Piccadilly twelve o'clock
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Piccadilly twelve o'clock |
 | |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1963 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rudolf Zehetgruber |
| script | Rudolf Zehetgruber |
| production | Divina film ( Eberhard Meichsner ) |
| music | Russell Garcia |
| camera | Hans Jura |
| cut | Liselotte Cochius |
| occupation | |
| |
Piccadilly zero twelve is a German crime film by the director Rudolf Zehetgruber , who also wrote the screenplay. The work, freely based on motifs by the British author Francis Durbridge , was created as part of the successful street sweepers and the Edgar Wallace film series of the 1960s. The premiere of the black and white film took place on December 31, 1963 in the Hahnentor-Lichtspiele in Cologne .
action
The London underworld is in great excitement. Mike Hilton, who was illegally imprisoned for eight years, is released. The criminals who put him behind bars firmly expect him to take revenge on them. Of all people, the former Scotland Yard official Jack Bellamy, who once investigated Hilton, wants to help him collect the necessary evidence against the corrupt lawyer Sir Reginald Cunningham and the seedy bar owner and pimp Lee Costello. Bellamy has since become a drinker and has her own account , especially with Costello, for whom his girlfriend Della works as a prostitute .
In the evening, Mike Hilton visits the pension where he lived before his arrest. To his surprise, he is received there by the attractive photographer Ruth Morgan, the niece of the pension landlady who has since passed away. At the request of his former landlady, Mike can continue to live there. At the same time, a customer of Dellas, the Canadian Jeremias Bannister, had a serious heart attack. Della is firmly convinced that the man is dead and notifies her boss, Costello. He and his helper Skinny claim that Bannister is just passed out. They rob him of a large sum of Canadian dollars and place his motionless body on a park bench on the banks of the Thames . Meanwhile, Jack Bellamy tries desperately to contact Mike Hilton. This only succeeds after Jack has rescued his former rival from a trap in Cunningham's office.
The next morning, Bannister, recovering from his seizure, shows up at Cunningham's office. In two days the Canadians to a legacy of 200,000 pounds received in cash. Meanwhile, the boy Edgar finds the crook Skinny stabbed to death in the Thames. Inspector Craddock and Sergeant Slatterly suspect the murder was initially an act of revenge on the part of Mike Hilton, whom they let go again after a brief interrogation. Jack Bellamy sends a message to Costello that his girlfriend Della is going out of business. A little later she is cruelly murdered with a steel rod , Costello's preferred weapon.
Jack Bellamy and Mike Hilton plan to break into Cunningham's vault as there is clear evidence of Mike's innocence inside. Hoping for Bellamy and Hilton to be eliminated quickly, Costello warns the lawyer and his unscrupulous helper Whitey of the impending break-in. It doesn't take long to fish the next dead man out of the Thames: Costello. Craddock and Slatterly arrest Bellamy, believing he was behind the murder. Ruth Morgan has come a little closer to Mike Hilton in the meantime. To help him, she pays Cunningham a visit on an excuse to take pictures of his safe. With the help of a construction crane, Mike and the released Jack actually manage to get the incriminating papers from Cunningham's vault. But the two are surprised by Whitey and other helpers of Cunningham and dragged into a hiding place of Cunningham. The files that fell from the crane end up in the hands of the idiot policeman Donovan, who thinks Ruth Morgen is their owner. The officer tells Whitey who has hurried over to bring the papers to Ruth that morning.
At the last moment, Mike and Jack manage to free themselves. Ruth Morgan is saved from Whitey by Donovan's courageous intervention. The seized papers are actually enough to put an end to the corrupt Cunningham. He is in the process of luring his next client, Mr. Bannister, into a trap. Inspector Craddock learns from a Canadian colleague that Bannister murdered his cousin in order to obtain his inheritance. Cunningham, who knows this too, wanted to blackmail him after receiving the money. Behind Bannister's mask, however, is Costello, who was believed to be dead. After the Canadian's fatal attack, he took over his identity in order to cash in on Cunningham's inheritance. Cunningham and Costello are arrested. Mike and Ruth become a couple.
History of origin
Background and script
In the course of the Edgar Wallace films by Rialto Film , which have been marketed by Constantin Filmverleih since 1959 , numerous other crime films based on a similar pattern were made in the 1960s. Sun also brought Ilse Kubaschewskis Gloria-Film GmbH & Co. KG Film distribution including two Dr. Mabuse - and some Bryan Edgar Wallace films of film producer Artur Brauner in theaters. After the great success of the German TV series based on Francis Durbridge , the in-house production company KG DIVINA-FILM GmbH & Co. had the idea of producing a full-length Durbridge movie . The British author was finally invited to Munich to negotiate a suitable subject.
