Grabenplatz 17
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Grabenplatz 17 |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1958 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Erich Engels |
| script |
Erich Engels , Wolf Neumeister |
| production | German film Hansa ( Alf Teichs ) |
| music | Heino Gaze |
| camera | Georg Bruckbauer |
| cut | Martha Dübber |
| occupation | |
| |
Grabenplatz 17 is a German crime film directed by Erich Engels . The black and white film based on a "factual report" by W. Brack was premiered on July 17, 1958 in the City Cinema in Hamburg .
action
In Hanover , the boy Michael Peters finds his strangled mother, the prostitute Ella Peters, and then disappears without a trace. Detective Inspector Dr. Jäger and his assistant Willy Wagenknecht find traces of a stolen transmitter and a sailor's hat in the apartment of the murdered . The investigators initially suspect the woman's divorced husband, the boatswain Jan Peters. A little later the officers learn from the doctor Dr. Bühler that Michael who has disappeared has leukemia and can only live a week without medical treatment.
The detectives track down an aunt of the boy with whom he wanted to stay. Since he had not found her, he left a note with the message that he was on his way to see his father in Hamburg . The note was then picked up by a red-haired woman who pretended to be a police officer. Jan Peters, who has since been located, can provide a solid alibi for the time of the crime. He suspects that his son could be staying with his girlfriend's mother in Hamburg. Even before the detective arrives there, the terminally ill child is kidnapped by the supposed policewoman and a man in a blue Mercedes. In the evening, the hunter and the car servant met the driver of such a car and remembered the license plate.
The next morning the detectives found that the car had been reported as stolen by the major entrepreneur Harald Flint. On the basis of fingerprints found in the meanwhile abandoned Mercedes, the officers quickly discover the identity of the wanted man. It is the bookmaker Eugen Machon, who has a criminal record for theft and fraud. Commissioner Jäger and his assistant Wagenknecht pay Flint a visit. The widowed father of a young daughter claims to know Machon from various horse races. Such a race takes place on the same day. But before the police can seize Machon there, he is murdered in the crowd.
Michael’s kidnapper is forced by machon’s murderer, the coarse Titu Goritsch, to hide the boy elsewhere. At least the police officers in Machon's apartment were able to secure a slip of paper with the handwriting of the person behind it. Out of pity for the terminally ill child, who is getting worse and worse, the red-haired woman finally reveals herself to Inspector Jäger as the singer Isabella. She expects him the next evening in the nightclub "Black Spider" to reveal the hiding place with the boy. Goritsch, who is also in the notorious dive bar, recognizes the investigators immediately. Without further ado, he has Isabella kidnapped and taken to another apartment with Michael.
In the “Black Spider”, Jäger meets Harald Flint, who pretends to be the owner of the dubious entertainment venue. The detective inspector is amazed when he happens to see that Flint's handwriting resembles that on the note from Machon's apartment. After a hard fight and a skilful attempt to escape, the police arrest the unscrupulous businessman. In his villa, hunters and wagon servants even discover a motive for the murder of Ella Peters. Flint had hidden a transmitter in a hat that he used to radio the potential winner to a straw man during horse races . He could then bet on the corresponding horse. Since Ella Peters wanted to get out of this business, she was murdered and her son Michael kidnapped as a possible witness.
Although Flint has a young daughter himself, he vehemently denies the allegations and does not reveal where the terminally ill Michael is. Jäger sees only one chance left to save the boy: he wants to find the hiding place with the help of a new invention by Wagenknecht's uncle, a renowned police chemist. The officers prepare Flint's shoes with radioactive lacquer and fake an escape opportunity for the suspect, which he actually uses. An exciting chase with the Geiger counter begins for the officers . The trail leads to Grabenplatz 17, where Flint, Isabella and the sick boy are. At the last moment, Flint calls his daughter to say goodbye to her. Then he is shot down by the police officers.
History of origin
prehistory
Since the 1930s, the director Erich Engels has been a specialist in the staging of crime films . In the 1950s, too, Engels was able to produce a number of crime thrillers alongside films from other genres. Immediately after the successful comedy Widower with Five Daughters (1957), he shot with Dr. Crippen lives (1958) the continuation of his 1942 crime classic Dr. Crippen on board . Also in 1958, Grabenplatz 17 , another crime film was made before he turned back to a comedy with his father, mother and nine children .
Grabenplatz 17 turned out to be the forerunner of the crime film wave of the 1960s that began with the Edgar Wallace films . Actors like Wolfgang Preiss , Carl Lange , Charles Regnier , Gert Fröbe and Werner Peters later advanced to become stars of German crime films.
The actress Ingrid van Bergen mentioned in some cast lists did not appear in this film. Her role was played by Maria Litto .
production
The shooting took place in 1958 in the film studio in Göttingen and in Hamburg . The film architects F.-Dieter Bartels and Theo Zwierski were responsible for the film construction. Irms Pauli was a costume advisor. The line producer took over Otto Meissner .
Film music
The soundtrack comes from Heino Gaze . For the arrangements was Heinz Alisch responsible. The text for the song Say Please You To Me was written by Günther Schwenn . Kai Fischer , who performs the song in the film, cannot be heard in her own voice during the singing number. It was dubbed by Renée Franke . Which at that time appeared Single label Polydor , however, was by Illo Schieder praised. In this version it was re-released on CD in 1997.
reception
publication
The FSK released the film on July 3, 1958, from 16 years of age. On July 17th of the same year the premiere took place in the City-Kino in Hamburg .
Grabenplatz 17 has been shown several times on television since it was first broadcast on August 2, 1969 on ZDF . The film was first released on DVD in 2013 .
Reviews
“Murder, kidnapping of a terminally ill child, police manhunt - no lack of action, tension and pity effects. And yet this crime film by Erich Engels is well designed, especially since the viewer recognizes the perpetrator much earlier than the capable inspector himself. St. Pauli is the setting. In the end, you are introduced to a new film for securing evidence: Tracking the gang leader with a Geiger counter. Remarkable the leadership of the actors. Carl Lange, the intellectual chief of criminals, gives an excellent study. "
"[...] Not everything that happens here is credible. But that's not really that important. The main thing is that the audience is captivated and having fun. Best business prospects in town and country. "
“[...] The experienced director and author Erich Engels mixed a shot of brutality, filial love, dry humor and Reeperbahn sex into the plot. With Wolfgang Preiss, Kai Fischer, Wolfgang Wahl and Gert Fröbe, he has used actors who make splendid types of criminalists, corpse girls and heavy boys. Carl Lange is a new discovery that you want to see more often. "
"Exaggeratedly constructed conventional crime film, which largely gives away atmosphere and tension in favor of colportage."
"Successful German crime film."
Web links
- Grabenplatz 17 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Grabenplatz 17 at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ 91 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 88 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2499 meters
- ↑ Illo Schieder : Seven lonely days . Bear Family Records . 1997. Order no. BCD 16135 AH
- ↑ Grabenplatz 17. Film Jewels. 2013. Order no. 6414479
- ↑ Grabenplatz 17. In: abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , July 18, 1958, accessed on May 27, 2018 .
- ^ Grabenplatz 17. In: Lexicon of international film . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Evangelical Press Association, Munich, Review No. 492/1958.