Him or me
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Him or me |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1930 |
| length | 77 (1993) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harry Piel |
| script | Hans Rameau |
| production | Harry Piel for Ariel-Film, Berlin |
| music | Fritz Byjacco |
| camera | Ewald Daub |
| occupation | |
| |
He or I is a German adventure and crime film by and with Harry Piel from 1930.
action
Egon Prince of Valona is on a trip to his residence when he meets the charming and attractive Yvette Baradow on a passenger steamer. However, his advances met with little approval, and he grit his teeth on the young lady. As soon as he arrived in Genoa , the Italian police arrested the nobleman because he was very similar to the internationally sought-after impostor Carlo Moreno. However, the prince can quickly clear up the mix-up and is then released again. To continue his journey, he goes to the city's main train station, where he meets Yvette again. Suddenly she is changed and lets herself into a flirt with Prince Egon, because she believes in a romantic tendency to flirt with a real crook. Egon, who now thinks he can end up with her in this role, lets her believe.
On board the train, Prince Egon comes across his look-alike doppelganger, of all people. This presses the ticket from him and forces the prince to leave the train. Equipped with his identity, “Prince” Moreno goes to the neat residence of the true nobleman in the hope of getting money quickly. But to his bad luck he has to find out that nothing can be obtained from the Prince of Valona. However, in a photo he discovers Eveline Wilken, the daughter of a rich shipowner, who wears a valuable pearl necklace around her neck. Moreno now believes there is a lot more to be had there. Due to a misunderstanding long ago, the prince and young Eveline are cross. Since father and daughter Wilken are only too happy to be reconciled with the real prince, they happily accept the offer of Moreno, who continues to play the role of the prince, to go on a trip together on the shipowner's yacht.
However, Moreno discovers that the real prince has picked up his trail and is on his heels. Before he can run away, he stuns Eveline and steals her pearl necklace. Then he settles on land. The real Prince Egon chases him in an airplane. There is a breakneck chase with motorcycle and car on the serpentine road along the picturesque coast. Moreno's broken motorcycle leads to the crook having an accident and crashing into the sea. However, he can save himself from the floods. In a remote hut the final duel between the two men, who are almost alike, takes place, which the prince decides for himself. Moreno is handed over to justice, and Prince Egon and Eveline eventually get together.
Production notes
He or I was Harry Piel's first sound film, which plays a double role here, as in 1923 in People and Masks and in 1927 in His Biggest Bluff . The outdoor shots were taken from September 1st to 20th, 1930 in Genoa , Rapallo , Milan , the Dalmatian coast, the Netherlands and in southern France. The studio photographs were taken from September 22nd to October 20th, 1930. The world premiere took place on November 24, 1930 in Vienna with Piel's presence . The German premiere was also three days later in the Berlin Ufa Theater Kurfürstendamm. After the war, He or I was first televised on November 20, 1993 on SAT.1.
The film structures come from Robert Neppach and Erwin Scharf . Charles Métain provided the sound, which was edited by Andrew Marton . Film veteran Paul Rehkopf , like Piel, played two roles in this film.
For the French-speaking market, a corresponding version was produced under the title Lui et moi .
Reviews
In the edition of November 26, 1930 in the Neue Freie Presse the following can be read about his first sound film: "... this Harry Piel, the hero of the booby-year fantasy, is now also speaking. With a pleasant organ and in a manner that has a sympathetic effect. However, it would have been possible in this film without language, and you have the feeling as if it had also been conceived as a silent film. Are Harry Piel films conceived at all? They are always the same, tried and tested scenes. Even the area, the Riviera, has been there before (...) Certainly, his film has a tempo, his film offers variety, offers plot and now even sound, which, by the way, was repeatedly quite indistinct. So you get your money's worth. (...) There was only one thing that you would have liked to see: once a new content from a Harry Piel film "
On the occasion of the world premiere in Vienna, the Österreichische Film-Zeitung wrote: "It is a great adventure film, a work full of tension and breathtaking sensational performances, with which Harry Piel provides the audience with ample compensation for what lies between his first sound film and his last silent film offers a long break. (...) Apart from the plot itself, the film is enlivened in a peculiar and effective way by wonderful shots from the Italian landscape, from the train station, etc. "
The lexicon of international film called Piels Tonfilmeinstand briefly an "adventure film with a comedic touch."
Individual evidence
- ↑ "He or I". In: Neue Freie Presse , November 26, 1930, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ "He or I". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , November 29, 1930, p. 8 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ He or I in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed on November 23, 2013.
Web links
- He or I in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- He or I at filmportal.de