A stranger in my arms
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A stranger in my arms |
| Original title | A Stranger in My Arms |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Helmut Käutner |
| script | Peter Berneis |
| production | Ross Hunter |
| music | Joseph Gershenson |
| camera | William H. Daniels |
| cut | Frank Gross |
| occupation | |
| |
A Stranger in My Arms is an American film from 1958 by Helmut Käutner . Peter Berneis wrote the screenplay based on the novel And Ride a Tiger by Robert Wilder.
action
United States, a few years after the end of the Korean War . Air Force pilot Major Pike Yarnell survived the crash of his plane together with his navigational officer Donald Beasley over the Pacific. For days the two drifted on a makeshift raft on the ocean waves, then they were discovered and fished. But the badly injured Beasley did not survive this time and is therefore revered in public as a war hero. The close relatives, a proud southern family - these are Donald's widow Christina, his self-centered, grumpy and quarrelsome mother Virginie, who always messes with Christina, and her quarrelsome husband Harley, old Vance Beasley and Donald's giggling, little sister Pat - urgently demand a complete explanation of how Donald's death came about. For good reasons, Pike gives only sparse information, while the hysterical Virginie is ready to do everything to ensure that her dead son receives the Medal of Honor , the highest military honor the USA has to bestow, post mortem .
During his contact with the Beasley family, Pike befriends the young widow, and both gradually begin to develop feelings for each other. It is all the more difficult for him when one day he can no longer avoid telling the whole truth about the "war hero" Donald Beasley: He was a weak officer, against whom the army was already investigating, and also a coward. When mother Beasley wants to bribe Pike so that he can publicly confirm and highlight Donald's heroism, the gaunt, ascetic pilot breaks out: Donald Beasley was anything but a good person. He hadn't loved his wife and hated his energetic, dominant mother. His end on the Welles of the Pacific was anything but laudable: When Donald was on the raft with his nerves at the end, he took Pike's pistol and killed himself. Now that the whole truth is on the table, can Close Christine with her past and start a new future together with Pike.
Production notes
A Stranger in My Arms was created at Universal Studios Los Angeles in December 1957 and premiered in the United States on January 13, 1959. On March 12 of the same year the German premiere took place in the Kammer-Lichtspiele Heidelberg.
The buildings were designed by Alexander Golitzen and Richard H. Riedel , the decorations were done by Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron. Bill Thomas was responsible for the costumes. Clifford Stine did the special shots.
Reviews
Käutner himself went on a Hollywood excursion, which comprised only two films and only identified him as a studio director with no ambitions of his own - star critic Friedrich Luft judged “A talent shot by the Hollywood wolf before it could beep with the camera. A sad example of artistic self-abandonment "- more than dissatisfied:
Der Spiegel wrote: “Käutner was willing to be hired by the talent hunters of the American film companies who hired stars and directors in Europe in order to be able to upgrade the Hollywood products for the vital European market with attractive names. According to Käutner, it is the wish of every director to shoot in Hollywood once in his life. But after his two Californian products only identified him as an assembly line worker, he ended his contract with Universal. 'Of course I noticed that I was wrong there.' "
“However, Helmut Käutner, who directed this cinematic soap opera, and Ross Hunter, who produced it, have no reason to celebrate. You have delivered a thin, dramatic dud. "
Paimann's film lists summed up: “A dramaturgically solid (r), but too broadly based material, which ... typically American. Only make problems appear appealing to empathetic circles. "
"... conventional hero cult opus ..."
“In his second Hollywood work (after ' Too Young ') Käutner takes on a thoroughly American subject influenced by psychoanalysis. The result remains on the surface of the conflict and without its own profile. "
Individual evidence
- ^ CineGraph - Lexicon for German-language film - Helmut Käutner
- ↑ "The noblest prop". Cover story in Der Spiegel 34/1959 from August 29, 1959
- ↑ A stranger in my arms in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ A stranger in my arms in Der Spiegel 33/1959, p. 54
- ↑ A Stranger in My Arms in the Lexicon of International Films
Web links
- A stranger in my arms in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- extensive review in the New York Times