Suchkind 312 (1955)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Search child 312 |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gustav Machatý |
| script |
Werner P. Zibaso Gustav Machatý |
| production |
Alfred Bittin's Timotheus N. Stuloff |
| music | Bernhard Eichhorn |
| camera | Otto Baecker |
| cut | Herbert Taschner |
| occupation | |
| |
Suchkind 312 is a German melodrama from 1955 by Gustav Machatý with eleven-year-old Ingrid Simon in the title role. The story is based on the eponymous magazine serial novel by Hans-Ulrich Horster (pseudonym of Eduard Rhein ) , published in the same year . Suchkind 312 was not only the last, but also the only German production by the native Czech.
action
Germany, five years after the end of World War II : 1.7 million Germans, civilians and soldiers alike, are still considered missing or missing, their whereabouts remain unclear. Missing relatives should be reported to the specially established tracing service of the German Red Cross so that their registration could be carried out. This is the starting point of this individual case, described here as an example, about the missing toddler Martina since 1945, who has been wanted by her mother Ursula since then. The girl was registered under the number 312.
After Ursula assumed that her former fiancé Achim Lenau had died on the Eastern Front, she remarried without her second husband Dr. To tell Richard Gothe that she was already engaged once and had a daughter named Martina. Martina lost her while fleeing from the East and believes that, like Achim, she is dead. A boy named Helmut emerged from her marriage to Richard and she lives in a well-off situation. When she sees a wanted ad with a picture of a girl in a magazine, she thinks she recognizes her daughter. She is deeply shaken, but is very afraid to tell her husband about this illegitimate child. When she finally tells him everything, he puts pressure on her not to do anything at first. Richard fears that these circumstances, which were perceived as "scandalous" in the 1950s, endanger a prospective promotion.
When Richard's sister Jo finds out, she persuades him to adopt the girl who lives in a home. In addition, since another woman claims to be Martina's mother, a court should examine the case. Meanwhile, Achim, who was believed dead, appears again. For years he was a Soviet prisoner of war and is looking for contact with his ex Ursula. He still loves her and obviously wants Ursula back. This puts an additional burden on Ursula and Richard's marriage. Finally the court comes to an arbitration award: Martina is awarded to her mother Ursula. Richard is now ready to adopt Martina as his daughter. Ursula and Richard have a daughter in addition to their son Helmut. In the meantime, Jo and Achim have also come closer to each other while trying to resolve the conflict and decide to stay together.
Production notes
Suchkind 312 was created on September 14, 1955 in the Bendestorf studio and in Hamburg-Harburg (exterior shots). After a month, in mid-October 1955, filming was completed. The world premiere took place on November 10, 1955 in the Rex am Ring cinema in Cologne.
Alfred Bittins took over the production management, Max Mellin designed the film structures, which were implemented by F.-Dieter Bartels . Ernst Walter was responsible for the sound, Alf Teichs was in charge of the dramaturgy. The German-Italian Rio Nobile , a cinema veteran since the silent film era, played his last film role here.
The 2007 remake stuck to the original for a long time, but had a completely different ending.
Reviews
The assessments were quite ungracious:
In December 1955, the Catholic film service ruled quite ungraciously: “The solution to the conflict in the film appears to be highly moral, but the whole thing is sentimental and unreal to the point of being unbearable. Suitable for entertainment only with serious reservations ”.
The Protestant film observer wasn't really enthusiastic either. At the same time he wrote: “Of course, there would have been a time film in this material if it had not - initially written for a magazine - made too many concessions to the sentimentality of a well-to-do audience. There is no trace left of a real need of conscience, of despair, of the terrible agony into which many people were plunged. "
In the lexicon of international films it says: "A tragic post-war problem ... makes film with hypocritical moral claims the subject of superficial maudlin entertainment."
Individual evidence
- ^ Message in Filmecho from October 29, 1955
- ^ Suchkind 312. In: Lexicon of international films . Film service , accessed January 1, 2019 .
Web links
- Suchkind 312 in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Suchkind 312 at filmportal.de
- Suchkind 312 on filmmuseum-hamburg.de