General pipe lid
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | General pipe lid |
| Original title | On the double |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Melville Shavelson |
| script | Melville Shavelson Jack Rose |
| production | Jack Rose Dana Capri |
| music | Leith Stevens |
| camera |
Harry Stradling Sr. Geoffrey Unsworth |
| cut | Frank Bracht |
| occupation | |
| |
General Pfeifendeckel (in the original On the Double ) is an American comedy film against the backdrop of the Second World War by Melville Shavelson from 1961. The premiere in Germany took place on December 22, 1961. In Germany, the film appeared at times under the title Company Pappkamerad .
action
In 1944, American soldiers wait for the invasion of mainland Europe to begin at a camp in south-east England. Ernie Williams is among the soldiers. Known as a cowardly hypochondriac, he has an excellent talent: he can aptly imitate people. One evening, for fun, he is persuaded to impersonate the commander, General Lawrence MacKenzie Smith. Ernie tries to leave the camp as a general, but only gets as far as the gate.
Ernie ends up in court-martial. Colonel Somerset from the military secret service can win Ernie for the operation "Dead Pigeon" (in German: Dead Dove). Ernie is supposed to impersonate the general again in order to prevent a planned assassination attempt on him and to expose some officers as German agents. Although Ernie cannot deceive the general's wife, Lady Margaret, but at a regimental party he succeeds in duping the officers. In order to maintain the camouflage, he gets drunk on Lady Margaret's advice and argues with her. Lady Vivian, the general's sister, is irritated but also too drunk to do anything.
The general has an attractive orderly officer, Sergeant Stanhope. Ernie finds out too late that she too is a German agent. At her instigation, he is kidnapped and brought to Berlin. The German secret service agents try to get information out of him about the planned invasion. Ernie confuses the Germans with fictitious operations and troop movements. In the resulting confusion, he can flee. To escape his pursuers, he hides in a night club. In order not to get blown, he disguises himself and gives an introduction as Miss Lilli . Disguised as a pilot, Ernie board a German bomber and parachute over England. At the last minute, Somerset can save Ernie from being executed as a spy. In the end, Ernie and Margaret fall in love, whose husband, the real general, has fallen.
Reviews
"Funny comedy with a lot of gossip, tailor-made for the brilliantly playing Danny Kaye, whose linguistic wit the German dubbing is never appropriate."
"Turbulent, satirical and spiced with pitch-black humor: Danny Kaye in top form."
background
Danny Kaye made only two more films for the cinema after this film until 1969. After that he only worked for television. In the same year Margaret Rutherford became famous as Miss Marple . The hobby detective of the British crime writer Agatha Christie portrayed her four times. Dana Wynter, who began her film career in 1951, was born in 1931 as Dagmar Winter in Berlin .
Cinematographer Harry Stradling sr. was honored with an Oscar in 1946. He was able to win another one in 1965. Oscar winners Hal Pereira and Sam Comer provided the equipment, eight-time Oscar winner Edith Head provided the costumes, and two-time Oscar winner John P. Fulton , who was supported by Farciot Edouard, provided the special effects .
The actor Bobby Watson portrayed Adolf Hitler in a short scene . Watson portrayed him a total of 10 times in his career.
Web links
- On the Double in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ General pipe lid. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.tvdirekt.de/3073-General-Pfeifendeckel.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
