Sassy bees on the mat
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Sassy bees on the mat |
| Original title | ... All the Marbles |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1981 |
| length | 113 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 18 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Aldrich |
| script |
Mel Frohman Rich Eustis (not mentioned) Michael Barrie (not mentioned) Jim Mulholland (not mentioned) |
| production | William Aldrich |
| music | Frank De Vol |
| camera | Joseph F. Biroc |
| cut |
Richard Lane , Irving Rosenblum |
| occupation | |
| |
Kesse bees on the mat is an American sport - drama from the year 1981 . Directed by Robert Aldrich , whose last production this was to be. The film is also known under the title Harry Makes the Puppets Dance .
action
Harry Sears is the manager of two wrestlers Molly and Iris. He tours with them as Tag Team California Dolls from fight to fight through Ohio to make ends meet with the prize money. Money is always tight and so all three of them have to grapple with the bare minimums after winning the fight in the Akron Arena in Akron . They never lose hope that things could get better. This is how they cope with setbacks, like the one when Eddie Cisco cheated them out of part of the battle market again. After Harry hit his Mercedes several times with his baseball bat, he calls another organizer. But Solly waves it away. As money is getting scarcer, hopes for improvement dwindle, so that the three of them have more and more arguments. So the fight against the Afro-American Toledo Tigers comes at just the right time. Actually, they were hired for the fight to lose, but since the Tigers fight unfairly, the collar bursts for the two women, so that they clearly defeat them. The Tigers swear bitter revenge, while Iris and Molly briefly enjoy their triumph. But not for long, because soon the only job left is public mud wrestling .
Both feel humiliated and are on the verge of giving everything up. However, they read in the newspaper that a world championship match between the two wrestlers Big Mom and Superstar is scheduled, in which the winner will receive $ 25,000 and the loser $ 10,000 . Of course, all three hope to be engaged for the preliminary battle. Because a fight at the MGM Grand Hotel in Reno , Nevada would be good for prestige and, regardless of the outcome, would ensure more well-paid fights. So Harry calls Solly again, who promises him a Wednesday evening fight in Chicago . There it is again against the Toledo Tigers , this time they lose significantly and have to take hard hits. The battle in Reno now seems to be a long way off. And then Cisco turns up, which interferes in the planning as Solly's partner. Iris goes out with him and thus secures the deal. The fight goes again against the Toledo Tigers . The battle exchange is $ 10,000, with the winner getting it all.
The preliminary battle will now be held as the North American Tag Team Championship . Cisco and Harry don't get along at all, so they both bet on their respective girls. Cisco buys referee Dudley beforehand to ensure the Tigers win. Meanwhile, Harry makes sure that none other than the California Dolls are discussed that evening . His posters, T-shirts and the children trained to cheer and the musicians he bought show their effect. After football player Joe Greene announces the fight, the performance of the California Dolls is so eagerly awaited that the entire audience screams for them and prepares them for a glittering triumphant walk to the ring.
The fight begins with an open exchange of blows, with the Dolls technically clean and the Tigers fighting with unfair methods. They stab the dolls in the eyes, pull on their hair and land several unauthorized blows. And the bribed referee always looks the other way. Even when Molly overpowers one of the tigers and waits to be tee off to victory, Dudley refuses to win, so that Molly hits the ground several times out of desperation to show that she has actually already won the fight long ago. Then the tide turns, both Molly and Iris are finished off in battle and victims of lousy blows by the Tigers. Iris is strangled with her opponent's knees while the referee only tries to keep Molly out of the ring. But Iris manages with a daring technique that her opponent comes to lie on the referee and hits him several times. The blows are so hard that the referee from inside the ring signals Cisco to terminate the deal. In the following open exchange of blows between the dolls and the tigers, the fight shifts outside the ring, with the tigers attacking the dolls in such a way that it is almost impossible for them to get back into the ring. The goal of the Tigers is to disqualify the Dolls. However, thanks to a surprising maneuver, the Dolls manage to both get back into the ring and almost defeat the two tigers. Even though the Tigers lie motionless on the ring floor waiting to be defeated, Dudley continues to deny the Dolls victory. Only when the audience counts out loudly does he have no choice and must award them the victory.
criticism
" Cheeky bees on the mat transforms the shabby world of professional women wrestling into a contemporary fairy tale."
“Even with Aldrich it is a brutal ballet, but in the consistent renunciation of vulgar effects it is not pure voyeuristic pleasure. More memorable than the rousing, brilliantly cut fight scenes are those moments in which Aldrich shows with bitter amusement how this team tries to overcome its resignation, the loss of self-respect and the doubts that arise with sarcastic humor and sometimes awkward gestures of tenderness. "
“An entertainment film that exposes a sensationally competitive society that tries to capitalize on human exposure itself. Recognizing this behind the perfect staging based on common action patterns requires distance and judgment. "
publication
The film opened in US cinemas on October 16, 1981 and grossed just over 6.4 million US dollars. It started in Germany on January 28, 1982 in the cinema and is only available as an antiquarian VHS cassette under the title Harry lets the puppets dance .
Web links
- Kesse bees on the mat in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cheeky bees on the mat in the German synchronous file
- Kesse bees on the mat at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vincent Canby : All the Marbles (1981) on nytimes.com, October 16, 1981 (English), accessed May 5, 2012
- ↑ FilmtipPrograms on zeit.de of 5 February 1982 accessed 5 May 2012
- ↑ Cheeky bees on the mat. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ All the Marbles (1981) on boxofficemojo.com (English), accessed May 5, 2012