Pittsburgh (1942)

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Movie
Original title Pittsburgh
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1942
length 88 minutes
Rod
Director Lewis Seiler
script Kenneth Garnet
Tom Reed
production Charles K. Feldman
Robert Fellows
music Frank Skinner,
Hans J. Salter
camera Robert De Grasse
cut Paul Landres
occupation

Pittsburgh is an American romance drama from 1942 directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Marlene Dietrich , John Wayne and Randolph Scott .

action

Josie Winters grew up in an American coalfield where her late father once ran a mine and, because of her attractiveness, most of them called "hunky". She gets involved with the half-silk Mort Brawley, who arranges (mostly faked) boxing matches. Mort buys her expensive clothes and provides Josie with a limousine with a chauffeur. For the theater in the coal field, Brawley hired a boxer with the fearsome fighting name Killer Kane for one evening. Anyone who climbs into the ring against this monster and survives at least three minutes will receive 100 dollars in hand, promises Brawley. The two young guys Charles Markham, who everyone just calls "Pittsburgh", and his buddy John Evans, who is mostly called "Cash", come to the arena that evening, in the hope that at least one of them will get the prize money can brush. Pittsburgh spots Josie in the front row of the audience, and from then on his eyes can no longer take his eyes off this woman. After chatting Cash into a fight against Killer Kane, Cash surprisingly wins the fight. This is the moment that the deceitful Brawley wants to sneak away. Thereupon there is general commotion. Everyone storms the boxing ring and everyone beats everyone up. Cash and Pittsburgh can escape the general chaos through a side exit.

Back home, everyone learns that there has been a mining disaster that traps several men, including old Doc Powers. Cash and Pittsburgh drive to the mine in Hunky's car and only notice during the drive that the owner of the vehicle has secretly sneaked into it. Since Doc Powers is a good friend of hers, she wants to go down to the pit to help rescue the men. Powers can be recovered with a broken leg, and Josie makes a mental note to nurse him back to health in the near future. The boys visit Doc every day to see how he's doing and of course to enjoy the presence of hunkies and to court them. Josie is tired of this world of soot and dirt and makes it clear to both of them that in the future she will stay away from everything that has to do with mines and coal.

From now on, Cash and Pittsburgh are in constant competition: Everyone wants to win Josie for themselves, and therefore Pittsburgh, like Cash, strives to become successful and wealthy with their own business. Josie brings the two guys together with the steel magnate Morgan Prentiss, who gives them both the chance of their lives. The two have-nots could not bring together the $ 250,000 needed for material and equipment, but Pittsburgh forged Morgan's signature on the contract in order to get the bank loan that is the prerequisite for the contract. The subsequent success goes to Pittsburgh in particular to the head. He forgets his miner buddies and instead catches up with Shannon Prentiss, the daughter of his contractor and former boss. Josie is as dejected as it is disappointed, having been interested in Pittsburgh. Instead, Cash makes her a marriage proposal. Pittsburgh wants to expand its business success as Shannon's husband, but at the same time does not want to do without Josie completely. When he shows up at her place and says he's always yours, Josie throws him out without further ado. She is too good for such an "arrangement".

The success went to Pittsburgh's head more and more and took over both Prentiss Steel and the Wilson mine. Under him, coal mining and the steel industry merged. Charles "Pittsburgh" Markham is now at the top, but he is becoming increasingly ruthless. He has shed his origins and treats his workers badly. When he still can't leave Josie and his wife Shannon realizes this too, she, deeply hurt, demands a divorce. When he ended his support for Doc Powers' small research laboratory, he and his partner Cash lost their last friend. Angry, cash from Pittsburgh withdraws. As a result of a discussion followed by a violent fist fight between the two opponents, Josie is seriously injured and has to be hospitalized. Cash tells Pittsburgh that he is no good and that none of his former friends want to see him again. Pittsburgh returns home to at least make peace with Shannon. But she also rejects him. Morgan Prentiss, who has sworn vengeance for Pittsburgh's mental cruelty on his daughter Shannon, is now beginning to ruin his son-in-law both business and financially. Pittsburgh then disappears from the scene for a long time. In December 1941, the United States enters World War II. Cash's company is now producing war material for national defense, and Josie, Doc and Joe Malneck, the miners' union president, are working together to prepare the US for future clashes.

"Pittsburgh" Markham has since gone through catharsis and returned to its roots. He has lost everything and now works under the name Charles Ellis as a simple miner in the Cash company. He is dissatisfied with his current production manager and fires him when Malneck tells him that there is a particularly capable new man in the factory named Ellis who is ideal for this post. As soon as the former fighting cocks meet again, new disputes arise immediately. But now Josie intervenes and washes both of them properly. In these times, she says, all Americans must stand together to protect the country and make it defensible. From then on, capital and workers work hand in hand to build an “arsenal of democracy”.

Production notes

Filming on Pittsburgh began on August 26, 1942 and was completed in late October of the same year. The film premiered on December 11, 1942. The film was not shown in cinemas in Germany. The television premiere in Germany was on October 1, 1986 on West 3 . Here Pittsburgh ran as the original with subtitles.

Supporting actor Paul Fix took over the dialogue direction. George Owen and Tom Reed developed the story, Winston Miller was involved in the script. John B. Goodman created the film structures, Russell A. Gausman was the set designer. Charles Previn took over the musical direction. John P. Fulton designed the camera special effects.

For the three main actors, Pittsburgh meant a reunion after just a few weeks. At the beginning of 1942, Dietrich, Wayne and Scott had already stood together in front of the camera in the western comedy Die Freibeuterin . Both films were produced by Charles K. Feldman.

Reviews

In Variety it was read: "" Pittsburgh "brings together the screen triangle Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne in a melodramatic environment, with Scott this time getting the girl instead of Wayne. All about the coal mining of Pittsburgh, the film combines lustful melodrama, romance and a touch of patriotism for war workers (...) Wayne effectively portrays the aggressive member of the team who incurs the enmity of his friends and co-workers on his rise to success. (...) Scott shows an equally strong performance. Miss Dietrich can assert herself as a convincing and romantic part of this triangle. (…) There are a few bumpy spots, but screenwriters Kenneth Gamet and Tom Reed have taken on a worker-like job and director Lewis Seiler offers a satisfactory pace to move things forward. "

Theodore Strauss wrote in the New York Times : “After John Wayne and Randolph Scott survived the hearty fight in“ The Spoilers ”, they come together again fresh, pious, happy, for the good cause and for the woman's sake - again Marlene Dietrich , sure, of course. Two buddies who push their way up, throw themselves up because of noble principles and finally, in the need of war, out of patriotism and prompted by Marlene Dietrich, who preaches unity to them, come together again. That is the plot that has once again made a moving and entirely synthetic film. (...) “Pittsburgh” proves (...) that with a new body an old model can still work. The three stars are in shape as usual ... and so “Pittsburgh” has every chance of doing mediocre at the box office. But in the best case scenario it's entertainment as usual. "

The Movie & Video Guide said in a nutshell that the story was "only progressing slowly."

Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: "Routine melodrama that finally comes across as hyper-patriotic and does not give any of the stars the opportunity to do anything."

The lexicon of international films read: “A melodrama against the background of the American entry into World War II, which includes documentary recordings; Conventional in staging the dramatic events, the very artificial film lives from the charisma and presence of the three main actors. "

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Variety, New York, December 9, 1942
  2. ^ The New York Times, February 25, 1943
  3. ^ Leonard Maltin : Movie & Video Guide, 1996 edition, p. 1018
  4. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 801
  5. ↑ Pittsburgh. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 1, 2020 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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