Last chance for Harry
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Last chance for Harry |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Karsten Wichniarz |
| script | Rolf-René Schneider |
| production | Karl Spiehs |
| music | Günther Fischer |
| camera | Nicolas Joray |
| cut | Andreas Schedler |
| occupation | |
| |
Last Chance for Harry is a German television film by Karsten Wichniarz from 1998 with Harald Juhnke , Günter Pfitzmann and Christiane Hörbiger in the leading roles.
action
Canadian manager Simon Spradow wants to visit the German branch of the global trading company “World Trust” in Berlin five days before Christmas. That's why he rents a few days in the Hotel Adlon . As soon as he arrives, he wants to take a look around his hometown on foot. A car hits him on a road in the dark and he rolls down an embankment, hits a post with his head and remains unconscious. This is where the homeless Harry Strehle finds him and thinks he is dead. Since it is winter and cold, he takes off the supposed dead man's coat and shoes. In the coat, however, are the man's wallet and cell phone, as well as a key for his hotel room. Strehle gains entry to the hotel and actually only wants to sleep in a real bed for one night and also take a nice hot bath.
Simon Spradow gradually regains consciousness and is now discovered by the homeless red wine Biggi. She takes care of the supposedly like-minded person and takes him to her accommodation. He fights back with all his might and wants nothing to do with the "bums". He wants to go back to his hotel, but he is no longer allowed in there in his " elevator ". Since he can neither identify himself nor prove himself to be a hotel guest, he will not be admitted into the hotel. His very self-confident and decisive demeanor is also of no use to him.
The next morning Harry is picked up by room service and is supposed to be brought to the company "World Trust". He tries in vain to sneak out of the hotel, but a little boy speaks to him because he is the only one who recognizes him. The day before Harry had received a mark from him for playing the harmonica. Held up by the boy, Harry is found by the chauffeur and taken to "World Trust". Everyone here thinks he is the dreaded manager, because nobody knows Spradow personally. With skill, Harry can wriggle out of technical discussions and leaves the talking to Daniela Koch, who is in charge here as the director. Harry is threatened with all this and he's looking for some way to get out of it. But everyone here seems to be keeping an eye on him, and there is no escape.
In the meantime, the real Simon Spradow has made his way to “World Trust” and wants to take part in the meeting scheduled for him. But even here he is turned away at the entrance because he cannot identify himself. However, he now learns that someone seems to be posing for him. Hoping to get new papers from the Canadian embassy, Spradow goes there, but since it's Christmas holidays here, he has to move on without having achieved anything. Gradually hungry and at a loss as to what to do with him now, he meets red wine Biggi in the park. From her he learns who probably has his things and who is pretending to be him. Meanwhile, Harry takes care of his homeless friends and provides them with fresh food. He even has Biggi taken to the hospital because she has just suffered a breakdown. She has been coughing for a long time, but never dared to see a doctor because she has no health insurance. Harry can take this worry away from her now, but it's too late. She is too sick and dies, but at least she had a nice clean bed in the end.
Simon Spradow finally manages to find Harry so that he can finally return to his life. He can pull Harry aside, who is almost being run over by a car. Both start talking and discover that this may have been an attack that Spradow luckily escaped two days ago. The manager is convinced that this can only have to do with his work for the company and that someone there does not want him to uncover a secret. Spradow is known for his aggressive and courageous demeanor, and it is not uncommon for him to be laid off during his company checks. So he lets Harry continue to play the wrong manager and secretly wants to look around at "World Trust". Spradow is horrified to discover that this is not a wheat trade, but an arms distribution network. No sooner has Spradow discovered this than Roland Schneider, who is responsible for everything, appears and threatens the manager with a pistol. With Harry's help, Schneider is overwhelmed and held accountable. As a thank you for his unplanned commitment, Director Daniela Koch helps Harry back to his former, orderly life. She had learned that he used to be a well-known conductor, had lost his footing after the fatal road accident in his family and slipped into homelessness. So she organizes a performance with Harry's old orchestra, and he enjoys this experience on Christmas Eve.
"I've kicked others all my life, now for the first time I had to feel what it is like to be kicked myself."
Reviews
The Lexicon of International Films rates Last Chance for Harry as "a common television film, tailored to the two main actors Juhnke and Pfitzmann."
The critics of the TV magazine TV Spielfilm gave it a medium rating (thumbs straight) and wrote: "A bit of fun, but respectable."
Web links
- Last chance for Harry in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Last chance for Harry at crew united
Individual evidence
- ↑ Harry's last chance. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ TV comedy. Last joint film by old stars Günter Pfitzmann and Harald Juhnke. at tvspielfilm.de , accessed on February 27, 2019.