The original 12 Past 12 by Francis Durbridge mentioned in some sources does not exist as a novel, as a radio play or a play. It can therefore be assumed that Divina-Film only acquired the right to use the name of the British author for a material freely invented by Rudolf Zehetgruber . The Austrian director and screenwriter recommended himself for the genre with his film The Black Cobra .
production
The film, produced in the widescreen format 1: 1.66, was shot in West Berlin in 1963 . The outdoor shots were shot at the St. Nikolai Church in Berlin-Spandau as well as under the Stößenseebrücke and in the corridors of the Moabit Criminal Court . The studio recordings were made in the Arca film studio in Berlin-Pichelsberg . The film architects Ernst H. Albrecht and Max Vorwerg were responsible for the film construction. Hanne-Lore Wessel took on the costume advice. The cameraman was Hans Jura , who was assisted by Rüdiger Meichsner . Production manager was Eberhard Meichsner .
reception
publication
The FSK released the film on December 20, 1963 from the age of 16. On December 31st, according to the movie poster, "the first film by the scarf writer Francis Durbridge" was premiered at the Hahnentor Lichtspiele in Cologne . In the polls carried out by the trade journal Filmecho / Filmwoche at the time , in which cinema visitors rated current films on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 7 (very poor), Piccadilly scored a grade of 2.9 at twelve o'clock . For comparison: the crime films The Executioner of London (3.0), The Phantom of Soho (3.2) and Zimmer 13 (2.8), also published in late 1963 - early 1964 . Despite the comparatively good ratings, the audience numbers fell short of the distributor's expectations. Gloria and Divina films decided not to produce any further Durbridge films. But as early as 1964, the Austrian Melba film with Tim Frazer chasing the mysterious Mister X dared another attempt to bring a Durbridge film to the big screen.
Piccadilly zero twelve has already been broadcast several times on German television. The film was released in November 2009, albeit in the wrong image format, in a Durbridge box on DVD.
Reviews
“It's always a kind of embarrassing solution to build a criminal case on a person walking under the guise of someone else, especially since Francis Durbridge, who was the subject of this film, shouldn't have to. When the masquerade is carried out so easily as it is here, a lot of tension is lost. But otherwise Rudolf Zehetgruber's work (script and direction) differs by a long way from the usual German consumer goods. The corruption case involving a London lawyer and the revenge of someone who has been innocently convicted by him is staged with whistles, pleasant dialogues and pretty humor lights. Above all, Hanns Lothar as a depraved Scotland Yard snoop and Helmut Wildt as a victim of justice deserve praise. Ann Smyrner puts a refreshingly natural girl on her pretty legs. Pinkas Braun are also well managed as a criminal lawyer, Klaus Kinski as "Albino" and Karl Lieffen as a brutal call girl boss. "
“German film adaptation of an English material, the details of which were raw but captivating. With somewhat more in-depth actors, to whom one wrote appropriate dialogues, in what appears to be a real London environment [...] "
"Exciting, less motivating crime thriller entertainment based on a story by the experienced television writer Francis Durbridge."
“After the huge television success of Durbridge, this was an attempt to bring Durbridge to the big screen. An attempt that went smoothly in the pants. Success was rightly lacking, on the one hand because Durbridge's famous cliffhanger was missing, on the other hand because the realization and the story are not exactly breathtaking. Durbridge provided only one treatment (according to the official version), which was finally edited by the director of the film Rudolf Zehetgruber. The great cast cannot make up for the lame production. To make matters worse, the killer's disguise is so bad that you can immediately see who is underneath it. And then a little boy appears (Ilja Richter) who is constantly finding corpses and who bears the name Edgar Wallace of all people (whose name is pronounced incorrectly, namely [wellis]) - and that the inspector's name is Craddock - just like Charles Tingwell as an inspector in the famous Miss Marple films with Margareth Rutherford - is certainly no coincidence. [...] If Durbridge really delivered the idea, then there is nothing left of it in the finished film. Then it would be like having a chimpanzee copy a painting by Picasso. Can you also advertise this copy with “Picasso”? "
Web links
- Piccadilly null clock strikes twelve in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Piccadilly zero twelve at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ 95 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 91 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2607 meters
- ↑ a b Joachim Kramp: Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The history of the crime film series from 1959 to 1972. Third, revised and expanded edition . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-645-3 , p. 459 .
- ↑ Ingo Löchel: Piccadilly zero twelve at zauberspiegel.de
- ↑ Illustration of the film poster
- ↑ Piccadilly twelve o'clock . ARD-Video / Studio Hamburg. EAN : 4031778930202
- ↑ Piccadilly twelve o'clock. In: Abendblatt.de. Hamburger Abendblatt , February 29, 1964, accessed on October 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Piccadilly twelve o'clock. In: old.filmarchiv.at. Paimann's Filmlisten , No. 2861_1, May 14, 1964, accessed on October 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Piccadilly twelve o'clock. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Piccadilly twelve o'clock . ( online ).
