Sunbeam (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Sunbeam |
| Country of production | Austria |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1933 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Fejos |
| script | Adolf Lantz |
| production |
Serge Otzoup Paul Fejos |
| music |
Sándor by Szlatinay Ferenc Farkas René Sti |
| camera |
Adolf Schlasy Adolf Weith |
| cut | Lothar Wolff |
| occupation | |
| |
Sonnenstrahl is a socially critical Austrian contemporary drama by Paul Fejos from 1933. Gustav Fröhlich and Annabella play the main roles as a couple who come together for economic reasons to escape economic misery.
action
The film is set in Vienna at the time of the Great Depression, in the early 1930s. The Great Depression plunged many ordinary people and workers into economic and social misery. Unemployment is high, as is the desperation of the proletariat in so-called “Red Vienna”. Anna Berger, who is only 19 years old, doesn't know what to do next and therefore wants to throw herself into the Danube with suicidal intent . The young worker Hans Schmidt, currently without a fixed income and therefore also homeless, is no better. Completely disaffected, he too came to the banks of the Danube to kill himself. He immediately brought a suicide note addressed to the police. When Hans Anna hears how she plunges from a bridge into the water and starts screaming, he forgets about his own suicidal intention for a moment and pulls the unfortunate co-fate out of the cold water. A little later, Hans and Anna think, and then decide to cope with everyday life with all its shortcomings and worries together. Hans receives money from the police for his rescue act, which is immediately invested in the purchase of soap, which is then sold on the street in small pieces at a profit.
Other little odd jobs - he makes himself available as a living target in a Prater booth and serves as an advertising "sandwich man", she sells balloons and has her head lathered regularly to advertise a shampoo in the shop window - ensure a modest, financial cushion for the Joint-use couple and thus also for the first ray of sun in both lives marked by deprivation. But there are also setbacks; for example, when you pay a deposit of 200 shillings for a prospective caretaker job and the bailee turns out to be a crook. But Hans is no longer ready to give up. He gets himself and Anna back on their feet and works as a bank messenger. Finally, the couple took out a loan to buy a car that Hans could use to earn money as a taxi driver again in the future. But a serious accident that condemned Hans to incapacity for work for weeks seems to set both economic happiness back. Anna alone cannot pay off the loan installments on the taxi, but in this emergency the roommates of the tenement show solidarity and help the couple with their nest egg so that the vehicle can be paid off. Released from the hospital, Hans can finally earn money with his own taxi.
Production notes
Sunbeam , a very rare example of a serious, cinematic inventory of social and economic conditions in Vienna during the years of famine (the 1920s and 1930s) came Sascha film studio in Vienna- Sievering and was on August 23, 1933 Berlin Gloria Palace premiered . The film was released in Vienna on December 15, 1933.
Adolf Rosen took over the production management. Emil Stepanek designed the film structures that Heinz Fennel carried out. Ferenc Farkas took over the musical direction, Alfred Norkus took care of the good tone.
A French-language version was also produced from this film, which was released under the title Gardez le sourire . With the exception of the two main actors, all actors were different (= French) actors than in the Austrian original.
The following music tracks were played:
- Everything for your sake! (by Sándor von Szlatinay (music) and Ernst Schott (text))
- Only when you laugh (by Ferenc Farkas, Szlatinay (music) and Schott (text))
The titles were published by Dacapo-Musikverlag in Vienna.
Reviews
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung wrote: “'Sonnenstrahl'… again bears the stamp of Fejos' strong director in each of his pictures. (...) Gustav Fröhlich proves himself to be an excellent performer in a role that demands more from him than cheerfulness and charm. "
"The Austrian tragicomedy is an ode to happiness in life even in difficult times"
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Sunbeam". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , December 23, 1933, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
- ^ Criticism on moviepilot.de
Web links
- Sunbeam in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sunbeam at filmportal.de