Daring Game (1938)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Daring game |
| Original title | Break the news |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1938 |
| length | 78 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | René Clair |
| script | René Clair, Geoffrey Kerr |
| production | René Clair |
| music | Theo Mackeben |
| camera | Philip Tannura |
| cut | Frederick Wilson |
| occupation | |
| |
Daring game (original title: Break the News ) is a British comedy film by René Clair from 1938. The literary model was the novel Le Mort en Fuite by Loïc Le Gouriadec .
action
The previously unsuccessful revue singers Teddy Enton and François Verrier dream of a great international career. They want to put on a new show in London in front of the American stage star Grace Gatwick , but ultimately sing in front of empty auditoriums. In order to create sensational headlines and become famous in this way, they hatch a clever plan: Make it appear that one should kill the other.
Their deception succeeds and François is immediately arrested as the alleged murderer, while Teddy is hiding on the Riviera . Only shortly before François is executed, Teddy is supposed to return and thus save his friend from the death penalty in an effective advertising manner. But her plan does not work, because it is Grace Gatwick who cleverly puts herself in the spotlight with the process.
In addition, Teddy is mistaken for a political rebel by an Eastern European spy named Sonia and then deported to Bosvinia, a dictatorial Balkan state, where he is sentenced to death as an enemy of the state. While François is writing his memoirs in his cell , Teddy is finally able to flee Bosvinia and prevent François' execution just in time.
background
Loïc Le Gouriade's novel Le Mort en Fuite was made into a film in France as early as 1936 . In 1954 another film adaptation was made under the title Les Deux font la Paire . René Clair's 1938 British version was filmed at Pinewood Studios . Cole Porter composed the song It All Belongs To You for the film , which was sung by Jack Buchanan. Buchanan also wrote the song We're Old Buddies with Van Phillips , which he performed in a duet with Maurice Chevalier .
Daring Play premiered in France on May 21, 1938, and hit British cinemas in June of that year. In Germany, the film comedy was dubbed before the Second World War in 1938 and shown in special screenings, including on October 14, 1938, but it was not until 1956 that it was distributed in Germany.
Reviews
“In the context of the conventional story, a very entertaining and formally excellent film from René Clair's 'English' creative time,” said the lexicon of international film .
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times was disappointed at the time and said that one could hardly conclude from the film that the director was actually René Clair, who had previously made some outstanding films. Daring alibi is a “moderately amusing comedy with music”, which rarely lets “Clair's old wit and humor” shine through. Clair gave away a lot of potential in terms of humor and tension. The actors' ideas also seemed “uninspired”, and even Cole Porter's song “lacks momentum”.
Awards
At the Venice International Film Festival in 1938, the film received a special recommendation for its plot.
Web links
- Gamble in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Daring game. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 12, 2019 .
- ↑ “[…] this moderately amusing comedy with music […]. Along the way there is little to suggest the old Clair wit and humor. [… T] the performances are uninspired. [...] and the one song which Cole Porter has written for them to sing lacks the spark. " Bosley Crowther : 'Break the News,' a Rene Clair Effort, at the Bryant . In: The New York Times , January 2, 1941.