Five girls and one man
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Five girls and one man |
| Original title | A Tale of Five Cities A Tale of Five Women |
| Country of production |
United Kingdom Italy Germany Austria |
| original language | German , English , French , Italian |
| Publishing year | 1951 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Montgomery Tully (British episode) Romolo Marcellini (Italian episode) Géza von Cziffra (Austrian episode) Wolfgang Staudte (German episode) Emil-Edwin Reinert (French episode) |
| script |
Richard Llewellyn (British episode) Piero Tellini (Italian episode) Geza von Cziffra (Austrian episode) Günther Weisenborn (German episode) Jacques Companéez (French episode) |
| production |
Alexander Paal (British episode) Ermanno Donati (Italian episode) Carl Hofer (Austrian episode) Walter Koppel (German episode) Paul Pantaléon (French episode) |
| music |
Hans May Joe Hajos |
| camera |
Gordon Lang (British episode) Giuseppe La Torre (Italian episode) Ludwig Berger (Austrian episode) Friedl Behn-Grund (German episode) Robert Dormoy (French episode) |
| cut | Maurice Rootes |
| occupation | |
|
Prologue in the USA
Rome
Vienna
Berlin
Paris
London
| |
Five Girls and One Man is an international episode film that was shot by five directors in five major European cities between 1947 and 1950. At the center of the reconciling story is a British World War II pilot, played by Bonar Colleano and suffering from amnesia as a result of a war injury, “in search of his past”, which takes him to Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Paris and London. His experiences with the country and its people are symbolically embodied in the re-encounter with five very different, local women.
action
Shortly after the end of World War II . Since he suffered an accident shortly before the end of the war, the former fighter pilot Robert "Bob" Mitchell has suffered from memory loss. He is flown to the United States to recover, as his accent makes him believe he must be a citizen of the United States. In New York he meets the American newspaper reporter Lesley MacDermott, who scents extremely interesting reportage material in his story. Since you can find five banknotes from five different countries, Lesley convinces Bob to search for clues in the capitals of these states in the hope that he will find his memory again on this trip into the past. A girl's name is written on each of the banknotes, and Bob also carries a photo of a baby with him. Lesley wants to join Bob in his search for clues, and the family magazine "Family" she works for is funding this very personal journey into the past.
In Rome, Bob meets the spirited Maria Severini, in Vienna the Brit meets the Hungarian art student Katalin and learns a lot about her tragic fate as a refugee. The next stop is the rubble landscape of Berlin. Here he gets to know Charlotte, who tries to build a new life locally with her modest means. In contrast, the French capital Paris, where the citizens draw new hope under the gray veil of the early post-war period. Here Bob sees the fun and adventurous Jeannine again. But none of the encounters with these ladies from his past brings him closer to his real goal. For the last stop in his search for himself, Bob reaches London again. Here Lesley takes action by publishing Bob's tragic story in the local newspapers in the hope that someone will get in touch with her. In fact, a Delia Mitchell, married Romanoff, stirs and invites him to visit the Romanoff circus. Delia is Bob's sister and also the mother of the baby who sleeps in her trailer. Delia brings back Bob's memory, because as a civilian he too was a circus acrobat. Bob eventually decides to marry Lesley, who has been of such great help to him over the past few weeks.
Production notes
The shooting took place over many countries (England, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and the USA) and over several years (1947 to 1950). The German episode started on August 17, 1948. In Berlin, the film was shot at the destroyed Reich Chancellery and in Landshuter Strasse. Gyula Trebitsch was the production manager on the German episode. Walter Kutz created the sets for the German episode, Fritz Jüptner-Jonstorff for Austria and Jean d'Eaubonne for the French . Don Russell was responsible for building the British episode and Robert Renzo for the Italian episode. Composer Hans May also took over the musical direction. Robert Asher and Mario Chiari were two of three assistant directors. The German-born and Hollywood-based screenwriter Irma von Cube worked unnamed on one of the episodes as a director.
The world premiere took place on March 1, 1951 in London. In Germany, the British occupying troops were able to see the film since June 9, 1951 (first performance in Hamburg's Globe Theater); for the German audience, the premiere took place on May 2, 1954 in Berlin's Titania Palace. The Austrians were able to see five girls and one man from May 28, 1954. Here the film ran under the title 5 Cities - 5 Girls .
To the main actor
The star of the film, the American Bonar Colleano, born Sullivan (1924-1958), has remained almost completely unknown outside of Great Britain, where he moved from New York in 1936. He originally appeared in the circus and between 1945 and 1958 he appeared in 36 cinema and television films. Colleano died in a traffic accident near Liverpool , just 34 years old .
Reviews
"The plot appears ... more fragmented and incoherent than necessary and not devoid of lengthiness."
In Filmdienst states: "A former British airmen suffering from amnesia, will be accompanied by a journalist after the war to Europe and found by the re-encounter with Women in Rome, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London, which have played a role in his life to get his memory back. An episode film made jointly by directors of the countries concerned, which misses its goal to unite people through the cumbersome and artificial plot. "
Halliwell's Film Guide summed up: "Tiring scheme F drama, remarkable only because of its inexperienced cast."
The Movie & Video Guide found the film "disappointingly boring".
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Bauer: German Feature Film Almanach, Volume 2: 1946–1955, Munich 1981, p. 415
- ↑ Wolfgang Staudte - actor, director . In: CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Film , Lg. 20, F 9
- ↑ Alberto Albertazzi in: "Intermezzo", No. 17, from September 15, 1952
- ↑ Five girls and one man. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 25, 2019 .
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 988
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1288
Web links
- Five girls and one man in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- 5 cities - 5 girls at filmportal.de