Five graves to Cairo

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Movie
German title Five graves to Cairo
Original title Five Graves to Cairo
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Billy Wilder
script Charles Brackett , Billy Wilder
production Charles Brackett
music Miklós Rózsa
camera John F. Seitz
cut Doane Harrison
occupation
synchronization

Five Graves to Cairo ( Five Graves to Cairo ) is an American feature film from 1943 in which Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter , directed by Billy Wilder played the leading roles.

action

North Africa in the summer of 1942 : The soldier John Bramble is the only survivor of his unit to flee to the "Empress of Britain" hotel in the desert. During the turmoil of the war in North Africa , the house sometimes hosts the British and then again the Germans, depending on the war situation.

Farid, the Egyptian owner of the hotel, and his French housemaid "Mouche" are trying to get rid of Bramble as they are expecting the Germans at any moment. When the German Lieutenant Schwegler and Field Marshal Rommel finally appear in the hotel, Bramble pretends to be the deceased house servant - without realizing that he had spied for the Germans. When he realizes this, he tries to find out where the Germans have hidden their supplies . He gets in the way of "Mouche", who wants to get on well with Rommel in order to obtain the release of her brother, who is imprisoned in a concentration camp in Germany .

Using a forged telegram, Lieutenant Schwegler shows Mouche that he is committed to her brother. In truth, he intends to seduce her. For his part, Bramble claims to have a family back home in England so that Mouche does not betray him to the Germans.

Finally, Mouche recognizes the arrogant and cynical behavior of Rommel and protects Bramble. The alleged spy is sent by Rommel to Cairo to prepare for the German invasion. Bramble previously kills Lieutenant Schwegler, who has discovered his true identity. Bramble now also knows what the 5 graves to Cairo are all about. These are camouflaged hiding places for war material that are supposed to secure the German advance. When Bramble is already on his way to Cairo to reveal the secret to the English, Schwegler's body is found and Rommel learns the truth.

The German army is later defeated and Bramble returns to the hotel with the victorious British army. There he learns from Farid that Rommel had Mouche shot as a saboteur.

background

Five Graves to Cairo is considered one of the best American propaganda films from the Second World War . Billy Wilder largely avoided equipping the German soldiers with the stereotypes common in such films .

Due to the differentiated portrayal of the characters, the film gains in intensity and yet leaves no doubt as to what it is for. The intelligence that Wilder admits makes the Nazis appear even more dangerous and ultimately all the more despicable.

Erich von Stroheim's portrayal of Erwin Rommel is considered to be one of his best acting achievements.

German dubbed version

The German version was created in 1981 in the DEFA Studio for Synchronization in East Berlin, the dialogue was directed by Hans-Robert Wille , the dialogue book was written by Wolfgang Woizick .

role actor Voice actor
Cpl. John J. Bramble Franchot Tone Reinhard Kuhnert
Mouche Anne Baxter Helga Sasse
Field Marshal Rommel Erich von Stroheim Helmut Müller-Lankow
Farid Akim Tamiroff Horst lamp
Lieutenant Schwegler Peter van Eyck Joachim Siebenschuh
Col. Fitzhume Miles Mander Hasso Zorn

criticism

Five graves to Cairo is the gaze of two Austrians on the Germans and their warfare: merciless, differentiated, sarcastic, knowing. In its time - a small film that, like countless Hollywood productions, took a stand against the Nazis. Today - a sharp-edged jewel in Stroheim and Wilder's oeuvre, worth placing alongside Chaplin's "great dictator" and Lubitsch's "to be or not to be".

Awards

Academy Awards

At the Academy Awards on March 2, 1944 , the film was nominated in three categories:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Five graves to Cairo in the German synchronous index , accessed on March 10, 2018
  2. ↑ http://www.filmmuseum-potsdam.de/Fuenf-Graeber-bis-Kairo.html