Mannequins for Rio

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Movie
Original title Mannequins for Rio
Country of production Germany , USA
original language English
Publishing year 1954
length 95 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Kurt Neumann
script Felix Lützkendorf
Kurt Neumann
production Kurt Neumann
for Corona Filmproduktion, Munich
Lippert Pictures, Beverly Hills
music Michael Jary
camera Ekkehard Kyrath
cut Eva Kroll
occupation

in other roles: Peter Frank, Wilhelm Trenk-Trebitsch, Hannelore Axmann

Mannequins for Rio is a German-American adventure film directed by Kurt Neumann in 1954. The US premiere title is They Were So Young .

action

A young woman is found dead on the beach in Rio de Janeiro . The police know that this is a victim of human trafficking . Time and again, young women are brought to Rio with the promise of a career as a model. They also include Connie Brewers from Rotterdam and the 20-year-old orphan Eve Ullmann from Düsseldorf . You applied to be a mannequin in a newspaper ad after training in Paris. Now they are staying in Madame Lenzova's Villa Braganza, where they show off magnificent dresses to a male audience the evening after their arrival. After the fashion show, Eve and another girl are taken to the table of industrialist Jaime Coltos, who is hosting his friend Richard Lanning. Engineer Richard has just returned from the inland mines after several months of work. Since Coltos is about to say goodbye to the other girl, Richard and Eve are left alone. He offers to go to her room and Eve is indignant. She leaves and when he follows her to her room, she beats him off with a carafe. Madame Lenzowa rebukes Eve, but she thinks she is leaving with Connie the next day. This turns out to be impossible, as the passports were withheld by Lenzowa's employee Albert, who also has the work permits for the young women in his possession. Nevertheless, Eve and Connie secretly flee the house the next morning. Connie goes to the Dutch embassy while Eve goes to the police. There you find that Connie never made it to the embassy. Eve, in turn, is driven to Madame Lenzowa's house, where all the girls present cover Madame Lenzowa. A supposed doctor also reports that Eve has not been doing well for a long time. The policemen leave, but leave Eve free to get her ID and leave. Shortly afterwards, Albert leads Eve to a room where Connie is lying. She was beaten up.

Eve appears to be playing Madame Lenzowa's game and in the evening has an admirer drive her out of the villa. She asks for a stopover at the Palace Hotel, as Richard has stayed there. She knows he's her only hope. Richard believes her that she is being held in the villa against her will. Since Madame Lenzowa has sent two of her men after Eve, Eve and Richard flee the hotel via the fire escape. Richard was called by Coltos to the mine, which is said to be under water. He drives Eve to Coltos in Sao Pedro, where she is safe. Coltos should use his influence and buy Albert Eve's passport so that she can travel back to Germany. Richard drives on to the mine. However, Eve realizes that Coltos is part of the gang of girl pushers. He lies to her that he will take care of her passport, but that Connie will stay with Madame Lenzowa and not return to Germany. When Eve says that Connie has never been to Germany and that she doesn't trust him, he gives her up to go - even though Coltos' villa is in the jungle. Eve manages to ride as a stowaway on a jeep on its way to the mine. She jumps off on the way because the jeep will stop overnight. On the way to the mine, Richard meets his assistant Antonio Garza, who tells him that the mine has not been flooded. He now suspects that Coltos is wrong and drives back to the villa. On the way he meets Eve, who was wandering around in the jungle. Now they want to flee together, but the next ferry doesn't leave until morning. You stay in a small hotel. Coltos 'men find her, stun Eve and kidnap her on Coltos' pleasure ship Palacia do Oro , where Eve meets Connie again. In the morning Richard angrily goes to Coltos, who pretends to be innocent and gives him the freedom to search the whole villa for Eve. Richard scours the rooms until he learns from Coltos 'housekeeper Felicia that Eve is on a Coltos' pleasure ship.

Richard manages to smuggle himself on board with Antonio. Here he meets Connie, who tells him that Eve is being held in a cabin downstairs. Coltos' men have also come aboard to kill Eve and Richard. Eve is secretly taken to another room by the cabin boy Manuel. Richard and Connie split up in search of Eve. Connie is stabbed to death by one of Coltos' men. Eve manages to escape with Richard and Manuel. Manuel is an undercover agent for the Brazilian Security Police who has been spying on the pleasure boat for two months to find witnesses who would testify against Coltos. He has secretly called in reinforcements, so Coltos' men are arrested shortly afterwards. Coltos himself had been waiting in the car in front of the ship and is overwhelmed by Richard and Manuel. Eve is free. Shortly afterwards she flies to New York City with Richard .

production

The film Mannequins for Rio was originally supposed to be directed by John Reinhardt , who died in 1953. This delayed the start of filming until Kurt Neumann could be engaged as director. The film was shot from June 1 to July 21, 1954 in Rome , Sabaudia and the Pontine Marshes . The studio recordings were made in Studio Bendestorf near Hamburg. The film structures were designed by Hans Sohnle and implemented by Gottfried Will. Max Koslowski was production manager.

The film had its premiere on October 20, 1954 in the Lichtburg in Essen . It was first shown in the United States on January 7, 1955. There is a film version with a politically tinged plot in which the head of the Brazilian secret service Rodriguez recapitulates Coltos' involvement in political power struggles and his demise by the mannequin Eve.

Caterina Valente appears in the film as a singer at the Palacia do Oro . In addition, Gerhard Wendland can be seen as a singer in Madame Lenzowa's club. The Cornell Trio and the Horst Wende Sextet play.

criticism

“An adventurous story staged in a mediocre manner based on a magazine report, which hardly ever seems authentic,” said the film service .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mannequins instead of Sauerbruch . In: Der Spiegel , No. 37, 1953, p. 33.
  2. ↑ Cf. fuenfzigerjahresaenger.de ( Memento from July 2, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ^ Alfred Bauer: German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , p. 447
  4. ↑ See action details on tcm.com
  5. ↑ Mannequins for Rio. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 27, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used