The Search |
| Country of production | United States , Switzerland |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1948 |
| length | 107 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Fred Zinnemann |
| script | Richard Schweizer |
| production |
Oscar Düby for MGM Lazar Wechsler for Praesens-Film |
| music | Robert Blum |
| camera | Emil Berna |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
Die Gezeichen ( The Search ) is a semi-documentary film about the fate of displaced children after the Second World War . First performed in the USA on March 23, 1948 , it did not reach German cinemas until 1961. In Austria, however, it was shown as early as 1949.
action
The neglected boy Karel, who was separated from his mother in Auschwitz during the war , is picked up by American soldiers after the war and is to be transported to a camp for orphaned children. On the way, the children get scared inside the wagons and flee. Together with another boy, he jumps into a river and tries to swim through it. One boy drowns, Karel only finds his cap.
Karel wanders through the rubble of a badly damaged city when he meets the soldier Steve, who gives him his sandwich. Steve takes the ten-year-old to his private quarters, takes care of him and tries to find the boy's mother. He fears that Karel's mother is dead and tries to win his trust. At first Karel is reluctant; however, both grow closer over time and Steve decides to take the bright boy to America and teach him the English language. However, despite the tattooed number on the boy's arm, he is unable to find out what the boy's real name is, or what his native language and nationality is.
Meanwhile, the mother is looking for her missing son. The first boy she finds in a church institution under the name of her son, Karel Malik, turns out to be a strange child who picked up the name in the camp and used it from then on because it did not sound Jewish. When she learns of the alleged death of her son from the hat found at another collection point for scattered children, a UNRRA facility , she collapses. The employees there look after her, and in the end she stays there and henceforth takes care of the Jewish children there, who are being prepared for emigration to Palestine.
Steve has to take Karel there because he was not allowed to take the boy with him to the United States immediately. There mother and son are reunited.
Awards
- Oscar for the “best original story” for Richard Schweizer and David Wechsler (“Best Motion Picture Story” - the category no longer exists today). In addition, a special prize (" Juvenile Award ") for Ivan Jandl as "best child actor"
- Nominations for the Oscar in the categories of "best director", "best actor" (Montgomery Clift) and "best script". (Richard Schweizer, David Wechsler)
- 1950: United Nations Award from the British Academy Film Awards
background
- This is the first Montgomery Clift film to be released. Clift's contract allowed him to rewrite the script to his liking, which he did in many places. The screenwriters received an Oscar for their work, with no mention of Clift's involvement.
- The film was made in coproduction between the Swiss Praesens-Film and the US-American MGM under the direction of Fred Zinnemann . This collaboration with one of the largest film producers in the world and a renowned Hollywood director, which is extraordinary and unique for Swiss film history, resulted from the great international success of one of the previous Praesens films, namely The Last Chance (1945) directed by Leopold Lindtberg, which had also met with lively public interest in the United States and thus drawn Hollywood's attention.
- On closer inspection, the remains of the buildings and towers show that parts of the film were shot in the ruins of Nuremberg and Würzburg.
- Michel Hazanavicius released a remake called The Search in 2014, with the story relocated to the Chechnya conflict in 1999.
Reviews
“With his predecessor film“ The Seventh Cross ”, director Fred Zinnemann dedicated himself to the“ Third Reich ”and the“ consequences ”. Together with a Swiss film team, he shot "Die Gezeichen" in 1947 in destroyed Germany. This gives the film the necessary authenticity and credibility that doesn't put it in danger of drowning in kitsch for a moment. The actors are also credible: Montgomery Clift in his first film role and child actor Ivan Jandl, who received a special "Oscar" for his role. "
literature
- Herbert Schläger: Praesens-Film Zürich makes children's films in Germany , in: Der Neue Film , Wiesbaden, vol. 1, September 7, 1947
-
Fred Zinnemann : Different Perspective. in: Sight and Sound Vol. 17, No. 67, autumn 1948
- dsb .: The Story of "The Search". in: The Screen Writer, August 1, 1948
- Herb Michelson (as: Herb.): "The Search". in: Variety , March 24, 1948
- Bosley Crowther : "The Search". in: The New York Times , March 24, 1948
- Franz Goldstein (as: Frango): "At the Cinema". in: The Palestine Post, Jerusalem, vol. 25, no. 7051, July 4, 1949
- Penelope Housten, in: Monthly Film Bulletin, London, vol. 16, no.191, November 1, 1949
- Dilys Powell, in The Sunday Times , November 6, 1949
- Karel Reisz (as KR), in: Sequence. January 1, 1950
- Ursula von Kardoff, in Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 6, 1950
- Sackarndt (as Sdt.): In: Film-Dienst , Düsseldorf, April 25, 1961
-
Theodor Kotulla (as ktl): "The Drawn - The Search". in: Filmkritik , No. 54, vol. 5, issue 6, June 1, 1961
- dsb. in: Die Zeit , June 2, 1961
- Wolfgang Ebert (as we) in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 5, 1961
- Hans-Dieter Roos in: Die Welt , June 9, 1961
- Bosley Crowther: Vintage Films. New York 1977
- Robert LaGuardia: Monty. A Biography of Montgomery Clift. New York 1977
- Patricia Bosworth : Montgomery Clift. New York & London, 1978
- FX Feeney: The Search. in: Magill's Survey of Cinema, First Series, Vol. 4, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980
- Antje Goldau, Hans Helmut Prinzler , Neil Sinyard: Zinnemann. Filmland, Munich 1986
- Hervé Dumont : History of Swiss Film . Cinématheque Suisse, Lausanne 1987.
- Imme Klages: After the war was before the war. Fred Zinnemann's film “The Search” (1948) and its unrealized follow-up project in Israel . In: Medaon 9 (2015), 16 ( online ).
Web links
- The subscribed in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Film portrait The Drawn