Orient Express (1954)

Movie
German title	Orient express
Original title	Orient express
Country of production	Italy , France , Germany
original language	Italian , French , German
Publishing year	1954
length	84 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia Roberto Rossellini (artistic management)
script	Aldo de Benedetti Paul Andreota Kurt Heuser based on an idea by Jacques Companéez
production	Raymond Borderie Lucien Masson
music	Renzo Rossellini
camera	Aldo Tonti
cut	Roberto Cinquini
occupation
Curd Jürgens : Baté, impresario Eva Bartok : Roxane Silvana Pampanini : Beatrice Landi Henri Vidal : Jacques Ferrand Michael Lenz : Giovanni Folco Lulli : Filippo dal Pozzo Olga Solbelli : Bartolin Liliane Bert : pharmacist Robert Arnoux : Jean Tribot aka Davis Ugo Filipponi : violinist Arturo Bragaglia : Impresario Gemma Bolognesi : innkeeper Patrizia Lari : wife of the violinist

Orientexpress is an Italian-German-French romance drama by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia with Curd Jürgens and his then partner Eva Bartok in the leading roles. The artistic direction was Roberto Rossellini , the German dialogue director Curd Jürgens.

action

Around Christmas time in 1910. Due to an avalanche of the Eastern and Southern Alps passing remains Orient Express stuck long in a remote mountain village two days. The passengers are a colorful mix of people from all over the world, including even a Can Can dancing ballet troupe, and come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds. Everyone celebrates Christmas with the locals, and the famous singer Roxane even touches the hearts of those present when she recites Franz Schubert's Ave Maria during Christmas mass. But just by appearing, the train passengers bring all kinds of unrest to the seclusion of the village.

Every time two of the locals associate great hope with the passing train, for the bored young people it means the only connection to the outside world, with the “big, wide world”. For the young peasant boy Giovanni, the nephew of the harassed mayor dal Pozzo, the encounter with Roxane, who is accompanied by her impresario, turns into a painful love disappointment. On the other hand, the local teacher of the community, Beatrice, who finally wants to evade the clumsy reenactments of dal Pozzo, finds the love of her life among the passengers, the journalist Jacques Ferrand, who is mistakenly mistaken for a gangster. The town's pharmacist, on the other hand, dreams of a future life with Mr. Davis, a cheerful but also frivolous Englishman. Few of these dreams are fulfilled. When the train starts to continue, it is Beatrice who uses her chance to sink into Jacques' arms.

Production notes

Filming of Orientexpress began on February 24, 1954 and ended on April 26 of the same year. The film was shot in the Titanus studios in Rome and in St. Candido in the Dolomites (exterior shots). It premiered in Rome on October 8, 1954. The film opened in Paris on June 1, 1955, and the German premiere was on December 23, 1955 in Baden-Baden. Orientexpress opened in Munich's Luipold Theater on February 5, 1956 ; the Berlin premiere was on November 30, 1956.

Valentino Brosio took over the production management. The buildings were created by Ottavio Scotti, the costumes by Dino di Bari and Giuliano Papi. The film was produced in a German, French and Italian version.

On September 9, 2006 the film was released on DVD in Germany.

Reviews

The national and international reviews were mostly bad. Here are three examples:

“Intermezzo” wrote: “The Italian and German film industries worked on the production of this film, which, according to the results, would not have deserved so much fervor in international activities.”

Der Spiegel wrote: “After 150 long meters, the Express gets stuck in an avalanche and the film in a conglomerate of boredom and acting failures (Silvana Pampanini and Eva Bartok), which once again proves that co-productions are often not just a cost - but also lead to a reduction in quality. "

The lexicon of international films says: "One of the first major international co-productions with German participation after the Second World War: with popular film stars, but without speed, tension and credibility."

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The often read attribution "Luciano Tonti" is not applicable
2. ↑ U. Tani in “Intermezzo”, edition 10/11, from June 1955
3. ↑ Critique in Der Spiegel from January 25, 1956
4. ↑ Orient Express. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 1, 2020 .  

Web links

• Orientexpress on cinematografo.it
• Orientexpress in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Orientexpress at filmportal.de