The men

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Movie
German title The men
Original title Subjects
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1950
length 85 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Fred Zinnemann
script Carl Foreman
production Stanley Kramer Productions
music Dimitri Tiomkin
camera Robert De Grasse
cut Harry W. Gerstad
occupation

The Men is an American film directed by Fred Zinnemann from 1950.

action

Ken Wilcheck, known as "Bud", a young infantry lieutenant who is a sports student in civil life, was hit by a bullet in the back during an operation at an undetermined location during World War II . He was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery, but the injury left him paraplegic . Dr. Brock, an optimistic, but illusion-free and straightforward doctor, whose motto is: "Please, God, give us the strength to do the impossible - but give us the courage to see what is really impossible." Bud was with him before his war effort Elly Wilosek engaged, but broke off the connection after his injury because he had doubts about the resilience of Elly's affection. The young woman turns out to be sober and determined, follows him and asks Dr. Brock to mediate between her and Bud.

Bud instructs Dr. Brock's mediation attempt back. While the rest of the patients on the ward are adjusting to their physical disabilities and cultivating a comradely and dryly humorous tone, Bud is caught in deep confusion about his physical fate and rejects any return to normalcy. For "therapy", Dr. Brock takes him out of his single room to the group ward, where he initially refuses any contact with fellow patients, but then forced into confrontation and realizes that other people also have problems.

There is a first encounter and rapprochement between Bud and Elly, who tries to dispel Bud's concern that only pity leads her back into the connection. Bud finds the strength to begin rehabilitation and begins to share in the fate of fellow patients. His morale sinks again when his friend and fellow patient Angel dies after an unforeseen complication, and further when his hope that the paralysis is incomplete is not confirmed. It is also of little help if Bud and Elly visit a pub where Bud feels stared at by the other guests. When Elly claims that she also has a selfish interest in legalizing her association with Bud, he - still half-heartedly - agrees to a marriage.

Elly's parents do not oppose their daughter's marriage plans, but they disapprove of them because they fear that Elly's affection will not withstand the long-term burden of marrying a disabled man. Dr. Brock can't predict Bud's fertility either, which is ultimately not important to Elly. The couple get married and move into the new home that Elly has set up in the meantime. On the first evening there is an argument, Elly is helpless about Bud's continuing doubts about their partnership - a helplessness that Bud interprets as a regret for having married him. Angry and desperate, he returns to the hospital and subsequently commits several acts of violence, which the patient council acknowledges with the decision to expel him from the ward. Bud does not respond to an attempt at reconciliation by Elly.

A cathartic effect only has an intimate conversation with Dr. Brock, who himself lost his wife many years ago because she died of paraplegia. Bud returns to his wife and signals - for the first time in a flirtatious tone - that he wants to start over with her.

Production, theatrical release and awards

The film was produced by Stanley Kramer , who had founded his company only two years earlier. The idea arose when Kramer showed his film Champion , produced the previous year, in front of patients on the ward that later became the location. The Men was Kramer's first collaboration with Fred Zinnemann , who won an Academy Award nomination in 1949 for directing the film The Search . The most famous film by the Kramer / Zinnemann team was to be the western twelve o'clock noon in 1952 . The story and script for The Men came from Carl Foreman , who had recommended himself to Kramer at least since his work on the film Champion and who incorporated some authentic dialogues from patients. Robert De Grasse , who had received an Oscar nomination in 1939 for his work on Vivacious , was hired as cameraman .

Everett Sloane , who played the role of Dr. Brock appeared, was known to the initiated audience from two Orson Welles films - Citizen Kane and The Lady of Shanghai . 31-year-old Teresa Wright , who played Bud's fiancée Elly, has previously appeared in films such as The Little Foxes ( William Wyler , 1941), In the Shadow of Doubt ( Alfred Hitchcock , 1943) and The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946) occurred widely. She even won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Mrs. Miniver (William Wyler, 1942). For the lead actor Marlon Brando , who had already attracted attention as a stage actor in New York, this was the first film role. Stylistically, the two main actors formed a sharp contrast: while Brando developed his own expressive style - characterized by syntactically incomplete sentences, exclamations, grunts and eruptive gestures - Wright stuck to her classic style of representation, which made the figure look downright old-fashioned.

The recordings for the film were made from late October 1949 in the Birmingham Paraplegig Hospital in Van Nuys, a district of Los Angeles, with the participation of many patients, who gave the film a semi-documentary character. In preparation for his role, Brando lived temporarily in the hospital under the conditions of a paraplegic; In keeping with his working style as a director, Zinnemann gave him plenty of room to interpret the role independently. The film editor was Harry W. Gerstad , who had cut Champion the year before and received an Oscar for it. One of the best in his field was also the film composer Dimitri Tiomkin , who had been nominated for an Oscar five times in 1950 and who later wrote the film music e.g. B. wrote for twelve noon (1952) and The Old Man and the Sea (1958).

The film premiered on July 20, 1950 in New York City , at an extraordinarily inopportune time because the Korean War had begun on June 25 . Stories about war invalids were not in demand with the audience at this point. However, the press received the film positively. Carl Foreman received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1951 and the Writers Guild of America Award . Marlon Brando was awarded the Finnish Jussi as best foreign actor for his acting performance in 1952 .

Reviews

"A fine and arresting film ... Mr. Brando as the veteran ... is so vividly real, dynamic and sensitive that his illusion is complete. His face, the whole rhythm of his body and especially the strange timbre of his voice, often broken and plaintive and boyisch, are articulate in every way. Out of stiff and frozen silences he can lash into a passionate rage with the fearful and flailing frenzy of a taut cable suddenly cut. Or he can show the poignant tenderness of a doctor with a child. " ( Bosley Crowther , New York Times, July 21, 1950, quoted in Manso, p. 287)

“A great and compelling film ... Veteran Brando ... is so lifelike, dynamic and sensitive that the illusion of the character is complete. His face, the entire rhythm of his body and especially the strange timbre of his voice, often broken and plaintive and boyish, are expressive in every way. Out of stiff and frozen silence, he can whip out a passionate anger that has the frightening and savage thrashing frenzy of a taut cable that is suddenly cut. Or he can show the touching tenderness a doctor has for a child. "

"The picture introduces a new and fascinating personality in Marlon Brando ... unquestionably destined for much attention in the future ... The Men is indeed worth seeing for his higher values." (Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1950, quoted in Manso, p. 287)

“The film introduces a fascinating personality in Marlon Brando ... undoubtedly destined for a lot of future attention. The men is indeed worth seeing because of its higher values. "

literature

  • Peter Manso: Brando. The biography. Hyperion, New York 1994, ISBN 0-7868-6063-4 , pp. 275-288

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